Nicolas Le Valois – On the Work of the Stone

(Excerpt from manuscript 124 of the Renne Library, translated by Massimo Marra)

This excerpt from manuscript 124 of the Renne Library was published in Charles Verel, Les Alchimistes de Flers, in Bulletin de la Société Historique et Archéologique de l’Orne, tome VIII, 1889, pp. 313-346. In the manuscripts of Renne examined by Verel, the first name of Nicolas Le Valois is altered to Noël.

Translation by Massimo Marra

Abbreviated Extract from a Manuscript on the Work of the Stone by the Nobleman Noël Le Vallois, Companion of M. de Grosparmy and M. Pierre de Vicot, Priest, Dedicated to His Only Son

1. My words are simple and true, and you will not be able to practice by any other way than the one I will communicate to you.

2. Others have different ways of working, but their work is always the same and leads to the same end.

3. If you understand the principles set forth in the previous treatise, you cannot go wrong, for even if you, lacking a master, take one path instead of another, your own errors will redirect you.

4. Our stone is not what many have thought, explaining the terms of the authors more subtly than the matter requires. They have been deceived by the names of various substances that the sages have mentioned to mislead the ignorant.

5. Believe that only man begets man, and likewise, metal begets metal, through its own seed, which it carries hidden within itself.

6. For, although gold is considered dead, it nonetheless contains within itself its seed, by which it can be multiplied infinitely.

7. Gold is composed of three things, two of which are superficial and one essential, and the same applies to silver.

8. For gold and silver are nothing but white and red earth, animated by that essentiality or essential thing, without which the two metals would be of little value.

9. The two superficial things are: 1. the earth that appears to our sight; 2. the water joined to this earth, which is only visible when the metal is in fusion.

10. And this essentiality is the soul or fire of the metal, which consists of an excellent virtue.

11. But this virtue can do nothing if it is deprived of that earth; or if that earth is purified, but not completely dried.

12. For although the spirit can act without the body, the body would in vain call upon the soul without the spirit.

13. Thus, we seek nothing but the separation of these three things—body, spirit, and soul—so that we may arrange them better than nature can, lacking the sufficient time to digest them.

14. And to achieve this goal, one must first extract the bond of the other two parts, which is the condensed strong spirit.

15. Once the spirit is separated, the other two parts cannot remain together or be in harmony, because the soul will always seek to follow the spirit more and more.

16. Thus, the body, stripped of spirit and soul, must be strongly whitened like salt through proper calcination.

17. Then, the spirit must be returned to this whitened body, but little by little, until, through the spirit, the body becomes as fusible as wax.

18. At this point, this spirit takes the name of "vegetable menstrual," and once returned to its body, it will bring life to the stone and assist in its purification so that the said stone may be fermented by its soul.

19. Note that all things in the world are composed of five parts: the first is phlegmatic, a superfluous moisture; the second is mercurial, which constitutes the substance of things; the third is oily and is the vivifying soul; the fourth is earthy and is the body; the fifth is the superfluity of the earth and is converted within individuals; it is called black, dead, and damned earth.

20. But our composition is not phlegmatic; rather, it is heavily burdened with this damned earth, which keeps our stone imprisoned.

21. And when this damned, malignant earth is separated through our magistery from the pure earth, then we have the true matter of the stone, without any impediment.

22. Therefore, the metal must be dissolved so that its vegetative spirit can operate; and this must be done gradually, allowing nature to work under a very gentle fire regime. Once it is dissolved, you will separate the pure from the impure and wash the dregs until they become white.

23. Then the spirit must be returned to the whitened body because, as spirit and body come together, they will call forth a new form. Place them, therefore, in a fire of corruption and generation until the light appears, and then you will be able to multiply them at will.

24. Gold is thus our body, which must be refined and then putrefied in water, and from this putrefaction, the salamander that resists fire will emerge.

25. This putrefaction is so important that without it, nothing can be accomplished, and whoever masters it, by whatever means, will discover something marvelous.

26. An infinity of books have been written on this putrefaction, but fools do not understand it; they interpret it in entirely different ways and thus waste their time.

27. Therefore, through this, azoth and fire will be sufficient for you, along with the secret furnace, because once the matter has been putrefied, it is impossible not to obtain something better and more perfect from it.

28. Everything is truthfully explained in various books, and some speak more clearly than others, but fools do not believe them since the materials, weights, and times are not described literally, but symbolically.

29. The authors seem to contradict one another, yet they are all in agreement regarding their intention, which is nothing other than to dissolve and coagulate; but to achieve this, they propose a thousand sophistic regimens. Nevertheless, the science can be compressed into a few words, in less than an hour; not so the corollaries, which are instead infinite.

30. In short, our intention is nothing other than to take common gold and purify it with antimonial cement; then reduce it into small pieces, dissolve it, open it in our water through the secret of nature, and separate its body, soul, and spirit.

31. Afterward, it must be well purified and reunited with the purified earth so that the soul may be glorified; from this, the Mercury of the Philosophers will be made, which is the first matter upon which you must work. For then, you will be able to say, "Azoth and fire are sufficient for you."

32. Because then, in the vessel, through a long and gentle fire regimen, all the colors of the world will appear, which is a truly beautiful sight to behold; it will bring you joy and lead you to the end in our secret furnace.

33. The furnace must resemble nature in its uniform and proportionate heat, which digests the matter in the same way that you see happening in the mines.

(We will skip over the following hundred or so chapters in the manuscript and move directly to the practical part.)

PRACTICE

1. First, the gold must be purified, then dissolved and reduced into an extremely fine powder. From this, one must extract a volatile spirit, white as snow, and another, red as blood. These two spirits will generate a third one in a humid and continuous heat.

2. But our magistery generally consists of two main operations: dissolution and coagulation. Dissolution includes two particular processes: simple dissolution and ablution. Coagulation contains two others: conjunction and fixation.

3. In dissolution, the parts are separated, and the whole matter remains black. In ablution, the same parts are assembled and whitened. In conjunction, the blackness reappears, and in fixation, all the elements are fixed together and made inseparable.

4. These four operations are further divided into twelve stages:
Calcination
Dissolution
Separation
Conjunction
Putrefaction
Coagulation
Nourishment
Sublimation
Fermentation
Resurrection
Multiplication
Projection

5. Calcination refers to the bodies; the ancients depicted it through a dragon sleeping in the fire, watched over by an old man. The dragon signifies the virtue of sulfur contained in the ancient dwelling of Demogorgon, that is, the earth; this dormant virtue is awakened by our Mars, called by some the magnet, which is nothing but our first simple matter, or air, that separates the earth from those matters that are sun and moon.

6. In dissolution, a fierce beast devours our sun in the presence of our magnet, which shows seven beautiful flowers; but the fire is resolved into sweat, and mercury is born (1).

7. In the separation, this mercury is separated from the feminine parts, which are those of the body and spirit, that is, of the two magnets.

8. In the conjunction, the water is set aside, and the aforementioned old man unites the male with the female when, with sweet dews, many colors appear.

9. In putrefaction, which is the fifth degree, the blackness appears, then in the sixth degree comes freezing, and in the seventh, nourishment. The infant is nourished three times with a suitable milk.

10. In sublimation, which is the eighth degree, gold and silver are exalted, but in the degree of fermentation, the seed is thrown into the earth; then in the tenth degree, the sun and the moon, which Saturn had killed, are resurrected and acquire great splendor.

11. The other two degrees are multiplication and projection, and they have been clarified previously (2).

12. As for the gradation of heat, you should conceive it as the temperature of the air from Aries to Cancer, and from there to Libra, and from there to Capricorn.

13. But note that the seven flowers that are in the work are the seven imbibitions of which Flamel makes ample mention; these seven imbibitions are repeated twice, and on them, suffice it to say what I have already stated; for never has anyone spoken more clearly than I have done; all the operations, however, are quite thoroughly treated in Lull.

14. I leave you three types of furnaces, namely: the lamp one, the manure one, which are in my other small manuscripts, and the one with coals, of which there are three different types, that is: 1) The steam of water simply heated; 2) The air tempered by a well-sealed wooden globe, a furnace in which I place more trust than in all others; 3) The lamp one.

Know that all these are just one, provided you know how to manage the fire in the right measure and avoid haste, for haste has caused many artists to fail.

NOTES:

(1) Filalete, who favorably cultivated allegory, describes the mercury of the sages as follows: "Our mercury is that serpent who devoured the companions of Cadmus, and there is no need to be surprised, for earlier he had devoured Cadmus himself, though he is much stronger. But in the end, Cadmus will pierce him through and through, so that with the strength of his breath, he will be able to coagulate him!..."

(2) Here is the text of the chapters referred to by Le Vallois:
101. The multiplication is nothing more than the exaltation of the substances and a pure reiteration of the entire work with new materials; and the completion of the work in the multiplications is not as long as the first time, because with each multiplication, the work is shortened from nine months to three, and the second will take three weeks, and so, in the end, in a very short time. (p. 31).

107. You must place four parts of pure gold in a crucible and melt them, then pour into it one part of your elixir, and stir everything with a rod until it is well mixed. Then pour everything into ingots, and this will be a medicine to heal leprous metals. But if your work is at the white stage, you must place the moon in place of the sun; for human body use, this matter is prepared differently, in the manner you will find fully explained in Lull (p. 32).