On the Sacred Art of the Philosopher's Stone - De Arte sacra lapidis philosophorum

Commentary on the book "On Action" by Zosime, and on the sayings of Hermes and the philosophers.

1. “Maceration is done from 25 méchir (February) until 25 mesori (August). All the things that you can macerate and leach, let them be placed in (suitable) vessels; and, if you can, accomplish the work of maceration, you best of wise men.

It was customary among the ancients to hide the truth and things quite obvious to men, by means of allegories and (the language) of the art of philosophers. Indeed, not only have they kept these honorable and philosophical arts in the shadows by their obscure and dark exposure; but they also replaced the common terms with other terms: as happens when we invert what is in the subject and what is not in the subject. You yourself know, philosopher my master, that Plato and Aristotle proceeded in the same way by allegories and modified the meaning of words. Thus Aristotle says that the substance is not in the subject, but that it is the accident which is in the subject. Plato for his part establishes the same opposition: on the one hand, he does not place the substance in the subject; and, on the other hand, it places the accident in the subject. In a word, just as they have explained many things of this nature, in the manner which seemed suitable to them; likewise, with regard to this honorable art, the ancients put all their effort into it, having as their sole business and unique art the exposition of (the facts) by means of certain considerations and enigmas; they intended to spur researchers and make them move away from natural things, and turn them towards the pursuit of mysterious things: which in fact happened. This is what this treaty will show.

2. “Maceration is carried out using loamy soil”.

Here the philosopher wants to talk about the earth which must be leached. Because it is necessary to wash and rewash, until the silt part disappears, according to what the divine Mary says. In fact, any earth of this nature, containing a (metallic) body, when washed, is reduced to the state of ore.

So, after a serious and purifying wash, you will find the metallic bodies in the sands; that is to say gold, silver or lead flakes (which means having the color of silver or lead), as well as stones; the ore which contains the substance visible from above. It is the one that the ancients called by the proper name of silver stone, and it is permissible to find there the word whose name has four syllables and nine letters.

3. The expression "since the month of mechir" means nothing (in itself) it was placed there, so that whoever encounters it would believe that the powder dries and the handling depends on a certain interval of time, and that , leaving aside the straight path, he resorts to the uncertain and thorny road.

4. The expression “to be placed in vases” means terracotta digesters. Zosimus is the only one to mention it.

5. By the words “Accomplish the art of maceration,” he exhorts us to effective work. And in fact the word “action” is taken here in the sense of practical operation. Know that the one who macerates needs ingredients, a certain (period of) time and a favorable time. So the silt leached at this time, having been reduced to the state of sand, is dried up.

6. The expression "from the 25th of the month of Mechir, until the 25th of Mesori", means that, following maceration, the ore is treated by fire. Now, he did not say: “after the end of mesori”, he is treated by fire; but from maceration, or leaching, or rather drying.

7. The words: “All things that you can macerate and leach,” mean the species which contains the substance and that which is obtained by drying. “All things” is the species which contains the substance; “macerate and leach” is the species obtained by drying; because we always need to resort to it. This is how leaching takes place. These words: “the species which contains the substance” showed my master what maceration, leaching, desiccation, evaporation are. Democritus speaks somewhere of decomposed alum: this philosopher (did not) want readers to imagine that it was necessary to take any alum, or that they would be lost among the species, wasting (thus) all their time. There are two kinds of leaching, mystical leaching and literal leaching. We therefore spoke of mystical leaching and leaching in the literal sense. Mystical leaching is precisely that which is done by means of divine water.

This is the essential leaching, the one whose success is ensured by auspicious words and obedience (to the rules): it is a question of fluid materials which flow together, that is to say of the regeneration to the metallic state of metals which had been stripped of them, as well as of spirits, that is to say of their souls: an operation which is accomplished by the sole action of nature, and not by the hand of men , as some believe. Because Hermes says: “When you have taken (some substance) after the great treatment, that is to say the leaching of the ore…” So he named the ore, substance, and the leaching, great treatment. Agathodemon speaks in the same sense. Ah! what liberality in the Philosopher! None of the ancients shed light on the work in this way; none called the species by its name, except this excellent man gifted with all knowledge; because purifying leaching is obviously the great treatment.

I will explain to you (now) the economics of gold solder.

ON GOLD WELDING

8. Gold welding is the art of joining gold with gold, by working on gold flakes taken from the ore. How should these flakes be unified, that is to say welded and joined together, so that the dyeing spirit of the chrysocolla is preserved?

To preserve this spirit, he says that it is advisable to use combustion at a moderate fire, so that, as a result of great incandescence, unsuitable things do not happen. The fire must burn moderately and gently, lest the steam go up in smoke and be lost. This is the steam, which tends to escape. This vapor is mercury. This vapor therefore, in other words the mercury, experiencing the action of fire, goes away in smoke. Now, when it goes up in smoke and leaves the crucible, the gold flakes, those that Zosime calls claudianos flakes, burned clumsily by the violence of the fire, also go away in smoke.

9. Learn, O friend of the Muses, what the word economy means, and do not believe, as some do, that manual action alone is sufficient; we still need that of nature, an action superior to man. When you have taken gold, you must process it, and if you operate with care, you will obtain gold. And suppose not, says he, that the dyeing will take place with certain other ideas: and certain other plants; but work according to a practice consistent with nature, and you will obtain the object sought.

As for the word economy, it has been used in a thousand places by all the ancients; because they want to talk about the operating procedure to fix the dye. But what is fixing a dye? otherwise the fixation of some fleeting mercury. For Zosimus says: “Fix mercury with the (metallic) body of magnesia. »

10. It has been said that gold solder is the mixture of the two substances; the fixing principle that results from this, I know how to maintain in the compound. We know in fact that (mercurial) vapor is fleeting; and It is specified in a thousand places that it is not only the (mercurial) vapor which is fleeting, but also all the (substances of the same class) in the catalog. Before and after, the philosopher focuses on mercury, as on all the fleeting substances in the catalog, such as those mentioned by the ancients, colors and plants, and others; because all these substances, when experiencing the action of fire, are fleeting.

11. As for me, I will not tell you all the classes, given their large number and the testimonies of the ancients, all of whom agree on this point; so as not to waste time inappropriately. But I will submit to you a small number of things, as the most interesting, the easiest to understand, and protected from the reproach of futility.

He is referring here to the ancients, some of whom said futile things and caused researchers to waste infinite time. Know then, in your excellent knowledge, that the ancients make three tinctures: The first is that which dissipates quickly, like sulfur; the second, that which dissipates slowly, like sulphurous materials; the third, that which does not dissipate at all, like liquefied metallic bodies and stones.

12. First dyeing , dyeing the copper white using arsenic, as follows.

Arsenic (sulphide) is a type of sulfur which volatilizes quickly; I mean, volatilizes in fire. All arsenic-like substances are also called sulfurs and volatiles. Now the preparation is done as follows: taking gold-colored flaky arsenic, 14 ounces, you cut it into pieces, you porphyrize it so as to reduce it into parts as fine as down; then you soak in vinegar, for two or three days and as many nights, the material contained in a glass vase with a narrow neck, rubbing the top carefully, so that it does not dissipate. Shaking once or twice a day, do this for several days; then, emptying the (vase), washes with pure water, only until the smell of vinegar has disappeared. Keeps the most subtle part of the substance; but do not let it flow away with the water. Then, allowing the mass to dry and contract in the air, mix and grind with 5 ounces of Cappadocian salt.

However, the use of salt was invented by the ancients to prevent arsenic from adhering to the glass vessel. This glass vessel is called asympoton, by Africanus. It is lubricated with clay; a cup-shaped glass cover is placed on top. At the upper part, another cup envelops the whole; it is secured on all sides, so that the burned arsenic does not dissipate.

So burn it several times and pulverize it, until it turns white; we thus obtain white and compact alum. Then the copper is melted with hard copper from Nicaea; then you take some natron flower, you throw 2 or 3 parts at the bottom of the crucible to soften. You then throw the dry powder (burnt arsenic) with an iron spoon; you throw away the value of an ounce for 2 pounds of copper. After that, you add a little silver to the crucible for one ounce (of copper), in order to make the dye uniform. You still project a small quantity of salt into the crucible. You will thus have a very beautiful appearance.

13. Second tincture , the one that volatilizes slowly:

Burnt copper, rubric and similar substances do not dissipate quickly, but slowly. Now you should know that emerald is made like this. Take: two ounces of beautiful crystal; burnt copper, half an ounce. First heat the crystal, in its extreme parts, and throw it into pure water; then clean it, so that it has no dirt. Then you pulverize it in a clean mortar, without reducing it to impalpable powder; and you delay, with the rubric and the burnt copper. You melt 4 pounds worth of it over a coal fire. After having lit all around and closed the crucible at its upper part, and after heating over a very regular fire, you will have what you are looking for. Now it is preferable to carry out the melting in a crucible of raw, uncooked clay; because in the crucibles of goldsmiths, the emerald melts with the material of the crucible and gives rise to a shrinkage which causes the crucible to burst. It requires to be cooled in the furnace itself, and to be removed after cooling; because if you remove it while the furnace is still hot, the crucible will burst immediately.

14. Third tincture , the one that does not wear off at all.

It has been said “dissipates in fire”; and two mysteries are thereby exposed: one concerns the dissipated body; the other, the body which determines dissipation. Likewise Democritus spoke somewhere of the three ancient (tinctures):

One dissipates quickly, that is to say by the departure of liquids, or by the rise of vapor. This is why he says: Substances which dissipate quickly, such as sulfur; because sulfurs are very quick (to reduce) into smoke.

The others dissipate slowly, such as sulfurous materials. And he speaks of the principle of the fixation of the same fleeting liquids, when they become slower to dissipate (being composed by the mixture) of the fleeting (substances) with the fixed substances and metallic bodies.

Then he talks about the third class: that which dissipates like fuse (metallic) bodies. This is what we properly call tincture. (We obtain it) after having done the treatment and placing separately the bodies which do not dissipate and the bodies which dissipate.

Indeed it is impossible to do this (in one go); but it is by drying gradually and until the end that with the cooperation of God we make the (substances) completely fixed.

15. “Like melting metal bodies. »

It is obvious that these bodies were first dissipable by the action of fire, because they encountered nothing that could fix them; when, on the contrary, they were brought to complete fixity, the indelible nature of the dye caused them to pass into the state of metals. These bodies received a similar name, because of their resistance to fire and their fixity. If the dissipable body meets the fixing agent, it acquires an indelible nature. Understand by this, the nature which exists in the Whole; conceive that which subsists until the end, inextractable and remaining always: this is the indelible, that which remains forever unalterable. Because the ancients knew all the (materials) without stability that exist in the catalog, and their goal was to make intelligent people understand what nature stable materials and unstable materials are. This is why they established that all matter belongs either to the class of solids or to that of liquids.

16. Know that this art is not practiced by means of (violent) fire. So they wrote as if they were speaking to intelligent (readers), and that was their aim. Zosimus makes a particular speech on fire; nevertheless in each of his books he deals with fire, like all the ancients. Fire is the first agent, that of all art; it is the first of the four elements. Indeed, the enigmatic language of the ancients, by this expression the four elements, designates art. Let your virtue carefully examine in the four books of Democritus the places where he speaks of the four elements, in the language appropriate to a naturalist. It is explained (as follows):

He first explained the things which need fire, and which should be treated sometimes over a low fire, sometimes over a large fire, sometimes over coals.

Then he talks about the air and things in the air, such as the animals that live in the air.

Likewise things of the waters, such as bile, fish, whatever is prepared by means of fish and by means of waters.

Likewise he speaks of things of the earth, such as salt, metals and plants. He separates each of these beings into classes, according to their colors, their specific and generic properties, all being capable of being male and female.

17. Knowing this, all the ancients veiled art under the multiplicity of discourses. In any case, art needs some of these things; apart from them, there is nothing certain. Democritus says it: nothing could exist without these (elements). But know it, know that I wrote according to my power; being weak, not only in my language, but also in my intelligence. And I ask that through your prayers you prevent divine justice from being angry with me, for having had the audacity to write this work: May it be favorable to me in every way.

Here are the writings of the Egyptians, their poetry, their opinions, the oracles of the Demons, the expositions of the prophets: an infinite intelligence is necessary to embrace this subject, and it tends towards a unique goal.

18. Let your sagacity know that the ancients used several names for divine water. This divine water designates that which one seeks, and they have hidden the object of the search under the name of divine water. I will give you a little explanation: listen, you who are in possession of all virtue. For I know the light of your thoughts, your kindness, your patience. I want to introduce you to the spirit of the ancients; tell you how, being philosophers, they have the language of philosophers and they applied philosophy to art, by means of science; hiding nothing from intelligent (minds), but describing all things clearly. In this they keep their oath well. For their writings deal with doctrine, and not with practical works. Some of the naturalist philosophers relate reasoning about the elements to principles, because principles are something more universal than the elements. So let's talk about how the first principle is more universal than the elements. In fact, it is to him that the whole of art comes down. Thus Agathodemon having placed the principle in the end, and the end in the principle, he wants it to be the serpent Ouroboros; and if he speaks thus, it is not (to hide the truth) out of jealousy, as some uninitiated people believe. But this is (made) manifest, O initiator, by the plural word: eggs.

See, you who know everything, and learn what Agathodemon is. Some say that it was an ancient person, one of the oldest, who philosophized in Egypt. Others say it is a mysterious angel; or that it is the good genius of Egypt. Others have called it Heaven, and perhaps we use this language because the serpent is the image of the world. Indeed, certain Egyptian hierogrammats, wanting to trace the world on obelisks, or to express it in sacred characters, engraved the Ouroboros serpent. But his body is studded with stars. These are the things I have explained about the principle, said Agathodemon. It was he who published the book on Chemistry.

Having personified it, let us now inquire how it is that the principle is more universal than the elements. We say that what is for us an element is also a principle; because the four elements constitute the first principle of bodies. But not every principle is an element for this. In fact, the divine, the egg, the intermediary, the atoms, are for certain philosophers the principles of things; but they are not elements.

19. Let us therefore inquire, according to certain signs, what is the principle of all things, and whether it is one or many. If it is unique, is it immutable, infinite, or determinate? If there are several principles, the same questions arise: are they immutable, determinate, or infinite? That there is therefore a single, immutable and infinite principle of all beings, was the opinion of Thales of Miletus, saying that it was the being (of water), [i.e. -say the being of divine water, gold; that is to say the egg of divine water, gold]. For this is one and immutable; it is free from any apparent mutation; it is moreover infinite: in fact the divine is of infinite power, and no one can number its powers.

20. Parmenides also takes as his principle the divine, whose power is one, immutable, determined; because this, as has been said, is one and immutable, and the energy which emanates from it is determined. Observe that Thales of Miletus, considering the essence of God, said that he is infinite; for God is of infinite power. But Parmenides, (having in view) the things which come from him, said that he is determined; in fact, it is everywhere evident that, the power being determined, what God produces responds to a finite power. Understand (by this) perishable things, with the exception of intellectual things. These two men, I mean the Milesian and Parmenides, Aristotle is of the opinion to reject from the chorus of naturalists. In fact, they are theologians dealing with questions foreign to natural things, and focusing on immutable things; while all natural things move, for nature is the principle of movement and rest.

21. Thales admitted water as the determined principle of beings, because it is fertile and plastic. It is fertile, since it gives birth to fish; and plastic, since we can give it the form we want. In fact, you make the water take the form you want: in whatever vase you put it, it takes the form; I mean in a setier, or in an earthenware pot, or in a triangular or quadrangular vase, or finally in any other that you want. This unique principle is mobile; the water does indeed move; it is determined and not eternal.

22. Diogenes maintained that the principle is air, because it is opulent and fertile: because it generates birds. Air, too, is plastic; because we give it the form we want; he is one, mobile and not eternal.

23. Heraclitus and Hippasus held that fire is the principle of all beings, because it is the active element of all things. A principle in fact must be the source of the activity of things arising from it, according to what some say. Fire is also fruitful; because all beings are born in heating.

24. As for the earth, no one has made it the principle except Xenophanes of Colophon; as it is not fruitful, no one has made it an element. And let him in whom all virtue resides note this fact that the earth has not been considered by philosophers as an element, because it is not fertile: the meaning of this statement relates to our research. Indeed Hermes says somewhere:

“The virgin land is found in the tail of the Virgin”.

25. Anaximenes professes that the principle of all things, one, mobile, infinite, is air. He speaks thus: Air is close to the incorporeal, and as we exist thanks to its flow, it must be infinite and opulent, since it never fails.

Anaximander says that the principle is the intermediary which means wet vapor, or dry vapor (smoke). Because moist vapor is intermediate between fire and earth. In general, everything intermediate between hot and humid is vapor; while the intermediate between hot and dry is smoke.

26. Let us come to the own opinion of each of the elders, and see how each wants to establish his own and pose as head of the school, from his personal point of view. In fact, here and there some omission took place, following the complication of our march.

Let us therefore recapitulate by parts, and show how our (chemical) philosophers, borrowing the starting point from them, constructed their system. Zosimus, the crown of philosophers, whose language has the abundance of the Ocean, the new soothsayer, generally follows Melissus in what concerns art and says that art is one like God. This is what he explains in a thousand places in Théosebie; and his language is truthful. Wanting to free us from the confusion of reasoning and that of all matter, he exhorts us to seek our refuge in the one God and he says: “Remain seated at your home, recognizing only one God and only one art, and do not go astray by seeking another God; for God will come to you, he who is everywhere; he is not confined to the lowest place, like the Demon. Rest your body, and calm your passions; thus directing yourself, you will call to yourself the divine being, and the divine being will come to you, he who is everywhere. When you know yourself, then you will also know the only self-existent God; thus acting you will attain truth and nature, rejecting matter with contempt. »

27. Likewise, Chymes follows Parmenides and says: “One is the All, through whom the All is; because if it did not contain the All, the All would be nothing. »

Theologians speak about divine things, like naturalists about matter.

Agathodemon, turned towards Anaximenes, speaks from the air.

Anaximander speaks of the intermediary, that is to say, of moist vapor and dry smoke.

For Agathodemon, it is completely sublimated vapor. Zosimus also says it; and it was preferably followed by most of those who wrote the philosophy of our art.

Hermes speaks of smoke, regarding magnesia: “Let it,” he says, “burn in front of the furnace, subjecting it to the action of the red cobathia scales .” Because the smoke of the cobathia, being white, whitens the bodies. Smoke is intermediate between hot and dry; and, in the present case, this smoke is the sublimated vapor and all that results from it. But humid vapor is intermediate between hot and humid; it designates humid sublimated vapors, those for example distilled by stills and similar devices.

28. To avoid vain phraseology, I will make you a brief transmission; I will explain to you clearly what the ancients said, O scion of the noble Pierides, (I mean) of the nine Muses, O chief of orators; for God has sent you for this. Learn, by means of an inexpensive writing, to do the greatest things. For God wants to test you on two sides, by your notorious piety towards superior beings, and by your beneficial skill towards earthly beings. Know therefore, know, to shorten the things that you must prescribe, how I will adjust my speech to the original writings.

Now it has been told to you, O you of great men, that the ancients spoke of the four elements. Know indeed, that it is by means of the four elements that dry things and wet things are constituted; hot things and cold things, male and female. Two (elements) are worn at the top, and two at the bottom. The two ascending elements are fire and air; the two descending elements are earth and water. So, it is by means of these four (elements) that they constituted the entire description of art; they confined it there, guaranteeing its laws by oaths. Know for yourself all the substances in the catalog, as they are constituted by fire, air, water and earth.

But for the composition to be carried out exactly, ask God through your prayers to teach you, says Zosima; because men do not transmit (science); the demons are jealous, and we cannot find the way. We look in vain for those who know it, and the writings have no precision. Matter is multiple; embarrassment occurs; and (the work) is not accomplished without great fatigue; there is struggle, violence and war. The demon Ophiuchus introduces negligence into these things, hindering our search, creeping on all sides, from within and without, sometimes bringing negligence, sometimes fear, sometimes the unexpected, on other occasions afflictions and punishments, in order to make us abandon (the work). But I will tell him Whoever you are, O demon, I will not yield to you; but I will hold firm until, having completed (the work), I have known the result. I will not let myself be defeated, being gifted with perseverance and fighting, taking my support from an honest life and philosophical purifications. Therefore, having collected the useful precepts of the wise, I will present them to you (beginning) from the beginning, according to the ancients; because your sagacity in the presence of a foreign language is not confused by the thousands of species, both liquid and solid, of which the ancients give the catalog. Among these various colors, some are raw, others cooked; during cooking, certain bodies take on colors and others remain there without changing color; sometimes they must be treated over a high heat, sometimes over a low heat (all circumstances) which require great circumspection in (the practice of) the art.

29. These things were said by me, so that you know that the thousand classes (of bodies) that the ancients established must pass through these various operations and by a thousand others still, such as pulverizations, decoctions, various decompositions, hot and cold, exposure to dew, or in the open air, and a thousand other things. This is why, because of the multiplicity of explanations and because of the treatments that we do not talk about, the minds of those who approach this art are thrown into confusion. Now he frees us from all this, the God giver of all good things.

30. Hear then, you whose spirit is inspired, what they wrote addressing the Egyptians; therefore they do not clearly explain the object sought. Not only did they describe a thousand processes for making gold; but still they ritualized these things. They gave the measurements of the excavations and the intervals and assigned the positions of the entrances and exits of their temples, considering the four cardinal points attributing the rising to the white substance, and the setting to the yellow substance. The gold mines of Arsenoeron (are) at the eastern gate, that is to say, you find the white substance at the entrance to the temple. In Terenouthi, in the temple of Isis, at the western entrance to the temple, you will find yellow ore, after digging (to a depth) of three and a half cubits. Halfway through the three cubits you will find a black layer. After removing it, treat (it) [and you will find a green one elsewhere].

These things relating to the gold mines, inscribed on the Eastern Mountain, and on the Libyan Mountain, have been said in a mysterious sense. Do not pass lightly by; these are great mysteries: note that they have all been demonstrated to be true.

31. It is from there that he starts his operation; it is for this reason that he said: Attributing to the rising the white substance, that is to say, assigning to the origin of operations the beginning of the day, the rising of the sun on the earth. For whitening, in relation to yellowing, is the true beginning of the operation; even though this is not done by starting immediately there, because we wait until decomposition has started without the (help of) fire.

Is it without reason that Hermes wanted to make the priest understand, in addition to the beginning, this circumstance which precedes whitening? Listen to Apollo saying: “(the earth) is treated, being taken from the dawn.” Now the expression "from dawn" shows that the moment which precedes the rising (of the sun), is also that which precedes the whitening and the beginning of the whole work.

Then the completion of the whole work (by which I mean the yellowing), he attributed to the setting, which is the completion of the entire day. The phrase: “halfway up the three cubits, you will find a black layer”, was said about sulphurous materials, that is to say about our lead, the one that we remove from the slag (species of little value) immediately after bleaching, by means of hot decomposition and fixation. (It is this lead), he says, that the prophets of the Egyptians strove to obtain.

32. Know that this statement of minerals is an allegory. Because they do not mean minerals, but substances.

On what basis do we base ourselves (to say) that the rising was attributed to the masculine, and the setting to the feminine? It's about Adam. For this one, the first of all men, comes from the four elements. It is also called virgin earth and igneous earth, carnal earth and bloody earth. You will find these things in the libraries of Ptolemy. I said them to establish in relation to sacred things, that none of the beings was explained irrationally by the ancients. Because the sunset is attributed to the feminine element. Zosimus in his book on Action (says this): "I proclaim and call Hermes as a true witness, when he said: Go to Achaab the plowman and you will learn that he who sows wheat produces wheat. I also say in the same way that substances are colored by substances, according to what is written. Now the fact of being dyed involves no other distinction than that of corporeal substance and incorporeal substance: this art admits both. He says that bodily substances are fusible (metallic) substances; while the incorporeal substances (are) the stones. It designates as not having the character of substances ores and materials which have not been treated by fire, because of the necessity of this first treatment.

Pelagius said to Pausiris: “Do you want us to throw it into the sea, before the mixtures are made? And Hermes said: “You speak very well and with great accuracy.” The sea, as Zosima says, is the hermaphrodite element.

33. (The earth) is treated, being taken from dawn, that means still being impregnated with dew. In fact, the rising sun removes with its rays the dew scattered on the earth, in order to feed on it. The earth (thus) finds itself as a widow and deprived of its husband, which also says Apollo. By divine water I mean my dew, aerial water.

See how many testimonies there are to establish that this composition first needs some liquid; so, he says, that matter having been corrupted retains its specific invariable character. By the words "having been corrupted", he implied that it takes a certain time for decomposition to take place. But decomposition never occurs without the aid of some liquid. Indeed, it is to the catalog of liquids, he says, that the mystery has been entrusted.

34. On the subject of minerals: “All the ancients were concerned about them”. As they address their speeches to the Egyptians, I will still allege their testimony to you, because of your unbelief.

35. Zosimas therefore, in his book of Accomplishment, addressing Theosebia, expresses himself thus: “The whole kingdom of Egypt, O woman, is supported by these three arts, the art of opportune things, the the art of nature and the art of processing minerals. It is the art called divine, that is to say the dogmatic art for all those who deal with manipulations and these honorable arts, which we call the four chemical (arts). (This divine art), teaching what to do, was revealed to the priests alone. Indeed, the natural manipulation of ore belonged to kings; also when a priest, or what was called a wise man, explained the things which he had received as inheritance from the elders, or from his ancestors, even when he possessed (completely) knowledge of them, he did not communicate it not without reservation: for (otherwise) he was punished. Just as the craftsmen responsible for minting the royal coin do not mint it for themselves, as they would be punished. Likewise, under the kings of Egypt, the artisans responsible for operations carried out by fire, as well as those who had knowledge of washing the ore and the continuation of the operations, did not work for themselves; but they were responsible for increasing the royal treasures. They had particular chiefs, in charge of the king's wealth, and general directors, who exercised tyrannical authority over the working of the ore by fire. It was a law among the Egyptians that no one should divulge these things in writing.

“Some reproach Democritus and the ancients for not having made mention of these arts in appropriate terms, but for having exposed only those which are spoken of publicly. It is unfair to blame them for this; because they could not do otherwise. Being friends of the kings of Egypt, and honoring themselves to occupy the first ranks in dignity among the prophets, how could they have revealed to the public knowledge contrary to (the interests of) the kings and given to others the dominating power wealth? Even if they could have done it, they would not have done it; because they were jealous (of their knowledge). Only the Jews managed to learn about its practice, as well as to describe and expose these things clandestinely. This is how we find that Theophilus, son of Theogenes, spoke of the entire topographical description of the gold mines; The same goes for Mary's description of the ovens and the writings of other Jews. »

36. Synesius speaking to Dioscorus speaks of mercury (and) of the Etesian sublimated vapor and says that all the ancients know that this sublimated is white and volatile, and without substance of its own. It unites with all fuse bodies; he attracts them into himself, as experience has taught; the author expresses himself thus: if you want to know things exactly, pay attention that in the two catalogs mercury was classified before all things, and in yellow: which means gold; and in the white: which means money. In (the treatise on) gold, it is said: “Mercury which comes from cinnabar). And in the (treatise of) white, it is said: mercury which comes from arsenic or sandaraque”, etc.

D. — So mercury is of different kinds?

S. — Yes, it is of different kinds, while being one.

D. — But, if it is one, how is it of different kinds?

S. — Yes, it is of different kinds, and it has very great power. Have you not heard Hermes say: “The honeycomb is white, and the honeycomb is yellow? »

D. — Yes, I heard (him) say it. But what I want to learn, Synesius, teach me: it is the operation that you know. So mercury takes on the appearance of all bodies anyway?

S. — You understand, Dioscorus. Indeed, just as wax affects the color it has received; so also mercury, O philosopher, whitens all bodies and attracts their souls; he digests them by cooking and takes possession of them. Being therefore suitably arranged, and possessing in itself the principle of all liquidity, when it has undergone decomposition, it effects the change of colors everywhere. It forms the permanent background, while the colors do not have their own foundation. Or rather, mercury, losing its own foundation, becomes a subject that can be modified by the treatments carried out on metallic bodies and their materials.

Q. And what are these bodies and their materials?

S. — It's tetrasomy and its congeners.

D. — And what are its congeners?

S. — You have heard that their materials are their souls.

D. — So the materials (metals) are their souls?

S. — Yes; for just as the carpenter, when he takes an object of wood and makes a seat, or a chariot, or something else, works only on the material; so also does this art operate, O philosopher, when it divides bodies. Listen, O Dioscorus: the stonemason cuts the stone, or the saw, in order to make it fit for his use. Similarly, the carpenter saws and cuts the wood to make a seat or a chariot: the artist does not seek to modify anything other than the form; for there is nothing there but wood. Similarly, brass shaped into a statue, a ring, or any other object: the artist only seeks to modify the form.

Likewise also the mercury worked by us receives all kinds of forms. Fixed on a body formed of the four elements, as has been said, it remains firmly attached to it and it is impossible to expel it: it is both dominated and dominant. This is why Pebéchius said that he had a great affinity.

37. What more can we hear? This is because the worked mercury becomes receptive material, exchanging its substance for that of any fusible (metallic) body. Deprived of its own nature, it becomes volatile.

Likewise our magnesia, or antimony (sulfurized), or pyrites, or ores, or (finally) all the metallic bodies that can be named, transformed by means of natron oil, either in the container for spontaneous digestion, either by the action of the bellows, or by another device, whatever name you want to call it; — I say transformed in accordance with their natural aptitude, — are reduced to the state of ashes. Indeed, the receptive body par excellence, that which is called among them black lead, that which the prophets of the Egyptians desired to know, that which the oracles of the Demons revealed, these are the slag and ashes of Mary. Because they know that these things exist from the beginning. This is why there is black coloring and in (the course of) the operation, discoloration, that is to say bleaching; because the word bleaching does not mean anything other than the fact of discoloring, by deprivation of black. See the accuracy of all this, O wise man. For here you possess the fruit of all the captive's labor; you have here what we have been looking for for centuries; I know the perseverance of your wisdom.

38. This is the key to the discourse, and the summary of art as a whole. Don't miss any of these things slightly; because this key will open the doors of theory and practice to you; you have learned that the slag is the whole mystery. All (philosophers) are suspended and attentive to these (dross); thousands of enigmas relate to it; books in as large a number allude to it; this is the basis of whitening and yellowing. Indeed, there are two extreme colors: white and black; white is separative, and black is understanding. Zosimus, referring to this color, says: “It surrounds the pupil of the eye, as well as the rainbow. »

People without intelligence do not understand what is separative and what is comprehensive. Now the comprehensive, as well as what it understands, is drawn from the (metallic) bodies themselves. This is how the intimate nature of lead is extracted from liquid essence, as the divine Zosima also says; and it is based on all truth and knowledge coming from God. This intimate nature, I say, that is to say this soul (of lead), ceasing to manifest in itself the invisible world, manifests itself in another (metallic) body, that of silver; and in silver it manifests red blood, that is, gold.

39. O my friend, you who are generous, institute your speech for my justification, employing the means of defense that your honesty suggests to you; may your gentleness and your patience, in the face of the negligence and disorder of this study, attack not the subject of the study itself, but the neglect of the form.

So white is separative; because white is not strictly speaking called a color. In fact, every color understands and distinguishes (certain varieties): thus black is a true color, since there are several varieties of black. When they talk about colors, the minds of the uninitiated fall into confusion; but we do not deviate from common sense. The ancients know that lead is black. Now lead possesses liquid essence; notice the accuracy of what we said above about an oar attracted by liquid gasoline. Because by its gravity it tends to descend and attracts everything to itself. Behold, all mysteries have been revealed to you.

40. We must first provide some evidence, then return to our opinion. Mary supposes that lead is black from the beginning, and she says: “If our black lead is made, this is in what direction; because common lead is black from the beginning.” So she is not talking about common lead, but about (lead) produced by art.

But “how is it produced? » said Marie. “If you do not make corporeal substances incorporeal and if you do not make corporeal substances incorporeal, and if you do not make one of the two (bodies), none of the expected (results) will occur.”

And elsewhere: “If all metallic bodies are not divided by the action of fire, and if the sublimated vapor, reduced to spirit, does not rise, nothing will be brought to fruition. »

And elsewhere still: “Molybdochalcum is the Etesian stone. All (substances) melted and flowed together, (he) changes them into gold by igneous action. In power, it has the virtue of cooking raw things and doubling cooked things. But if you succeed in whitening or yellowing, it will no longer only be in potential, but in action. Here is what I affirm, said Marie: molybdochalcum exists as a result of the treatment. »

It concerns the treatment of the two slags and the doctrine is as follows.

Treat Etesian stone, or Phrygian stone, with vinegar; soak (it) first in the liquor, then after having softened it, grind it and preserve.

Democritus said: “from antimony (sulphide) and litharge, remove the lead” and he observed: “I do not speak literally, lest you go astray; but it is our black (lead). Agathodemon, using our lead, makes the refinements; he prepares a black liquor with lead and (chemical) water, a liquor intended to disintegrate the gold.

In general, they prepare black lead; for, as I have said, if common lead is black from the beginning, ours is black by manufacture, not being so at first.

41. Experience will serve as our teacher and I will again endeavor to explain the question by truthful demonstrations, returning to our first subject. The asèm does not become gold of itself, as is said; and it would not become so, without the help of our work.

It is not fair to belittle the elders; because “the letter kills, but the spirit gives life”. This word addressed by the Lord to those who questioned Him without reflection, applies to everything said by the ancients who dealt with these matters. He who knows the hidden art of chemistry says to them: “How should I now understand transmutation? How did water and fire, enemies and opposites to each other, opposed by nature, come together in the same (body), through concord and friendship? etc. O the incredible mixture! Where does this unexpected friendship between enemies come from? »

42. Here again the oracles of Apollo declare the truth, for they speak of the tomb of Osiris. Now what is the tomb of Osiris? It is a dead man bound and surrounded by wrappings, with only his face uncovered. The oracle said, pointing to Osiris: Osiris is the tightly closed tomb, hiding all the members of Osiris and allowing mortals to see only his face. But by hiding the bodies, nature wanted to excite our astonishment. Because Osiris is the principle of all liquidity; it is he who operates the fixation in the spheres of fire. This is how he binds and tightens the Whole of lead, etc. »

43. Another oracle of the same God expresses itself thus: “Take the chrysolite, the one called the male of the chrysocolla, that is to say the man intended for the combination. It is its drops that give birth to the gold of the Ethiopian land. There a species of ant extracts the gold, brings it to light and enjoys it. Put the woman of steam with him, until he is transformed: it is the divine water, bitter and styptic, that which is called the liquor of Cyprus and the liquor of the Egyptian with the braids of 'gold. With this (product), coat the leaves of the luminous goddess, those of Cypris the fair, and melt, including gold in your invocation. »

In his turn, Petasius the philosopher, speaking of the principle of the work, agrees with what has already been stated about our lead and says: "The sphere of fire is retained and enclosed by that of lead." And the same, making himself his own commentator, adds: “This means from the product which comes from male water”. Now it is the male water that he called the sphere of fire. He said (also) that lead is so possessed by the devil and given to impudence, that those who want to learn (the science) fall into madness, because of (their) ignorance (of its properties).

44. This is what was said from the beginning about the elements, which is here proclaimed. I said that lead is the (philosophical) egg, composed of the four elements; Zosimus also exhibits it somewhere. But everything ends in lead. Indeed, whatever species they include in the catalog, they mean the whole: “the four are one” says Marie. If you hear about ores, understand by that metallic species); and if you hear of species, understand ores. In fact, the four bodies form tetrasomy.

It is on the subject of this tetrasomy that Zosimas says: “Then the unfortunate woman, fallen and chained in the (metallic) body of the quadruple element, immediately undergoes the colorings desired by the one who subjugates her by means of art: such as the black coloring, or the white, or the yellow. Then, having received the colors and, little by little reaching adolescence, it reaches old age and ends up in the quadruple element body: [which means (the whole constituted by) copper, iron, tin and lead]. It ends with them in the operation of iosis, as if destroyed by these (metals) and above all no longer able to escape; [that is, intertwined with them and unable to escape from them]. And again she turns with them, keeping linked with her the one who pursues her from outside, within the circular apparatus. Now what is the circular device? if not the fire and the cause of the hopeless evaporation, carried out in the spherical flask. Just as in disease the first blood being corrupted, new blood is formed in the restoration (of health); in the same way it manifests in silver the (new) tawny-colored blood, that is to say gold.

45. Such are all the testimonies. As far as possible, I have summarized them, drawing them from many speeches; not that we lack paper; indeed what quantity of paper would be enough to exhibit the vast powers of art? Even if I prepared a paper as extensive as the sky, I could only develop here a small part of what concerns matter made corporeal. In this, our art resembles perfect and ineffable intelligence. Therefore we must exercise ourselves, according to the divine Democritus [this is a comparison], saying: “Therefore we must exercise ourselves and have an open and keen understanding. » Zosimus also says: “If you are exercised, you possess the fruit of your exercises; in fact art requires intelligence, and develops through it. »

46. ​​See how all things have become easy for you to understand. After having collected what was said from the beginning, I made a choice of everything that was presented to you.

This fact that they spoke of liquid and dry substances misleads readers. Indeed the word “liquidity” has a double meaning. Sometimes it is a liquid itself, such as water; sometimes we call liquidity, as among artisans, the smooth quality of stones. However, it is impossible to express two contrary things with a single (word).

Here truly applies the words of Petasius the philosopher, saying that lead is so demon-possessed and presumptuous, that those who want to learn fall into madness and lose their minds. My dear friend, enlighten me on obscure things. All lies must disappear. Because philosophers, these models of generosity, know all truth. I need forgiveness, because you may have to correct my mistakes; while they will become a veil for those to whom we are not permitted to make revelation.

47. Lead is attributed two contrary qualities, since it gives both the sensation of a liquid body and that of a dry body. It has three properties in itself, it is white, yellow and black; and it is also liquid. Here we also produce (with lead) four different colors of yellow. Lead has two more treatments. It is rightly that (Petasius) places art on him; but it is wrong to attribute to it the theatrical and dazzling character, the same in truth as the asterisk (stone). It is because of a similar nature that most of the ancients place art in lead. Zosimus puts it this way: “All ends in lead. » And elsewhere: “Lead is our magnesia; it is liquid by nature. » In addition, lead slag resembles the slag produced by the smelting of gold ore. It is above all for this reason that art is made to reside in lead.

48. Thus the (metallic) body of the slag, regarded by all as a product without application, vile and despised, on the contrary deserves the praise which has just been awarded to it. We must think (on this subject) like all the ancients, give it its glory and treat it through art. “Do not be intimidated by your inexperience,” said Zosimus, “and when you see that everything has turned to ashes, then understand that all is well.” So pulverize this slag and exhaust its soluble part, wash it six or seven times in sweetened water, after each melting. These melts take place because of the richness of the ore. By following this walk and this washing, says Marie, the composition softens.

All art is based on the elements; because after the end of iosis, a projection taking place, the stable yellowing of liquids occurs. By doing this, you bring out the nature hidden within. Indeed, transform their nature, and you will find what you are looking for.

This is, for us, an inexhaustible subject: so difficult is it to praise the glory of art to a sufficient extent; It is therefore out of respect for our own subject that we put an end to our speech.

He also alludes to the abode of the souls of philosophers and says: “There was a spheroidal, or ovoid, abode, looking towards the west, on the side where it had its entrance; it was in the shape of a spiral. » You will find the description in the speech mentioned above.

49. Art is still related to the sun and the moon; but the sun presides over the rising, and the moon over the setting. We provide as plausible demonstrations on these things what has been said about the ore, that is to say the substances that we extract from it.

Some macerate the sulfurous substances: when the month of pharmouthi arrives, they place each of the species in a strong linen cloth and a tight fabric. They boil them in sea water, discarding the broth produced and leaving them bathed again in sea water. They do not know the result by sight, but by the (signs) of which Hermes speaks in several places (when he says): “Boil in a strong linen cloth. »

He himself said to boil the plant, and (this) with good reason: “in fact it grows”. This increase is not a thing in vain, because plants grow for food and seed production.

Many elders have mentioned boiling. Mary and Democritus (said): “Wash and rewash, until the antimony has lost its black color.” By this washing, they want to convey whitening, as was said above.

50. Now dealing with the yellow substance, they catalog the yellow species. This is why it is said: “There are two whitenings, and two yellowings; there are two compositions, one dry, the other liquid”; that is to say, in the yellow catalog you will find plants and minerals. You will also find two liqueurs: one in the yellow chapter, and the other in the white chapter.

In the chapter of yellow liqueurs, there are products obtained with yellow plants, such as saffron, celandine and others similar.

In the list of white compositions, and among the dry materials, are all white (substances), such as the earth of Crete (chalk), the earth of Cimole and other analogues.

In the chapter of white liquors, are all white waters, such as beer, saps, clean juices of plants.

Arranging all these things among the colors, they applied their care to them. Judge for yourselves, intelligent people, after having previously practiced in these (matters). As for the rest of us, disdaining all these things, according to Democritus, “we know the diversities of matter and we go to what is most useful”.

See in the treatise on Action, in the second book, what Zosimas says on the subject of bleaching: “There are two bleachings, as well as two yellowings, one by delay, and the other by cooking. Here is how we operate by delay: the operation does not take place simply, but it is accomplished in a consecrated dwelling. Outside this sacred residence, distributed equally in all directions, are arranged around the water features and gardens, so that the zephyr blowing (does not dry out) the dust and does not remove it. out of the mortar. » This is how he spoke, in mystical terms, of the place of the pulverization. And you yourselves, intelligent people, distinguish “the center of the dwelling”; as well as the meaning of these words: “water features and gardens”.

51. Hermes supposes that man is a small world (microcosm), when he says: “Whatever the big world has, man also has. The big world has land and water animals; Man also has fleas and lice, from land animals, and helminths, from aquatic animals. The big world has rivers, fountains, seas; and man has intestines. The big world has aerial animals, and man has cousins. The great world has breaths spread everywhere, like the winds; and the man has flatuosities. The big world has the sun and the moon; man has two eyes, and we devote the right eye to the sun, and the left eye to the moon. The big world has mountains and hills, and man has bones. The big world has heaven; the man has the head. The great world has the twelve signs of the Zodiac, namely: Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius and Pisces. Man has these things from the head, that is to say from Aries, to the feet, which respond to Pisces.

This is what the ancients express, saying that man is the image of the world; what Zosimas reports in his book of Virtue. Likewise the earth is the image of the world.

52. Can we not also dilute man and make projections of him? said the philosopher, addressing Zosima. Now he says: “We have proven that this (philosophical) egg is the reproduction of the universe. » Hermes, also, making the egg in the pyramid understood by enigma, said that the egg was, strictly speaking, the substance of chrysocolla and silver. The egg is called the world with golden hair; and Hermes refers to the rooster as a man cursed by the sun. This is what it says in the ancient book. It is there that he mentions the mole, saying that this animal had also been a man; he had been cursed by God, for having revealed the mysteries of the sun and (God) had made him blind. And in fact, if the mole rises to face the sun, the earth no longer welcomes it until evening. He says that this happened because this man had known the (mysterious) shape of the sun. (God) relegated him to the black earth, as having transgressed the law, and revealed the mystery to men.

53. Let us summarize all this, for brevity. It is recognized that the genus (animal) exists due to its successive generations and is distinguished into species, such as volatile beings (and those which are not), which are within reach of the hand, without other defense than themselves. Likewise reptiles and quadrupeds, distinct from each other as to species, while they agree in power (of reproduction). But man is superior to all animals without reason, as Synesius writes to Dioscorus. He says: “Man is the most important of all animals living on the surface of the earth. »

“The proper aim of all art,” said Horus, “is to have secretly taken the seed of the evil; while all things are male and female. » As Mary says somewhere: “Unite the male and the female and you will find what you are looking for. Indeed, without the process of this meeting, nothing can succeed, because nature charms nature, etc. »

54. Democritus, on the occasion of these things, composed four books under this title: The Principle .

Mary says: “taking a sheet of silver..”; and the same, elsewhere “taking the leaf of the kerotakis”. Now she calls the instrument used to heat the leaf kerotakis. [The word leaf (also) designates plant debris].

And elsewhere, the same: “In the same motarion (put) yellow sandaraque. » [Note the feminine name of the sandaraque. As for motaria, as you know, they are made with linen].

And on the stele, below the figure of the male species, there are these words from Mary “and with all things”; and elsewhere: “the igneous preparation”. Mary said again: “Do not touch with your hands; you are not of the race of Abraham; you are not of our race.”

55. Note that art is special and not common, as some believe: they spoke as to ordinary listeners, capable of knowing and understanding. But you, my excellent son, collect the things that seem useful to you, advised by the philosopher in these terms: “I speak (to you) as to intelligent people, training your minds to know what things should be used.” If the moderns had been trained in these matters, they would not have failed by engaging indiscriminately in operations. And (again): “Become like the sons of doctors, in order to understand natures; in fact the sons of doctors, when they want to prepare a salutary remedy, do not operate with inconsiderate haste, etc. »

Here is the sense in which it has been said that art is special and not given to all. Listen, people without reflection, to what Horus the gold extractor said to Cronammon, on the art of divisions and species: “ I will introduce a little explanation, setting forth the interpretation of the true nature, only as regards the classes mentioned among us; the truth concerning the ores and stones having not been published anywhere. I speak the truth relating to minerals; because the classes have never been exhausted to the end. Indeed who does not know that gold, silver, copper, iron, lead, tin, as also earth, stones, metallic ores are (extracted) from the earth and are used ? »

It is from this (data) that they wrote; they also display liquors drawn from the saps and juices of plants, trees, fruits, dry and humid woods. By composing liqueurs with these substances, they constituted art. They shared this unique art like a tree divided into a thousand branches, and they formed a thousand classes.

So you have here, in all power, the whole work. It includes molybdochalcum, etesian stone and all the golden substances, obtained by cooking and which flow together. Now these words: “the substances which flow together” do not mean anything other than the substances which liquefy simultaneously and by this agent, that is to say by means of fire.