This is:
The right and true path to the Royal Chemical Wedding Hall F.C.R.
With an appendix and explanation of two days of the Chemical Wedding, presented to all lovers of the art for the benefit of the public and printed by
C.V.M.V.S.
Printed / In submission to Johan Thiemen.
In the year
M. DC. XIX. - 1619
Christian and most favorable reader, whoever wants to walk on this path to the royal chemical wedding hall and go on correctly, must surrender himself completely to God in all things, call upon him diligently for this and live according to nature in all things.
So that the Christian and favorable reader can understand my opinion of this entire work, I will divide this preface into two different points and deal with them. Firstly, I will say from whom one should ask, seek and obtain such art.
Secondly, how a person seeking art (in addition to his prayer to God) should and must live according to nature in all things (if he wants to achieve and obtain something fruitful). Now, if the wise and art-seeking reader examines and examines himself in these two points, as if in a mirror, he will soon know whether he can walk and follow this path to the chemical wedding or not. Firstly, from whom one should ask, seek and obtain such art is shown and presented to us in the following testimonies and examples.
In the New Testament Matthew, Chapter 6, our Savior and Redeemer Jesus himself says: Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you. The Holy Apostle James also says in Chapter 1: All good gifts and all perfect gifts come down from above, from the Father of light.
And Syrach in the 1st chapter: The fear of the Lord is honor and glory, joy, and a beautiful crown; the fear of the Lord makes the heart glad, and gives joy and eternal happiness. Philosophers also admonish us (to seek this art from God) in their writings and books. Among others, Alanus also speaks with these words: Son, set your heart more towards God than towards art, for it is a gift from God, and he shares it with whomever he wills, therefore have peace and joy in God, and you will have the art. Item, the excellent king and philosopher Geber says: Knowledge is a gift from God, given to us through revelation and inspired by man. But it is also explained through instruction and a keen understanding. Brother Christian RosenCreutz, of blessed memory, also admonished us to fear God on the first day of his chemical wedding when he said: I never expected that the conditions would be so difficult and dangerous.
For I thought: If only I could appear at the wedding, I would be welcome and a welcome guest. But now, it points to divine providence, of which I am still not certain, and I found nothing within myself that could help me. So I finally resorted to my usual and most reliable way and, after full and fervent prayer, lay down in my bed, hoping that my good angel might appear to me by divine decree in this dubious matter, as had happened several times before, and report it, which then, to God's praise, happened for my own good and for my neighbor's faithful and heartfelt warning and improvement.
But before I took off my hat, I fell on my knees in my outfit and wedding dress and asked God that, if that were the case, he would let it all come to a good end for me. I then vowed in God's sight that if something were revealed to me through his grace, I would promote myself, not for the honor or reputation of the world, but for his name, and use my fellow human beings well, and with this vow and good hope I left my cell with joy. From this and other examples, which would be far too long to list here, it is clear that no one can attain or obtain such art unless he seriously directs his heart and mind towards God, so that he wants to show himself grateful to God and his neighbors, since it is the highest thing that God has created next to the human soul: And this noble art is a mirror of all the highest and lowest things, in which God's nature can be adequately seen, as in a mirror.
So, the first point has been confirmed and attested to with Biblical and philosophical testimonies and examples, namely, where one should seek such high art: namely, God Almighty and the true philosopher.
Secondly, I will say briefly that someone who wants to reach the end with joy in such art must live completely according to nature, because art and nature are always together in this work.
It is crystal clear, and can be proven with many testimonies, that the artist (in this divine and philosophical art) must regulate himself according to nature, and not nature according to the artist, as can be seen from these words on the third day of the Chemical Wedding. While I was thinking about the name and inventing it, behold, some maidens came along and showed them two young men who had torches (id est ars & natura) and one had a cheerful face and bright eyes and fine proportions (which is ars). The other looked a little angrier and what he wanted had to be (this one is natura).
If you want to achieve something in this art, you must follow the last boy, for what he wants must happen, and you must surrender yourself completely to nature and make yourself like it, for nature has been ordained by God and has no other place or dwelling place than in the will of God. Those, then, who wish to fathom nature, must be like nature itself: namely, truthful, wicked, patient, constant, and, what is most important, fearing God and being harmless to your neighbor.
If you intend to continue in this art of nature, you must keep yourself calm and sober in all things, for in calm, God-fearing and sober people, God dwells with his spirit and gifts and gives all kinds of beautiful inventions that are not found in drunkards, blasphemers, drunkards and envious people.
In addition, you must be true to what you vow to God and man, so that you hold to it firmly and firmly, as God demands and wants from us in the law. Nature is bad and simple, so follow nature, don't be arrogant and presumptuous, don't think you're too clever and look for too much subtlety, because in this work of nature there won't be such great subtlety as many false and pompous alchemists have imagined and written, but that's what their arrogance does, because nature is far too bad for them, but they think they can use their high wit and sharp senses to force art, and nature must humble itself before them (as people with a wealth of art) and do what they want. But what does the Chemical Wedding say about this? Must nature then follow the artist? It says. The other boy, however, had an angry face, and what he wanted must happen. Anyone who doesn't want to follow nature is certainly wrong. So be bad and not arrogant and follow nature.
Furthermore, nature is patient. If you want to follow nature, you must also be patient and not pay attention to whether people insult you or laugh at you. Take a fine example of this from F.C.R. on the second day of his Chemical Wedding, when he speaks.
In such tumult I almost cursed the day I came here, for I had to see with pain that loose, frivolous people were at the board. But I could not remain in peace in such a small place, as this villain then mockingly called me a dappled fool. Now I did not think that there was still a port through which we would have to go, but thought that I would have to remain in such mockery, contempt and unworthy throughout the entire wedding, which I had never done to the bridegroom or the bride, if in my opinion he had sought out another fool for his wedding than me.
See, the adversity of this world brings such impatience to one-sided hearts. Now you stumble just like Brother C.R. here. / so do not remain in it, but remember that you are a slave and servant of nature, therefore do not exalt yourself above your master, but take an example from him, and be patient, for nature is also patient, whose servant you are. And if you remain in it constantly, you will ultimately be crowned with the crown of honor (like others before you), since you know well that no rose bush grows without thorns. Whoever desires roses must be worthy, so that he will also be pricked by the thorns from time to time, and carefully observe this following verse:
If you want to be a philosopher, then let patience come into your life.
Ultimately, if you want to follow nature, you must not be fickle but be and remain steadfast. Even if God does not hear you so quickly and reveals art to you, so that you do not want to call on God any more and abandon art, or even despise it and help persecute those who love art and are steadfast, do not do that, but look to nature, whose servant you are; it is steadfast in its calling, for which God has ordered and placed it, for the stars of heaven, alongside the entire firmament, keep their course and indicate to us years and days; this is what God has ordained for them in their nature to accomplish, which no artist can change with his art, but he must adapt to them, for they remain steadfast in their calling.
Until you are called to it by God, remain steadfast, it will not go wrong for you, even if it goes a little slowly. The old philosophers were not fickle, but steadfast, as can be seen in the case of the Count of Tervis, who did not cease to call upon God diligently for knowledge of the true arts. Although he was held back by God in doing so until he was 74 years old, he did not cease, and was finally heard, as can be seen at the end of the third part of his book.
There is also Brother C.R. on the other day of his wedding in Chimney, a fine example, when he says: As soon as I read the scripture, all my joy was gone again, and while I had previously sung happily, I now began to weep deeply: for I saw all three paths for me, and also knew that after a while I would be allowed to choose one path. I was still worried that if I came to the stony and rocky path, I might fall miserably to my death; or, since the path was long, I might either get lost on a wrong path, or otherwise remain on the long journey.
So I could not hope that among a thousand I would be the only one to choose the royal path, etc. For this reason my cross waited patiently for me, made me stand on my feet, and thought, since it was indeed his I had to work there so that I could get there before nightfall. Although many slippery paths turned up, I always wiped them out with my compass and did not want to deviate from the south line by a single step, although the path was sometimes so rough and untamed that I had more than a few doubts about it. These testimonies and examples show sufficiently that we should be steadfast: Although many wrong paths and great, violent winds meet and oppose us, we should not despair, but just take our compass for ourselves and stay on the south line, and God will stand by us as a protector and bless us with his spirit so that we can never stray from the south line.
To conclude, I would like to say a few words about these two points which should be considered in particular in Alchemy. The kind reader should not be displeased that I have presented this to him in such detail and brought it to his attention, since it is necessary and is the most important point on which the whole of Alchemy is based and rests. I have also wanted to attest to this with three witnesses, either oral or written, so that no one could say that I wrote this without reason.
I would also like to confirm it with more testimonies, but I consider it unnecessary, because whoever is a son of Hermetic will read the true Philosophorum books himself and consult them, and then he will hear that they agree with my opinion, but on the other hand, the false books and processes of the false alchemists and swindlers disagree, which Bernhardus Comes von der Marck also admonishes us to do in the other part of his book, when he says: And in studying like this, I looked for more books that agreed with these, because I knew that the truth and the secret were contained in books, because when you argue a lot with each other at the same time, we should all the better go to the same part: And remember, this is the truth, because they know not to tell the truth except in one thing, and thus recognized I the truth:
As I said before, where you agree with one another, people should notice that there is truth there: Whether I have now written the truth and agree with the Philosophorum opinion, the favorable reader, as long as he follows Bernhardi's teaching, can easily see and determine by the test.
I hereby commend the Christian and art-loving reader to divine protection, and what I have omitted in this prologue I will explain further in the following Practica and appendix, Vale.
The philosophers say: Ubi natura desinit, ibi ars incipit, and it is quite right and well said. However, it is not understood in the way that some would like to understand it, that where art begins, nature has completely ceased, by no means. Rather, it is to be understood in this way: that where nature has now ceased to work, one should come to her aid and help her with art. For the artist can do nothing without or against nature in this work, but everything with nature, and the artifex is nothing other than nature's servant and assistant.
If we are to help nature, we must also have something in which nature can operate: therefore, in God's name, we want to take our practices for ourselves and explain and reveal them as clearly as human tongues are permitted to do. But if you want to grasp and learn something fruitful from them, you must first know and understand the metal generation and mortification. Then you will not read these my practices without benefit, but with benefit, and follow their use: therefore, prick up your ears and pay diligent attention to my words without any hindrance.
R. Take our Saturnum and not the common lead, put it in a flask, well sealed at the top, and leave it for a month ad digestionem, then everything will melt and dissolve, as it were like ice in the sun, but if you see that it is not yet completely dissolved, leave it to digest for another month. When it has completely melted in this digestion and has become water, use a red-hot iron to cut off the tip of the flask, as far as the mouth hole on the helmet is, put the helmet on top, put a receiver for it, and seal it well so that no spirit can come out, since it is subtle and volatile.
And when it has thus melted and been left, put it in a sand cap, give it a fire of a different degree, and let it distill until no moisture remains in the bottom, then let it cool, clean it well, and pour the previously distilled water that you got in the receiver over the feces again, and imbibe it well with the distilled water so that it combines well with each other, put it back in the flask. Dissolve as before and distill over again. Distill and pour over again for as long and as much as you can until all the feces are transferred and nothing remains in the bottom, or if a little remains in the bottom, it will still taste quite sweet like sugar.
If you now have this acetum philosophicum or mercurial water, then take the green lion, heat him up for a bath and bathe him in this aceto philosophico, bathe him clean and well, and let him sit in this water for a day and night, then this water will eat away at all his veins, so that his blood will flow from his body in heaps into this water.
When he has then sat in this water for a day and night and the water is completely colored with the lion's blood, then wash him off this bloody bath and give him fresh water, and let him sit in it for another day and night until the water is again completely colored with the lion's blood. Wash it off again and give him fresh water. Do this often until you see that the lion has turned completely deathly red and has died. and no longer wants to give any blood, the dragon has conquered the lion, satisfied itself with its blood, and clothed itself magnificently. Now take this satisfied dragon and seal it in a flask with the appropriate helmet and lining, and gently distill its remaining sweat in balneo so that not half of it remains, and store the sweat that you have received in the lining, because you can use it again to bathe the lion with it and kill it.
But throw away the dead corpse of the lion as something worthless and wasted, for you need nothing more than its blood. Finally, take this dragon of yours, if you still have it in your flask, from which you have distilled half of its sweat, and pour it out into a wide glass, so that you can reach it with your hands, clean it out, and scrape off everything that has stuck to the flask and put it all into the glass, leave it there, and let it stand and rest for a day, then crystals will shoot up around the bottom of the glass, and then the moisture will drain away.
Take the shot crystals off the glass with a knife and place them on a piece of paper and let them dry in the air. Now thank God your Creator for this grace, that he has allowed you to come so far, for now you have the true fountain of Comitis Bernh. into which the king has entered, and this fountain has made the king completely clear and extremely happy.
This is the real Duchess, of whom Brother Christian RosenCreutz announces on the third day of his Chemical Wedding: Although the other two virgins have a fine appearance, this Duchess cannot be compared to them, for she is more spiritual than worldly, and always looks towards heaven. Philosophers write a lot about this Duchess, such as Salomon Trismosin ad Theophrastum discipulum: I hear and am told that you, Philippe, are working with many arts, and are looking for perfect metals, in which to seek nothing, etc. But I will have the green lion entrusted to you.
Alius Philosophicus.
But in no way will you be able to prepare the stone without Deonech [i.e. Duenech] green & liquid, which seems to be born in our mines. O blessed herb, which gives birth to all things, you make it grow and sprout, whence you know that even no vegetable and no fruit appears by sprouting, without there being a green color there.
Arnoldus in Rosario magno.
This stone is called ore by the philosophers by similitude, and yet it is not ore, and yet it is the ore of the philosophers.
Alius Philosophicus.
Our stone is a stone / and not a stone / a Venus and not a Venus, a gold and not a gold
Also Bernh. Trevis
Our medicine is made from two things of one essence, that is, from the union of fixed & non-mercurial fixed, spiritual and corporeal, cold and dry, hot and moist, and cannot be made from any other matter.
Theophrastus.
I cannot explain Mercury to you in any other way than through the green lion. The root of all creatures is green. For from the green comes the black, and from the black the white, and from the white the red.
Yes, it is the real and true double Mercury, from which Bernh. Trevis is so glorified. It is also his little fountain, in which the king of the country went to bathe.
From these allegories now mentioned, you will be able to see sufficiently what materia lapidis is, and how one should handle and deal with it in the first preparation of this work.
Therefore, protect these dried lapillae with great diligence, for the process of the first work is here completely completed, and the lion is thus beautifully and clearly purified, for it is only his blood or anima and the white eagle's glow, for the corpora are of no use, and nothing impure must come to our works, and it is also only one material. There were two, but both came and sprung from one root, and are still three, for it is sulphur, salt and mercury. In this one four and five are also enclosed, which are the four elements and also its quinta essentia, as you will clearly see and experience in the other preparation of this work.
So this is enough about the preparation of the materials for our works, now follows how one should handle and continue with it in the other works, which is called by the philosophers only child's play and women's work.
The mighty and highly wise King Geber says: For our stone we use only one material, a vessel, a fire, and it is also only one stone, but red and white. Then if you do not first know it, you cannot make it red. Another philosopher also confirms this in this verse:
Haec res est una, vas solum coctio sola. This is one thing, a single cooking vessel.
And one of the philosophers says: There is no longer a well on earth from which this water is drawn, and the well is in India, and the philosophers have with great effort, through the grace of God Almighty, discovered this noble well, and this well is in a very secret place and has a large outflow, so that its water flows over the whole world and is known to everyone, but no one knows the real reason, in what way and by what measure it can get to the well, and little knows where this well comes from, only the magicians and children of Hermeti know the way in India and how to find the noble well, and whoever does not know the real well will never come to the true art, which is why it is water in a sour form, which is sour and difficult to find, especially for those who do not know it, and the same water is naturally sour and bitter, so that no one can enjoy it.
For this reason it is used by only a few, because everyone thinks very little of it, and because of its great insignificance, almost no one can come to the art, nor notice its great virtue, because the four elements are equally hidden in it, etc. For this reason it dissolves nature, and preserves nature, and puts nature together, which nothing else on earth can do except what this water alone does, which is created by God.
Theophrastus.
You must puddle and scoop out the fountains clean, down to the superfluous faeces, and complete your work with the pure part alone, so that you do not take the whole red lion, but only its rosy blood, not the whole white eagle, but only the white glow of the eagle, not the common mercury, but the philosophicum, not the unclean Eve, but the beautiful, clean Mariam, our mineram.
From all of these you can see, as if in a mirror, that the first preparation must come first, before you begin the work completely. Therefore, continue with this work, and take, in the name of the highly praised Holy Trinity, this pure and chaste Mary or our mineral, which you purified and received in the first work, for this is the only material that all philosophers glorify, and put it in a vessel made of good glass, which is finely strong and shaped like a viol, into which put this above-mentioned material so tightly and alone, for the philosophers say: Nothing foreign and impure should come into our works.
Now seal this instrument well and securely with a Hermetic seal (which every laboratory technician knows how to do) and surround it first with an old oak tree, which protects against the sun's heat and its shadow, and then paint it all around with a wreath so that young cows and other wild animals or birds do not drink from it or bathe in it. This can be found in the fourth book of the Bernard Trevisano Committee of Marche, which is called the Parable of Bernard.
Then place such well-protected and walled-up equipment in a suitable and appropriate athanar, and give it a gentle and soft fire in the first degree, and leave it there, for this is how it must be, and this is how philosophy and nature want it, as a philosopher indicates in explicatione montis philosophorum with these verses.
On the right you can see that /
Lepus represents the art of chimia,
wonderfully white and of the same kind /
explored by the degree of the fairy /
On the left you can also find freely /
what the right clavis artis is /
just as a hen hatches a dog /
one cannot make it too subtle.
Alius Philosophus in novella pretiosa margaritae also describes it very nicely in the following verses:
He showed me a little room /
It was right in the middle of the garden /
It was surrounded by three things /
It wasn't too hot / it wasn't too cold /
Warm and humid / subtly varied
It was completely enclosed.
Airy, muted, very moral /
Incombustible, foreseeable /
He calls it vaporous /
Stable and digestible fine /
It must not be drafty /
He said, wanting to get to know it properly.
Finally, I will take good care of what
I left in the garden and called it my chamber.
How carefully locked it was
without burden when you saw it.
With this I depart from here.
If you have now closed everything up and put it in order according to this teaching, then leave it in this wormery.
You must not do anything more to it than to keep it at this level of heat, because nature itself works in the same way that you must not do anything more to a hen than to provide her with the necessary food and drink so that she stays diligently on the nest and broods, because the warmth that she gives the eggs with her places turns the eggs into young chicks after a certain time, as long as you have used good eggs. So in this work too, you must not pay any more attention to anything than just to the fire, so that it is properly maintained. That is why philosophers also say that it is only women's work and child's play, and it is so bad that a farmer could do it.
if it were shown to him: as Theophrastus also testifies when he says, There is no builder so ignorant that he would not elaborate our stone if it were shown to him.
They all say and interpret this in relation to this last preparation, and not to the first: For just as the eggs only need natural warmth, young will come out of them, but in the beginning another preparation is necessary so that you can get good eggs, namely you must have a hen and a hen who will lay the eggs afterwards, because the eggs that the hens lay are of no use at all to incubate if there was no hen with the hen:
So also in this work, if the correct cleaning and combination of male and female semen has not taken place, you will achieve little fruit in the other preparation.
If you continue in this degree of fire, the material will begin to dissolve and become more watery from day to day and will look like an island, because the undissolved material floats in the dissolved water like an island in the sea. Continue on, and eventually this island will dissolve completely and become water, but after the solution it will dry up again to some extent, then putrifaction will begin and the material will gradually begin to blacken until it finally becomes completely black.
If this happens, rejoice and thank God your creator, because the black is the true beginning of this stone, as philosophers write about it in many ways. Hermes, a father of all philosophers, says: When you see that your body has become black, like pitch, then you should know that you have worked well.
Theophrastus.
Let it stand in the athanar until it begins to dissolve per se without any addition and an island is seen in the middle of the sea, which decreases daily and finally becomes shoemaker's black. The same blackness is the bird that flies at night without wings, for the first heavenly dew has also turned into a blackness of the black horse's head by constantly boiling and rising and falling.
Bernh. Trevis says in his parable:
The king, after he had been in the well for a while, put on a black silk robe, which he ordered his first servant, Saturn, to pick up.
This black is the true Mercurius Philosophorum & prima materia lapidis. Continue therefore in this degree of fire, and do not be concerned that it is now as it were dead and completely black, for this is the next gate to the chemical wedding hall, as is also shown on the next day of the chemical wedding. For if you do not first blacken it, you cannot whiten it either: If you continue like this, after 40 days it will begin to turn black and become a gray color, and after 40 days it will become completely white. Then let it stand for another month, and it will be completely fixed and beautiful white, like the most beautiful alabaster.
Then you have once again accomplished a work, if you wish, for this white is the philosopher's stone; if you ferment it and then paint with it, you can transmute the 4 lesser metals such as C G F & D into good and durable silver. This is the albedo or the white stone, which is mentioned in the Bernese parable of the king's shirt; Rosarius calls it an Empress in his German verses, when he says:
The noble, rich Empress was born here.
The philosophers immediately called her their daughter.
And other philosophers write of this whiteness in the following words:
And here a son is born to us, and he becomes very white, and his name will be called Elixir.
Therefore, a great secret is truly revealed here, which should not be revealed to any slanderous person, but should only be kept secret by philosophers, since this art has the power to transform the lesser metal into higher, the imperfect into perfect, and when it comes to an evil person, it is no different than a sword in the hands of a foolish person who carelessly harms others.
Therefore, one must deal with it quietly and discreetly, and ask God for mercy, so that he will also grant success in this matter: for this is a great thing, that here art far surpasses nature, in that the silver prepared by art is much more perfect than that which is taken from the earth, as is understood in the philosophical saying, and yet this can be achieved by a simple art.
Therefore, the philosophers also write in the following words: Dealbate ergo Latonem & libros rumpite, ne rumpantur corda vestra, quia ars nostra levis est, & levi indiget subsidio. Although the art is easy and requires easy help, it should nevertheless be carefully noted here, because this easy help and easy art must be well taken care of. For even if the wise tincture or elixir is ready, it cannot be used unless it is first introduced into the corpora by convenient methods and means, while it is cleansed and clarified of all superfluities and impurities.
Therefore, it cannot enter the metal at all without a ferment, and even if it has been in the flow with the metal for a whole year, yes, it would also pass through the digel or instrument in which you melt the metal before it enters the metal without ferment. Yes, be careful not to ferment this elixir with an impure metal, otherwise you will achieve little usefulness, because this medicine is pure, which is why you must also add pure and fine silver to it.
Although I have stated here that one can tincture and transmute other metals with this white elixir, it is still not advisable to do so, since it can only transmute the other metals into silver, and if you continue, you can obtain and get the red tincture in a short time, and you are not allowed to do any other work than to continue, and so it goes.
Now that the white has appeared, and you continue with the fire, the white will turn into a yellow after 40 days. When this yellow appears, make the fire one degree stronger than before, because now it can withstand a little more heat, and must also have a stronger fire, if you want to bring it to the right perfect maturity.
After this yellowing, let it stand for another 40 days in this other degree of fire, then it will turn red, and after 40 days it will turn blood red, then let it stand for another month or two, and do not open the jar during this time, then it will become even more beautiful and you will be even more certain of the fixation. When all this has happened, let the jar cool down slowly and take out this medicine, put a little of it on a glowing silver plate and let it flow, if it flows without smoke like wax, then the medicine is perfect and the tincture is ready to use on people and metals, to purify, strengthen, improve and perfect both.
If it smokes, it must be put back in and left to stand for a longer time until it is firm enough. If it passes its test, does not smoke and is firm enough, then it is ready and you have a treasure that cannot be bought with all the wealth in the world. This is the real golden book that Bernhardus won through dispute and that fell into the little fountain at night, as can be read in his parable.
Rosarius calls this medicine a king in his German verses, where he says:
Here was born the King of Honor / No one can be higher than him.
Other philosophers confirm this more when they say:
Quod hic generatus fit Rex triplici Diademate coronatus, fulgens ut Sol, lucens clarius carbunculo, fluens ut cera, perseverans in igne, penetrans & retinens argentum vivum, ipsumque in fulvum Leonem convertens.
This elixir can now be used with great benefit and supernatural effects on the human body and health. But if you want to use it for metals, to improve the poor ones with it, you must first give them a ferment of good and pure gold, because without ferment it cannot enter into any metal, but how one should ferment it is unnecessary, I I am writing about it, since Brother Basilius Valentinus has described it clearly and distinctly in his last clave, so that anyone who does not know it can read it.
If now the ferment of the right order has been given to him and completed, then take this prepared and fermented Take one part of medicine and throw it onto a thousand parts of other imperfectly melted metal and let it stir together for half an hour, and you will have gold that will last in all tests. If, however, such gold is still brittle, one should add more of the metal that one has used to tincture it until the tincture has properly combined with the metals and the right speed has been achieved.
Therefore, when the medicine thrown in has flowed with the metals for half an hour, you should reach into the crucible with an iron wire and then beat what remains on it finely on an iron apron until it is thin. This will soon show whether it is still insupple or not. You can then also determine whether more metal needs to be added and, if so, how much.
It is also important to note that in the projection the fire must be larger at the top than at the bottom, otherwise the tincture would rise above rather than below itself and would not do its job properly. And with this the process of white and red medicine, along with all the associated manipulations, has been described and completed as diligently as possible, by one thing, in a vessel, in a bowl, and in a regiment of the fire, the given work is accomplished.
Therefore, everyone who receives this little book of mine should keep all philosophical opinions secret, for the white king Solomon says: Sapientes abscondunt scientiam, os autem stulti confusioni est proximum. And besides, he should show his gratitude to God Almighty, from whom he has received such wisdom, with prayer day and night, so that this may be for his praise, honor and glory, and also for the improvement of his neighbor, so that he does not bring God's severe punishment upon himself if he secretly used it for pride and greed. For it is not for nothing that the philosophers have called it a donum Dei, since they recognized that they received it from God, who is the fountain of all wisdom, and who gives all of us dignis hujus doctrinae, happiness, salvation and blessing, so that it may be used for God's praise and for the improvement of our neighbor, and God alone may be given the honor, to whom be honor, praise and glory from eternity to eternity.
Amen.
The highly enlightened man of God, Brother Christian Rosenkreutz, writes in his Chemical Wedding as follows: One evening before Easter Day, I was sitting at a table and, as was my custom, I had spoken sufficiently with my Creator in my humble prayer and reflected on many great mysteries, of which the Father of Light had shown me not a few.
Now, too, when I wanted to prepare an unsealed, unsullied little kitchen in my heart for myself with my dear Easter lamb, such a terrible wind suddenly came along that I thought nothing less than that the mountain in which my little house was dug would burst with great force: / : That is, when one is in the greatest devotion, the devil attacks one the most: / : But because this and the like of the devil / : who has done me much harm / : did not do to me, I took courage and remained in my meditation until, again as was my habit, someone hit me on the back, which frightened me so much that I could hardly look around, nor did I act as cheerfully as human weakness can be in such things.
And as such a thing tugging at her skirt several times, I looked around, and there was a beautiful, glorious woman / : / : Sapientia aut vera Philosophia naturalis: / : whose dress was completely white and decorated with many golden stars like the sky. In her right hand she carried a golden trumpet: / : that is, whoever really seeks her wisdom and finds it will be elevated to great honors and his wisdom will resound throughout the whole world like the sound of a trumpet and will bring rich rewards: / : a name engraved on it: / : Fama: / : for I could read well, but was forbidden to reveal it again.
In her left hand she had a large bunch of letters: / : scripta Philosophica: / : in all sorts of languages, which she (as I later found out) spoke in all She also had large and beautiful wings, with full eyes through and through, with which she could soar and fly faster than an eagle.
Yes, indeed, wisdom has wings and eyes everywhere, with which it can soar and see where we, with our bodies and eyes of the flesh, cannot otherwise reach. : / : I could perhaps have written more about it, but because it stayed with me for such a short time and still contained all its terror and amazement, I must let it go, for as soon as I turned around, it leafed through its letters back and forth, and finally pulled out a small letter, which it laid on the table with great reverence and left me without saying a word.
But when she rose she blew the trumpet so powerfully that the whole mountain resounded, and almost a quarter of an hour later I could hardly hear my own words anymore. : / : That is, after the true philosophy had sounded out, the whole world was filled with it, at which the other philosophers, who were to be regarded as great mountains in comparison to it, trembled and were frightened, and I myself did not know which party I should join. : / : In such an unexpected evening, I did not know how to advise or help myself, poor poor man.
I therefore fell to my knees and asked my creator not to let anything go against my eternal salvation. I then went with fear and trembling to this little letter: /: ars Chymica vel Alchymia,: /: It was so heavy that if it had been pure gold it could hardly have been so heavy. Now that I have carefully examined it, I find a small seal with which it was bequeathed. On it was engraved a delicate cross with this inscription:
In hoc signo vinces,: /: That is, if you want to come to this art and achieve something fruitful, you must obtain it from GOD alone and imitate nature, completely surrender to it, and be patient, yes, take Christ's cross upon you and follow him, and under this cross you will be crowned with the crown of Honor and justice. : / :
As soon as I found the sign, I was all the more comforted, as I was not unaware that such a sigil would not be acceptable to the devil, much less useful: I therefore opened this little letter, in which I found this verse written in white letters in golden letters: Today, today, today, is the king's wedding: that is, today and in all ways the philosophers urge you to come to their wedding; but they also admonish you how and in what form you should come: namely, as far as you are gifted with such gifts as nature itself is, as God-fearing, quiet, steadfast, patient and steadfast, as their verses further demonstrate:
If you were born for this /
Chosen by God for joy /
You can go up the mountain /
On which there are three temples /
There you can see the story:
Keep watchful / look at yourself /
If you don't bathe diligently /
The wedding can harm you /
It's a shame if you miss out on this /
Be careful if you're here too lightly:
With these verses he shows that everyone who wants to go into alchemy should first try to see for themselves whether they are in agreement with God, nature and philosophy, as long as they do not agree with these three, they will never achieve anything useful. Therefore, first reconcile yourself with God, learn to recognize nature, and first of all understand the writings of the philosophers, in which they agree with each other, before you then want to enter into the chemical wedding, that is, allow yourself to be used in alchemy and to work in it. : / :
When I read this letter, at first I felt like I was going to die very quickly, all my hair stood on end and cold sweat ran down my whole body, for although I realized that this was the wedding of which I had been told in a physical vision seven years ago, and which I had been waiting for for such a long time with great longing, and which I had finally found in diligent calculations and calculations of my annotated planets, I had never expected that it would be under such difficult and dangerous conditions, for I had previously thought that if I could just show up at the wedding, I would be a welcome and dear guest, but now it points to divine providence, of which I can never be sure:
I found this with myself too, the more I I considered that there was nothing in my head but great ignorance and blindness in secret matters, and I could not understand what was lying under my feet and with which I was surrounded every day, much less that I was born to investigate and understand the secrets of nature, because in my opinion nature could always have found a more virtuous discipline to whom it could entrust its precious, yet temporal and fleeting treasure, and I also found that my body and external behavior and brotherly love towards my neighbor were not properly purified and cleansed.
The flesh also shows itself, whose mind was only after high esteem and worldly splendor, not for the benefit of other people, and I always thought, how could I use such art to shorten my benefits so excellently promote, build stately buildings, make an eternal name in the world, and other such carnal thoughts, but I was particularly troubled by the dark words about the three temples, which I could not bring to mind without thinking, if such a miraculous thing had not been revealed to me.
Here F. C. R. leads us to a fine mirror in which we are to reflect ourselves and see ourselves well, for what is the invitation to the chemical wedding other than the invitation of the fraternity in their fame, where they call and invite everyone in their brotherhood, but why do not all those who present themselves to them come.
Here F. C. R. says the reason, namely, You should look to God's providence, Therefore, each of the fraternity should not run so boldly, yes, with the unwise and blasphemers over the Men climb over and sneak in, but what happens to those who cannot bear the weight? They are thrown out with insults and put in great danger of life and limb.
For this reason he warns us not to rush to the fraternity too quickly, but firstly to consider all points carefully to see whether we have been chosen by God for this purpose. Secondly, to examine ourselves to see whether we are capable of knowing as much in our heads and having it in reserve, to find the right path and to be able to solve the signs at the gates, and whether we are also subject to these virtues, with which nature is adorned by God, namely, to be God-fearing, truthful, steadfast, virtuous, patient, and merciful and faithful towards our neighbors.
When we consider this, many will be able to realize that they are not suited to this wedding or to this brotherhood. They will therefore turn around and let them go. But if they have the courage and love for it and consider this and see that they are not following suit in these points but are in complete opposition, they still have a heartfelt desire to be with them and to come to them. What must they do then to achieve this? See F. C. R. teaches us with these words: As I was now filled with such fear and hope, moved back and forth, found myself always completely weak and incapable, and thus could not help myself in any way, and was also greatly horrified by the above-mentioned description:
Finally, I took my usual and safest path and, after completing my earnest and fervent prayer, lay down in my bed, wondering whether my good angel might appear to me by divine predestination and report to me on this dubious matter, as has happened several times before. What should we do now?
We should seriously call on God, turn away from our evil and sinful lives, and abandon worldly vanity, which is all vanity and only lasts a short time, and long for the Eternals with all our hearts and ask God to help us with our studies, that he would assist us with his holy angels.
If this happens, then strengthen your faith that you are provided by God for this. But what did F. C. R. achieve and receive as a result of his earnest prayer? Here he goes on to say: “What has happened is to the praise of God, for my own good, and for the faithful and heartfelt warning and improvement of my neighbors.” See, here he says that God has heard him and satisfied his request, and believe that for certain, and do not let it be a nonsense to you, which I myself thought: / : When I stopped with my prayer to God: / : in sleep was revealed, yes, that which I could never have read in books, and even though I had read some things, I still could not understand it, which was later revealed to me very clearly in sleep.
Therefore, do not give up with the prayer, God will also do the same and more to you, and then give you wisdom and understanding, so that you will find the right path, have the right signs, and be able to bear the full weight, since this art can only be obtained and obtained from God, as I said in my preface to the I have reported it to all Christian readers and have tried and confirmed it with allegories.
Now follows what happened to F. C. R. as a result of his devout prayers and what he achieved. Then, as I had hardly fallen asleep, I thought I was lying in a dark tower, next to countless other people, imprisoned in great chains / : / : The tower is this world, in which we lie imprisoned in chains of darkness, so that we cannot really understand nature at all, so we are hung with sophistical rags / : / : In which we then, without any light and shine, swarm over one another like bees, and thus one makes the other's misery even more difficult / : / : What is right in the world / : / : Although neither I nor any of us have seen a piece, I still always heard one elevating himself above the other / : / :
Which is certainly more than all too true, they are completely blind in philosophy, nor does one know how to elevate himself above the other with art, and yet is everything in the basics Lappenwerck / : /
Whoever's chains or jumpers were now the slightest bit lighter, without considering that none of us had much to lift up from the others, because we were all made up drops / : / : Because the true, perfect knowledge, because of the sin of Adae and Eve, was covered from us as if by a cloak by God: / : Now, just as in such tribulation, a good one remained with others, and one always scolded the other for being blind, we finally heard many trumpets blowing together, and the army drums beating so skillfully, which nevertheless refreshed and delighted us in our crosses / : / :
The army drums and trumpets / these are the old true philosophers, who all harmonize so beautifully with one another, that one can see joy and pleasure in it / : / : Amidst such noise, the roof of the tower is lifted / and we were allowed a little light, then we could have seen each other properly, because then everything was going on among ourselves, and those who had raised themselves up too much had to get under the feet of others, in short, everyone wanted to be the highest, so I did not hesitate myself, but with my heavy jumpers, I swept out among the others and raised myself up to a stone that I caught, although I was also caught by others several times,
and I always defended myself as best I could with hands and feet, because we did not mean otherwise, because we were all left alone, which happened quite differently: / : Here he shows us nicely how things were going on in the world in his time and also now, and still are going on, because when some very learned philosophers let their writings come to light, the roof of the tower was removed, then Some have come forward who had previously been great doctors.
They have first seen that they were only ABC students compared to the true philosophers, and compared to those who thought they should know or be able to do nothing, they have become true philosophers. And it is not without reason that the same thing still happens today, that many of them go astray and would also like to have the right philosophy, but their jumps are still so heavy for some that they cannot get far from the place. And even if some still come forward with some force, they are soon thrown down again by the others, because they do not have and do not know the right foundations and are completely unstable.
Secondly, he also speaks of himself, that he has moved from this darkness to the light, and has remained steadfastly with the light of nature. Yes, he has held on to a stone with his hands and feet. This stone is the true divine word and the light of nature, from which he has not wanted to deviate, which is why he has been able to remain there, and he further shows us that we might think that the whole world would come to this knowledge of nature: / : as some think / : / : that will not happen, and he tells us this: / :
For after the gentlemen, who looked down on us from the top of the tower, were a little disillusioned by this whining and whining, an old man from Eisgrawer tells us: / : Ars: / : be quiet, and as he had barely received it / he began, as I still had it / to speak:
1.
If it does not rise up /
The poor human race /
Who has given it so much good /
From a mother right /
But because it does not want to follow /
It remains in such worries /
And must be imprisoned.
That is, God has given many such arts, but because they would like to misuse them and use them for evil, since God has given the human race its free will to do good or evil, God deprives them of what nature had to reveal to them. But nevertheless, so that the world may also know that such things are possible for nature, God lets some people recognize the characteristics of nature and know such arts, as he then shows in the following verses:
2.
My dear mother still doesn't want to look at her bad behavior / natura,
let her beautiful daughters
come to light in large numbers /
although such things rarely happen /
so that they are worth something.
Otherwise it would be considered a poem.
3.
Therefore, in honor of the festival /
which we are celebrating today /
so that her grace may be increased /
she wants to do a good deed /
the rope will now be lowered /
whoever hangs himself with it /
he will be released.
When he had hardly finished speaking, the old woman ordered: / : Natura: / : the rope: / : Tempus: / : to be let down into the tower seven times, and whoever was hanging was to be pulled up / : / : With these he wanted to show that in his time God Almighty had granted grace to man seven times, that some people had come to the knowledge of nature, and how many had lived at any time, and that the gentlemen F. C. R. can now very well know how many of you have knowledge of this art, which was confirmed by Count Bernhard when he said:
And when I searched for the art, I found no one who had knowledge of the art, and I thought that there were none to be found in the whole world. But when I knew how to prepare such a stone, I knew all those who had partaken of this art, and there were more of them than I had imagined, for this lapis gives people great knowledge and reveals many secrets to them. F. C. R. also says with these words: / :
Oh, if only God I could adequately describe the unrest that arose among us at that time, when everyone wanted to fall on the rope, and yet only one prevented the other / : / : With these words he makes it clear how it happened. Yes, when we think about it, it is still like this today: The gentlemen F. R. C. also have their rope, which is their writings and fame, which go out and come to light in the dark tower of the world. Everyone wants to hang on to the rope, and one often prevents the other, and sometimes no one stays hanging on to them and thinks that it is enough if they say they want to go to their fraternity and write to them, and they will be accepted immediately.
Oh no, here F. C. R. sets us up very differently and points us to God's providence, those to whom God wants to reveal it and give it, can be accepted and received in this fraternity and no other. But how one should know whether God has provided for someone for this or not, you have already understood from me in the previous words and it is unnecessary to repeat it again. : / :
But after 7 minutes a signal was given with a bell, whereupon the servants raised four for the first time, because at that time I was still far from being able to reach the rope, as I had previously said, to my great misfortune, I had climbed onto a stone on the wall of the tower, and therefore could not reach the rope that went down in the middle: / : Hereby F. C. R. indicates that he was not able to reach the science for the first time, and what the reasons were, because he had climbed onto a stone on the wall of the tower, which is in the monasteries, where the stone, namely the word of God and the light of nature, was clear and pure.
The wall, however, is a part of the world, and the rope hung in the middle, that is, the The trained and true teachers of this art were far away in another place, and so I was unable to obtain any help from them this time. : / : The next time the rope was let down, but because the chains were too heavy for some and the little hands too soft, they could not hold on to the rope, but they knocked down some people who might have been able to hold on well with them. : / :
That is, some of them came to some realization, but their little hands were much too soft. That is, they were much too subtle and imagined themselves to be more subtle than was necessary. That is why they could not stay hanging and also pulled others down with them. : / Yes, some people were pulled down by others who could not have gotten there themselves.
So in our great misery they were still jealous of each other, but those who valued me most of all, whose weight was so heavy that they tore their hands out of their bodies and yet could not get up / : / : That is, those who were and remained so persistent in this art that they also gave everything they had to it and ended up in great poverty and still could not get anything / : / :
So it happened that the fifth time it was wound up very little, for as soon as the signal was given, the servants were so quick with the winding that the majority tumbled over each other, but especially the fifth time, the rope was wound up completely empty, which is why the majority, including myself, despaired of our completion and called on God, that he would have mercy on us, and as far as possible, from this darkness / : / :
Here he gives us a fine lesson and example of how we should behave, even if it seems as if no one wants to remain attached to the rope of the praiseworthy brotherhood, since one person is a great hindrance to the other, we should ask God, from whom all good things have their origin and beginning, fervently, and just as Solomon did, call upon him for wisdom and understanding, God will not deny anyone who calls upon him for wisdom and desires it from the heart or turn down the request, but will graciously hear it, but one must not become weary or tired of prayer, but always persevere, because God often tests one by not hearing him as quickly as he will, even if he will remain steadfast with him, as he may confess with his mouth, but unfortunately,
God be sorry, how they remain steadfast / that can be seen with your eyes every day, so follow his words, which have also been heard by some of us: / : If they have been heard, then do not doubt at all, God will certainly hear you too, even if the help is pulled up a little, just stand firm: / : For when the rope comes for the sixth time, some of them cling to it, and because the rope swings back and forth as it is pulled up: / : that is the rumor and philosophical truth now in all countries and places, which can be seen in part: / : it has perhaps come to me by divine will, which I quickly caught, sat on top of all the others, and thus finally came out against all expectations, which makes me very happy that I did not feel the wounds I received in the head from a sharp stone: / : that is, that I have also forgotten all my suffering that I endured in the time of seeking this art / : / : until I had to help others to do the seventh and last pull (as had always happened before), when the blood from the work ran all over my clothes, which I did not pay attention to because of my joy / : / : shows us hereby that when God has let us come to knowledge, we should not bury the pound we have received under the ground: but rather help our imprisoned brothers, so that they too can come from the darkness into the light / and not think about it at all, even though we were harmed by them at the time / and had to suffer persecution from them / for they did not take it any better then / : / :
Now also the last pull, which was most important to us / When the rope was finished, the woman was taken away, and her old son. / Sapientia aut Ars, (which I was also very surprised about) announced her message to the other prisoners, who then, after a little thought, addressed her in this way.
Dear children, you who are here,
It is complete, what has long been recognized,
What my mother showed great grace,
to your brothers here,
You should not begrudge him that,
A happy time will soon come,
In which everyone will be equal to the other,
No one will be rich or poor,
He who is commanded much must get much,
He who is entrusted much is at stake:
As soon as he had finished speaking, the lid was closed and locked again, and the trumpeting and drumming of the army was stopped again: that is, the wisdom of God speaks to those who still walk in darkness a consolation, that they should not despair, even though they cannot all attain this art, since it is only for temporal life, but should console themselves that God will one day come on the last day and then make them like them, and also consider that anyone who has received great gifts from God will one day also have to give an account of how he has dealt with such God's gifts and how he has used them, since God does not want to demand more from anyone than he has given him: but woe to those to whom God has given his gifts generously and uses them for evil and blasphemous purposes; it would be much better for them to he received nothing at all:
But what happened after this warning? Look, F. C. R. says: the sound could not be so loud, one could still hear the bitter lament of the prisoners, which rose up in the tower, for all the others, which then soon made my eyes water / : / : With this he shows us that although God's word sounds clear to our ears, those stuck in darkness still do not stop complaining and seeking art, but desire much more the temporal than the eternal:
Yes, there are also many who have received such art on account, to give God an account of it on the last day, if only they could get it, they could now use it as they wished, which would pay them the same / : / : Soon the old woman sat down with her son on the prepared chair and ordered the redeemed to be counted. When she had heard the number and it had been written on a little gold tablet, she asked for the name of each one, which had also been written down by a little boy.
When she looked at us one after the other, she sighed and said to her son, "Oh, how the poor people in the tower treated me so badly, if only God could get rid of them all!" That is, when those who have come to the art see what misery and darkness they have been plunged into, they feel sorry for them, for by nature we love one another, and nature then calls upon us and says: Oh, dear God, that is your brother or other close blood friend.
You should rightly bring him out of the darkness into the light and reveal this art to him. How should he now be? this one, who can do art? Should he reveal this to his blood friend or not? Listen here, what does the old woman's son say? : / : When asked about art or wisdom, he said no, as can be seen from these words. : / : To which the son replied: Mother, it is ordained by God, we should not resist him. If we were all masters and had all the goods on earth and were then sitting at the table, who would then bring us something to eat?
For this reason the mother remained silent. Immediately afterwards she said: Well, let them be taken care of by their jumpers, which then happened quickly, and I was by no means the last. : / : With this he shows that we should not follow nature in this, but know how to resist it with wisdom. The other request that nature makes, namely to take care of those who have been redeemed by their jumpers, is granted by wisdom, that is, that they may use this art for the health of their bodies and also for their temporal maintenance. / and thus free yourself from sickness and poverty / because this is not God again /
I still could not hold back, even if I looked at others, but bowed to the old woman and thanked God, who through her had so graciously and fatherly wanted to bring me out of such darkness into the light, which then others did besides me, and thus made the woman happy. : / : He wants to say this much here, but I could not fail to obey nature and to show goodness to my neighbors, but that it was not against God, and also gives a fine lesson that we should always thank God for such great gifts. : / :
Finally, everyone was given a golden denomination or token, on which on one side the sun was embossed as it rose, on the other side the hours of my keeping these three letters D. L. S., with which everyone was given leave and sent to do their work, with the message that we should use our neighbors to praise God and keep secret what was entrusted to us, which we also promised to do, and thus parted from each other /
With this he shows that whoever has acquired this art can have enough golden tokens, and also admonishes that those who can now have enough of these golden tokens should use them well, so that they can answer for it before God on the last day, and should not make themselves look good with this art, but quietly and keep quiet / and tell those close to me what is necessary / : / :
But I could not get away because of the wounds that the jumpers gave me, but limped on both feet, which the old woman soon saw, laughed about, and called me back to her, and said: My dear son, do not let this defect worry you, but remember your weakness, and also thank God, who has let you come to the higher lights while you are still in this world and in the state of your imperfection, and keep these wounds for my sake / : / :
that is, the Lord F. C. R. also had a thorn in his flesh in his life, just as the apostle Paul also complained about it, which was implanted in him by nature; although he did avoid it as much as he could, he still stumbled from time to time. and sinned, as he continued to show in his other days, that one of the reasons for his limping was that he had not been patient in his cross, but had murmured against the Lord Breutgam.
However, he consoled himself by being able to remember his weakness at all times because of this harm, and was thereby prompted to thank God for it. This also gives us a fine example that when we come to the knowledge of art, we should not be arrogant about such gifts, but rather always think of our weakness, in which we have been stuck, and also always thank the Creator of heaven and earth for it. / :
Then the trumpets sounded again, which refreshed me so much that I woke up and only then realized that it had only been a dream, which had been so strong in my mind that I was still worried about the dream, then it occurred to me too as I still felt the wounds on my feet: After all this, I understood that God had granted me the privilege of attending such a secret and hidden wedding, and for this reason I thanked his divine majesty with childlike trust and asked that he would continue to keep me in his fear, fill my heart daily with wisdom and understanding, and finally bring me to the desired end without any merit on my part.
Then I prepared myself for the journey, put on my white linen coat, and girded my loins with a blood-red ribbon, tied crosswise over my shoulders. : / : By the white linen coat he meant the tincture on white, as Bernhardus calls it in his parabola the king's white shirt, and by the red ribbon he meant the red tincture, as the mountain farmer compares it to red boots in his treatise. : / : I put four red roses on my hat. : / : that is in the beginning (for the hat or head always means the beginning of something, and the feet, shoes or boots always the end).
So I consider the fire or the four gradus ignis. : / : with which I can pass through the crowd through such Signs that could be noticed before / for food I took bread, salt and water /:
that is / in the whole elaboration it is important to note that one has bread / that is / the right material, after all water and salt / the water is the solution, and the salt the coagulation, indicated in this work / because the turba says / dissolve & coagula, : / : I then used this on the advice of an expert / at a certain time, not without benefit in such cases / : / : thereby he shows / that he did not discover it all by himself, but sought and used the advice and instruction of experienced people who had knowledge of the art /
Therefore no one can blame the fratres for instruction / since he already has some knowledge / / and to use their good advice / : / But before I leave my little hat / : / : that is, before I took hold of the work and began it : / : I fell on my knees in my attire and wedding dress and asked God that if this were true, he would let it lead to a good end for me: that if something were to be revealed to me through his grace, I would not promote myself to his honor or the reputation of the world, but to his name and to serve my fellow human beings, and with this vow I happily left my cell in good hope : / :
With this he gives us once again a fine example of how and in what form we should direct our prayers to God when we want to begin such a high and more angelic than human work and bring it to a happy end. And that is, according to my humble understanding, the explanation of the first day of the chemical wedding of Mr. Fratris Christiani RosenCreutz, etc.
THIS TIME.
I had only just come out of my cell into the forest when it occurred to me that the whole sky and all the elements had been adorned for such a wedding. For the birds also sang more beautifully in my opinion: The young deer leapt along so joyfully that they made my old heart happy and moved me to sing: /:
With this he wants to indicate when he says: I had just left my cell, when I was now freed from all sophistical trappings and had entered the forest of nature, and I saw more than I had seen before, yes, everything I looked at gave me reason to think further about nature, and I could see much further than before, since I could see the inside of every thing, when I had previously had to make do with the external appearance, so I was much happier: /: and began to sing in a loud voice:
1.
Be happy, dear little bird /
To praise your creator highly /
Raise your voice now, bright and fine /
Your God is highly exalted /
He has prepared your food for you /
Gives it to you at the right time /
Let that be enough for you.
2.
Why do you want to be unhappy?
Why do you want to be angry with God?
That he wants you to be a little bird /
Want to confuse your little head /
That he has not made you a human /
Oh, be quiet, he has thought it through carefully /
Let that be enough for you.
3.
What am I doing, poor earthly worm /
Want to argue with God?
That I storm into heaven like this /
Fighting with might and great art /
God does not want to be held accountable /
He who is not good here, let him go /
O man, be content.
That he did not make you emperor /
Do not let that hurt you /
Perhaps he would have despised his name /
He has considered that /
The eyes of God are brighter /
He sees right into your heart /
Therefore you will not deceive God.
With this song he wants to indicate that no one should be impatient with God, grumble and say against God /: /: Although some are found /: /: How are these then better than me, that you hear their prayers, and I have called and cried to you for so long, but have not been able to be heard in the least.
I read the books just as well as this person or another, but I cannot draw such understanding from them, and create the same benefit as this person does. Therefore, you treat very differently from those who call upon you. See, he says, God sees into your heart, and knows well what is good for you in your salvation. Therefore do not be angry with God if he does not give you the art.
He knows better what is good and useful for you than you yourself. : / : This I sang from the bottom of my heart through the forest, so that it resounded everywhere and the mountains repeated the last words to me, until I finally saw a beautiful green heath: Therefore I left the forest. : / : With the forest he indicated the speculation of nature, in which he continued for so long, and considered the generation and mortification of all things for so long that he finally saw the green heath (that is, the green lion), to which he also went.
But the reason why he went to the heath were the three cedar trees, namely salt, sulphur and mercury, which are the true third principles, in these heaths the true mercurius naturae C solis & sal metallorum is, as he indicates in the following words: On these heaths stood three tall, beautiful cedar trees, which, because of their breadth, gave a wonderful and desired shade, which I was extremely pleased with. Then, although I had not yet gone far, the great desire made me almost tired, so I hurried to the trees to rest a little under them / : / :
that is, although I had not yet searched very far in nature at the same time, I still had such a desire to do something in this material that I grew tired or gave up contemplating nature in other things, just to recover properly in this one and to fathom its properties / : / : But as I came closer, I saw a little tablet that was attached to the tree, on which, when I read it painted, the following words were written in elegant letters:
Welcome guests: if you have perhaps heard anything about the king's marriage, consider these words.
Four The bridegroom offers you a choice of ways through us, by which all of them, so that you do not stumble unduly, you can reach his royal court.
The first is short, but dangerous, and which will lead you to various rocks: from which you are afraid it will be allowed to proceed.
The other is longer, which will take you around and not take you away, it is flat and easy if you help yourself with a magnet.
You will suffer neither to the right nor to the left. The third is a royal spring which will give you the way through the various delights and spectacles of our king delightful But that has hardly reached the thousandth until now.
By the fourth of these, no one will be allowed to reach the royal court, as it were, which is consuming and not except It is suitable for incorruptible bodies. Choose now from among the three which you would like, and be steadfast in it persevere, but know that whatever way you have entered, it has been so destined for you by the immutable Fate, and not unless it is right to return with the greatest risk of life.
These are the things that we wished you to know: but hey, beware that you do not know how much danger you are in for this for if you know yourself liable to even the smallest offense against the laws of our King: please then you may still go by the same road by which you came: bring yourself to the house by which I set out.
Since these words explain themselves, no explanation is necessary, nam sapientibus sat dictum, : / : As soon as I read this writing, all my joy was gone, and I, who had previously sung happily, now began to weep inwardly. For I saw all three paths before me, and also knew that after a while I would be allowed to choose one. I was still worried that if I came to the stony and rocky path, I might fall to my miserable death, or since the path was long, I might either go astray or otherwise remain on the long journey.
So I could not hope that out of 1000 I would be the one who chose the royal path. I saw the 4th path in front of me, but it was so surrounded by fire and steam that I was not even close to it. I thought about it over and over again, whether I should turn back or take one of the paths for myself. I considered my unworthiness, but the dream that I had been taken out of the tower consoled me all the time, and I could not trust in a dream, so I thought about it over and over again until I was so tired that I felt hunger and thirst in my stomach.
That is, after I had considered the paths and walked them, I did that for so long until I finally felt hungry and thirsty. That is, I had a heartfelt desire to start the work. That is, I soon got my bread. / · materia, pulled out and cut open, which a snow-white dove, which was sitting in the tree, which I had not noticed, saw, and therefore perhaps, according to its habit, brought down and came to me quite secretly, to which I then gladly gave my food, which also accepted it, and thus refreshed itself a little with its beauty. These are admittedly few words, but they contain the whole solution.
Namely, by the bread he understands the materia, by the cut open he means the solution of the same materiae. The white dove on the tree / these are the drops / that hang up in the sphere of the glass / then when the material begins to dissolve, it rises to the height of the glass / and runs together like clear drops, which then fall back down onto the material, and this happens so often that ultimately the whole material is dissolved by the drops into water, which the person who is working on this work takes pleasure in / : / :
But as soon as its enemy, a black raven, saw it, it immediately flew towards the dove / and although it did not want me, it wanted to take what was belonging to the doves, who could not defend themselves otherwise than by fleeing / : / : this is now putrifactio, and partly coagulationatio of this work / The black Raven is nigredo, which comes ex putrificatione, so / when the drops have fallen and the whole material has dissolved, which the philosophers call lac Virginis, this milk coagulates from day to day and rots. From this putrefaction it is gradually transformed into a black color, which the philosophers call the black raven.
It wants to take what is belonging to the pigeon, and it cannot defend itself in any other way than by fleeing, that is, it gives way, because the moisture is gradually dried out in this putrification, because it has to give way and make room for the moisture.
Because of this, they flew together at midday, which angered and upset me so much that I inadvertently ran after the stray raven and, against my will, ran almost the length of a field along the marked path, thus driving away the raven and freeing the pigeons. First of all I noticed how rash I had been, and that I was about to go down a path from which I could not deviate (at risk of great punishment):
The raven has rushed with the dove towards the south, that is true, as Theophrastus says, look for the red lion towards the east or the sunrise, and your white eagle towards the south, then at the south the dove will find protection and the raven must deviate, that is, when nigredo is present and the white dove is completely swallowed up, as far as the material is concerned, and calcifies itself, so to speak, and thus this terra nigra becomes the white dove or white eagle again, then it has first left its water and received the salt, which is the white herb, which F. C. R. indicates on the first day of the wedding:
Yes, it is the white shirt of the King in Bernhardi's parable: This is how this terra nigra calcifies itself, and from it albedo is created.
The 4 planets must be obedient and submissive. Anyone who has come this far should not turn back, but rather hope for luck and continue this work, for he has already come a long way, a whole field's length, that is, more than halfway. That is why you have come this far, so carry on, it will not change your mind, even if you could have taken other roads, you are still on the right path. : / :
And although I could have consoled myself somewhat, the worst thing for me was that I left my sack and bread by the tree and could never get them back. For as soon as I turned around, a wind so strong that it easily felled me was blown against me. This wind is the writing of all philosophers. When I then continued on the path, I noticed absolutely nothing. From this I could easily conclude that it would cost me my life. That is, all my effort and work would be wasted.
I therefore patiently took up my cross, got on my feet, and thought, since it had to be done, I would work there so that I could get there before nightfall. : / : that is / that I solved my work before the nigredo came along / : / : Although many obvious deviations appeared, I always wiped them out with my compasses and did not want to deviate from the south line / : / : that is / the Turba and the true philosophers by a single step, although the path was sometimes so rough and untrammeled that I had more than a little doubt about it.
Note: Do not let it seem strange to you that he sets this process twice in a row, then with the dove and the raven, he sets it up as a story that happened to him. But this following one he sets up as a kind of process, and both belong together, if you did not understand it properly from the one, since the greatest art was involved in it, it is now repeated again. : / :
On this path I thought constantly of the doves and ravens / and yet could not make it out / until finally I saw a beautiful portal in the distance on a high mountain. / ·
domum aquarij seu solutionem seen, which I then rushed towards despite the fact that it was far off the path, because the sun had already hidden itself under the mountains and I was still far from being able to see any other permanent place, and I attribute this solely to God, who could have let me go on this path and could have held my eyes so that I could have overlooked this port / : / : that is, that I had not found the right solution in the manner of the false process / : / :
I am now, as I said, rushing towards it with great force / : / : Here he does not mean to rush forward with great force, but rather with his opinion, for I say, he means to say, since he was on the right path / : / : which I reached at this time of day, that I was nevertheless able to see it as far as possible. But it was an extremely royally beautiful portal, with many magnificent pictures and objects, each of which, as I later found out, had its own special significance.
At the top was a fairly large plaque with these words Procul hinc procul ite prophani, and other things, which I was strictly forbidden to tell.: /
This royal portal is as described above / solutio vera Philosophorum & domus aquarij, If there had been a mistake here and the right path had not been followed, the whole work would have been lost / : / : As soon as I came under the portal, a robe of pale heaven swept forward, whom I greeted kindly, and he thanked me, but immediately asked me for my invitation / : / :
The one in pale clothing is the artifex or the fire, which Bernhardus also calls a hutter. Through the invitation it is understood whether I had also been provided by God for this art to be revealed to me. : / :
Oh, how glad I was at that time that I had taken it with me: for how easy it could have been that I had forgotten it, which then also happened to others, as he himself reported to me: I have now quickly laid it out / : / : By forgetting this he wants to show and say that I have turned away from the world and its vanity and have not lived properly according to God and nature. : / :
He was not only pleased with this, but also honored me, which surprised me, and said: Go away, my brother, you are a dear guest to me. I also asked him, I did not want to hide my name from him, when I answered him that I was the brother of the Red Rose Cross, he was surprised and at the same time happy, and then began: My brother, have you not taken so much with you that you could buy a token.
I answered: My means are limited, but if he sees something in me that he loves, he would like to take it. When he then asked me for a bottle of water, which I also agreed to / : / : that is, when the correct solution was completely made, you would see it so beautiful and clear that you would be amazed by it, and you must then hand over your solution to the factory, then there is nothing left but this clear water, now the solution has done its thing and begins to coagulate, so he gives you a golden token, that is the Oleum incombustibile, as he reports with the following words / : / :
If he gives me a golden token, there was nothing more on it than these two letters S. C. : / : / that is Solutio Chimicors, as a testimony that the solution was made correctly and was answered / : / : with a warning that since this would be good for me, I should fine remember: Then I asked him how many had gone before me, which he reported to me / : / : that is, I looked in books to see how many had worked in this way and had come to the art, after I had found some and my solution agreed with theirs, I was satisfied and content. : / :
Finally, out of good friendship, he gave me a little note addressed to the other hutter. As I stayed with him a little longer, the night fell / : / : that is / the coagulation begins / : / : for this reason a large pitch pan was soon lit on the door / : / : The pitch pan is the red oleum incombustibile, which then appears and comes forth / : / : so that if someone was on the way, he could hurry over there.
The path that led to the castle was fenced off on both sides with trees and planted with beautiful trees with all kinds of fruit. : : The oleum incombustibile is coagulated in the closed instrument, that is, it sets on top like a little hay and then falls to the bottom and settles at the bottom of the dishes like yellow sand. These are the beautiful lemons, bitter oranges and pomegranate trees with their fruit. : :
There are also three trees on both sides with lanterns hung on them, in which all the lights were already lit by a beautiful maiden, also in white dress, with a splendid torch. : : That is, after the yellow sand has set in the ground, nigredo comes. slowly approaching, and the powder or yellow sand becomes completely brown with yellow spots, which looks like a lantern in which there is a burning light, and hangs in the dark.
The virgin, however, has already lit such lights with a torch, that is, the artist and nature have already brought the work to this point with the help of God through the one torch, that is, with a degree of fire /: /: It was so wonderful and masterly to look at that I lingered for a long time, against all necessity. Finally, but after a satisfactory report and useful instructions, I left the first hut amicably /: /
that is, after I found all this in my work and was also assured by the philosophers that I was on the right path, I was happy: for the solution was now completely gone and had become a dry powder. For this reason I no longer thought about the solution, but rather about the little letter that the first smelter had given me. That was the sealed glass with the material.
I would have liked to try it and see what effect it had had, but the philosophers warned me not to open it if I wanted to gain something, as can be seen from the following words: / : On the way I would have liked to know what was written in my letter. But because I could not think anything bad of the smelter, I had to keep my intentions in check and continue on my way until I reached the other one. Gates come / : / : that is coagulatio, : / : which were almost like the others / but adorned with other images and secret meanings.
In the attached little plaques stood Date & dabitur vobis, : / : that is / prayer of the drunkenness to devour the wetness / : / : Under this gate lay a grim lion on a chain, which, as soon as it saw me, stood up and desired me with a great roar / : / : that is / as soon as the coagulation began, the red oleum incombustibile appeared, which is the grim lion / : / : from which then the other hut / that is the better coagulation, : / : which was placed on a marble stone / awoke / : / : that is / as previously heard / the yellow powder turned brown with yellow dots / and if you continue with the degree of fire, the brown becomes sword-like / and the yellow dots become white light, from which a grave then arises, and this grave is precisely the marble stone on which this hut lies.
When he wakes up, he drives the lion behind him and has to retreat, as he indicates with these words: /: And I am told not to be afraid: /: that is, although the philosophers keep quiet about this and do not indicate this color, but start with the black one, there are still some who make it clear in obscure words that one should not be afraid of it, for a philosopher says, if you do not first redden your work, then blacken and whiten it, then redden it again, then you have not done right: /:
Then he also drove the lion behind him and received the little letter which I handed him with trembling, read it and with great reverence thus addressed: Now, God bless you, the man I have long been fond of seeing / : / : that is / Now the grave appears, so rejoice, the black will soon follow / : / : During this he also pulled out a sign / and asked me if I could solve it / because I had nothing left but my salt / : / :
That is my solution, which I had now coagulated and turned into a grave powder / : / : I offered it to him, which he accepted with thanks. But there were only two letters on the sign, namely His Majesty: / : that is / sal meneralis seu metallorum, as a testimony / that he had proceeded correctly with the coagulation so far / : / As I was about to speak to him, the lights in the castle began to light, so the squire warned me that I should run quickly, otherwise all my effort and work would be in vain / : / : that is, I should not let up with the fire now, otherwise Nigredo would not come, because she can already be seen all ready / : / :
For they had already started to put out the lights upstairs, which I then did so quickly that I could not even protect the squire, I was so afraid / and it was really necessary, because I could not run so fast / the maiden was already at my side, after which all the lights were extinguished, and I would never have been able to find the way if she had not shown me a light with her torch.
I was still compelled to get in as close to her as possible, as the gate was slammed shut so quickly that a piece of my coat was also locked in, which I certainly had to leave behind, as neither I nor those who were standing in front of the door could call the gatekeeper, so that he would not open it, but he gave the maiden the keys, which she took with her into the courtyard / . / · domo Saturni. Meanwhile I looked around again at the gate, which was now so precious that the whole world had no equal / : / :
For this nigredo philosophorum cannot be bought with any money, since it is the beginning and certain security of the philosophical stone / : / : Next to the door were two ropes.
On one stood a cheerful image with this inscription: Congratulor. The other covered its face sadly and stood Condoleo underneath: / : that is: The black color that arises from putrification shows us death, because everything that is alive must die and decay. These two images show how we should behave in this regard: namely, those who love art and those who know rejoice in death, since they know that this is the true gate to eternal life, which is indicated by the cheerful image and inscription, Congratulor.
The unwise are horrified and afraid of death as a great evil, which the other column indicates with the inscription Condoleo: This is also how it is understood chemically; the ignorant would be completely shocked and saddened by this mortification and blackness of our material, as if it were completely corrupted.
But the wise and true researcher of art knows well that this death is the door of the incombustible stone, through which he enters into his glory, and this door is precisely the black-lined garment, of which Bernhardus Trevisanus writes: In summary, such dark, hidden sayings and images were there that the most intelligent people on earth could not have explained them. Under this gate I must give my name again / : / : that is, I must agree with the philosophers, certainly go through these gates, and have myself registered there as a witness, that I would have been certain / : / :
This was written in a parchment booklet at the end and immediately sent to Mr. Breutgam, then I was given the right guest token, which was a little smaller than the other, but much heavier, on which stood these letters S. P. N. : / : that is, I was given albedo as the right guest token, for whoever has albedinem can well say that he is a real invited guest, and the three letters indicate this, namely Sulphur Philosophorum Naturalium, which is indeed the real white Sulphur Philosophorum, because it is the truth / one should not make much of an authoritative statement confirming the allegories, for the truth sufficiently confirms itself / : / :
In addition to this, I was given a new parschu, for the floor of the castle / : / : quia est Arx Lunae,: / : was laid out of pure, light marble; I was allowed to give my old shoes to one of the poor people who sat close to the gate, but in good order / : / : these are the 4 impure metals / as Mercury, Saturn, Jupiter and Venus, : / : to whomever I wanted. I then gave them to an old man: Then a boy led me with two torches into a small room. Then they told me to sit down on a bench, which I did, but they stuck their torches in two holes made in the ground and walked away, leaving me sitting there alone.
That is, after I had completely completed or answered the putrification or nigredinem, Albedo immediately began, since at the end of each one the other beginning in this work is always present, and this happens now per calcinationem, so the boy, who is Ars, leads me into a small room, that is, the material becomes much smaller in proportion than it was at the time of the solution, and let the black and the fire work alone. : / :
Soon after, I heard a noise, but saw nothing, and it was several men who fell on top of me. But because I couldn't see, I had to let it happen and wait to see what they would do with me. / : / : That is, in this degree the fire will operate in the black, but because of the great blackness, at first I won't see a change in the colors, but afterwards, when some time has passed, this black material will gradually become gray and finally turn into a white one, as F. C. R. further indicates in the following words, when he says: / :
But because I soon noticed that they were Balbirer / : / : that is albedo, that's why he calls them Balbirer, because they wipe off the black, cleans it and cleans, which is also the work of the baler / : / : I beg you, you wouldn't want me like that, but I would be willing to do what you want / : / : that is, you shouldn't do it with too much heat, but rather gently, with the first degree of fire, as was done from the beginning / because the nigredo is ready and willing to take the white one, especially when it has already become very brown
Then they soon left me, and one of them, whom I could not see, cut the hair neatly in the middle of my head, but left my long, white-gray hair hanging on my forehead, ears and eyes. : / : that is, if this continues, this gray material, which was black, will become snow-white in the middle, and the gray color can still be seen all around, which is as if you were looking at a gray head. : / : In such a first attack, I must confess that I almost despaired.
Then, because some of them were praying to me so strongly, and I could not see anything, I could not think of anything else, but that God had let me fall because of my presumption. : / : that is, when this calcination takes place in such a way, one might well believe that this dead earth has become completely to dust and be made into nothing: But see the great Rosarius comforting the laboratories with these verses when he says:
Here the dew sinks /
And gives the dead earth its water to drink again.
Here the soul comes down from heaven /
And revives the dead body in the grave.
Now these invisible hairdressers diligently picked up the cut hair and carried it away with them / : / : that is / time and the fire take the black or gray color away with them so that you can no longer see any / : / : Then both boys turned back around and I laughed heartily that I had been so afraid. : / : that is / when I later looked at the nature and also the art of this work, it could not have been any other way, for it had to be like that, which is why he laughed at himself, as it were, for having been so afraid about it / : / :
But as soon as they had spoken a few words to me, they started ringing a little bell again / : / . Then the work of the white stone is completely finished, for just as the sound of the bells can be heard far and wide, and resounds everywhere: So this white medicine and elixir also has great virtues over all illnesses and metals far and wide around it / : / :
And as the boys tell me, to give signs to the assembly / : / : that is, with this one can test who is a true or false chemist and alchemist, for this is the true test, that he has gone through all the gates completely and has redeemed his signs in a lawful manner, and has not climbed over the barriers, sneaked in secretly, or got in through false practices and treachery.
Then there are many who boast of such art, they also make a test piece and transmute an imperfect metal into the moon, but when they have to give an account of how and in what form this happens, they are like butter in the sun: they have only calcified the moon with sulphur and mixed it with other things, so that one cannot tell that there is a moon in it. Then they pour it on the C or F and put it in a strong fire, and the C flies away, burning the lead and the other material that is mixed with it, and the silver remains alone.
This is then a real test piece, yes, it is good silver, one cannot call it anything else, but see? How did this one get into this room? By pranks, will he also hold the weight? Oh no, such deceivers are soon driven away from the first weight with a whip, with insults and ridicule, as F. C. R. further shows in the third day: And everything is as if seen in a mirror, as it happens in the world with this art. : / :
Because they reminded me and led me through many doors and snails into a large hall, that is, after I saw that through art and research into nature through these ports and passages, yes even through the degrees of the fire, I now come to the art, to which nature and art have illuminated and led me, I also let myself be found in the large hall, that is, among the number of alchemists, to further research the art, where it then happened, as you will hear further / : / : In this hall / : / : that is, under these names of the alchemists / : / : there were a large number of guests, the Emperor, kings, princes and lords, noble and ignoble, rich and poor, and all kinds of servants, who I was extremely astonished by and thought to myself:
Oh, how you were such a great fool that you made this journey so bitter and difficult / : / : that is / that you called on God so faithfully for it, loved your neighbor so fervently, and despised all temporal luxury / : / : Look, there are some companions who you know well and who you do not think anything of: They are here now, and you have barely come in at the last with all your requests and entreaties.
The devil suggested this and other things to me at that time, and I had, as best I know, directed him to the exit. Meanwhile, one of my acquaintances here and there spoke to me: Look, Brother RosenCreutz, are you here too? Yes, my brother, I answered, the grace of God has also helped me more purely, which they laughed at a lot and thought was mocking, since they also need God in such bad things. After I had asked everyone about their path, and most of them had to climb down over the rocks, they began to blow at the table with several trumpets, none of which we saw:
Through the trumpets, everyone expresses his own opinion of himself, what he thinks he knows and understands in this art, and what honors and dignites he is worthy of. For Christ himself says: You will recognize the false prophets by their fruits: Truly no good tree can bear bad fruit, and no bad tree can bear good fruit.
So here too, one can quickly recognize who alchemists and philosophers are. For the true philosophers boast of nothing but their weakness. But the false ones always boast, and one cannot give them as much honor as they would like. Then everyone sat down, each one thinking that he was above the others. For this reason, I and the other poor fellows hardly got a leaf at the lowest table.
The two boys presented themselves / and one of them prayed ·/. ars, such a beautiful and wonderful little prayer, which makes my heart rejoice within me / : / : With this he wants to show that if one wants to start and do something, one should always call upon God and ask that he would grant us his grace to do it, which the false alchemists do not care much about, yes, they completely forget God, his word and the sermon.
They revel, devour, drink and live in all sins, with this they begin their art, and also carry it out in such a way that they finally end up miserably, in great need, shame, insult and ridicule, as can be seen on the third day / : / : However, some large houses paid little attention to this, but laughed together, waved at one another, bit one another in the hut, and indulged in other such fantasies. After that the food was served, and although no one could be seen, anyone who had looked after everything so neatly, it seemed to me that each guest had his own servant.
Now when my artists had refreshed themselves a little and the wine had taken some of their shame away from their hearts, then a boasting and whining arose. One wanted to try this, another that, and the loudest were usually useless idiots: Oh, when I think of the supernatural and impossible things I heard then, I would still be angry about it.
Finally they did not stick to their order, but one licker got in between the gentlemen and another, and they gave such tricks that neither Samson nor Hercules could have pulled off with all their strength. One wanted to rid Atlantean of his burden, the other wanted to pull the three-headed Cerberus out of the light again. In short, everyone had his own squadron, and the great lords were so reckless that they believed their own.
And the villains were so bold that even though one here or another there had been slapped on the fingers with a knife, they paid no attention. : / : / that is, even if a false alchemist has been found to be a liar by a prince and lord and punished for it, the others still have no qualms about reporting back to them, because they think that you will hide your roguery better and use beautiful, elegant words to make him believe you : / : but if someone gets hold of a golden chain, they all want to risk it.
I saw one who could hear the heavens rustling, another could see Plato's Idea. The third wanted to count Democritus Atomos. There were also not a few of the eternally mobile people: in my opinion, many had a good understanding, but they gave it too much credit, to their own ruin. Finally there was also someone who wanted to talk us through it briefly, he saw the servants who were waiting on us, and he would have continued his argument even longer if one of the invisible upholders had given such an honest upholding of his lying mouth that not only he, but also many around him, kept quiet like mice: /:
It is the same even today, when artists and false alchemists come together, they all know a lot, and one always wants to know more and be more highly regarded than the other, until finally one of the upholders gives them a slap in the face, then they keep quiet, that is, when they are publicly proven to be false, and finally hanged, beheaded or whipped, then the other brothers, who had previously had big mouths, keep quiet, then they are convinced in their conscience that they understand nothing about the arts, and yet boast a lot about them:
But what pleased me best was that all those I had paid attention to were very quiet in their actions and did not shout loudly, but recognized themselves as ignorant people for whom the mysteries of nature were too high and they were much too low. Hereby he gives us a counter lesson that we should not believe such chatterers and sophistical vagabonds, but take an example from here, for he who knows such art does not boast, but keeps it quiet and discreet.
If you now want to achieve something fruitful in this art, then keep quiet and search diligently; if you do not exalt yourself with the grace of God, you will be acceptable to God and the philosophers: For F. C. R. says here: What pleased me most was that those I held in high esteem were very quiet in their actions. And Christ also says: He who exalts himself shall be humbled, and he who humbles himself shall be exalted.
For he who thinks he knows a lot, knows nothing, for he thinks he knows much more and understands a task much better than another, and thus pretends to learn from others, and thereby he brings misery upon himself. For a wise man can create benefit and fruit even from the smallest thing if he considers it with all diligence and looks at nature. In such tumult I almost cursed the day I came here. Then I had to see with pain that loose, frivolous people were up there at the board, but I could not remain in peace in such a small place, as this villain mockingly called me a spotted fool.
Now I did not think that there was still a gate available through which we had to go, but thought that I would have to remain in such ridicule, contempt and unworthiness for the whole wedding, which I had never done to harm either the bride or groom, and therefore, in my opinion, he should have found another fool for his wedding rather than me. Look at such impatience, the inequality of this world brings to simple hearts:
But that was actually a part of my lameness, which I dreamed of as mentioned above: Here it is still abundantly clear that we should not turn to such land swindlers, even though they may come to great honor and dignity for a while, and also oppress other art lovers, laugh at them and mock them, and even say that because one does not want to follow in their godless lives, it is a calamity, they are in captivity, one must not disturb them, they will in time bring out young fools and more such insults: but constantly in prayer and researching all the virtues of art, God will not let us spend the whole wedding in such mockery, because there is still a gate where we must bear the weight. then we will see who will know the best arts / : / : And indeed this outcry increased the longer it went on.
For there were already those who boasted of false and fictitious visions, who wanted to persuade us with blatantly false dreams. Now a fine, quiet man was sitting with me, who now often spoke of his own things. Finally he said, look, my brother, if someone came along who wanted to bring these stubborn people onto the right path, would he be heard? No, I answered.
So now, he says, the world wants to be deceived by force, and does not want to listen to those who mean well by it / : / : Here he again shows the current course of the world, how the false alchemists and philosophers boast of their art, when in fact they are fundamentally false. The fraternal gentlemen have declared and even promised to reform and improve such false philosophy. Are they satisfied with that?
Oh no: they would much rather help to persecute and insult the fraternal gentlemen, and even put those who are fond of and well-disposed towards the fraternal gentlemen on the highest level. Look at that scoundrel too, with what whimsical figures and mischievous thoughts he gets others to join him. There someone mocks people with unheard-of hidden words. But believe me, the time will come when these mummeries and shames will be removed and all the wise men of the world will be piled under them as swindlers, and perhaps even things that have not been taken into account will still be valid.
As he speaks this, and the shouting becomes louder the longer it goes on, a music so elegant and stately that I have never heard the like of it in my life suddenly rises up in the hall, which is why many people remained silent and waited to see what would come of it. But with this music there was every side piece that one could have imagined, and it was tuned together with such harmony that I forgot myself and sat so motionless that my companions were astonished by me, and this lasted for almost half an hour, during which neither of us said a word, then as soon as someone wanted to open his mouth, he was unexpectedly struck with a blow, and yet he did not know where it came from:
This music and stately harmony are the writings of the philosophers, which all agree so stately and beautifully with each other that one cannot be surprised enough by them, as long as one understands them properly and reads them with understanding. Yes, whoever opposes them, endures mockery and abuse in all his arts, and is like someone who builds his house on sand; when a downpour comes, it floats away and collapses, just as a highly learned alchemist or artist, if he does not have the right foundation of true philosophy, and it comes to the reason or proof, he is mockingly convinced and proven by the philosophical writings that he is false, and therefore he may then no longer open his mouth.
Me thought, because we were not able to see anything of the musicians, if only I could see all the instruments they used / : / : With this he also gives us a fine lesson that we should follow his example, since it is impossible for us to see the musicians, since some of them died hundreds, even thousands of years ago, so we should make an effort to see their instruments, that is, their left-over writings, and to amuse ourselves with them
Half an hour later the music suddenly stopped, and we could see or hear nothing else. Soon afterwards there was a great crash and noise in front of the hall's door, from trombones, trumpets and drums, and everything was so masterful / as if the Roman Emperor was about to enter / : / : after the harmonia stopped / . / · after the scripta philosophica had been lying under the bench for a while and had been hidden, trumpets, trumpets and drums were heard, that is, many false philosophers rose, which raised their voices like the trumpets, and the whole world would have thought, if they didn't know better, that it was the right and true philosophy
That is why the door opened itself, when the sound of the trumpets became so loud that we could hardly bear it / : / : that is, after the true philosophy had been hidden for a long time, God let it come out again, and opened the door to the chemical wedding hall himself: then the sound of the trumpets first became loud, yes, the shouting and writing of the false philosophers increased to such an extent that the true truth was almost taken for sophistical rubbish.
I could neither hear nor see, among the many thousands of lights that came into the hall, in my opinion, all of which were drawn by themselves in the correct order, so that we were completely horrified, until finally the two boys mentioned above entered the hall with bright torches and illuminated a beautiful maiden who had ridden on a magnificent, gold-plated triumphal chair.
These lights are again the scripta philosophica, which one would be extremely horrified at if the two boys had not illuminated them, that is, if Ars & natura had not been diligently observed in this work, and one would consider what nature could do if it were helped by art, otherwise one would think it was magic.
This maiden, however, who had ridden on the triumphal chair, is albus lapis Philosophorum, and it is precisely the virgin who first appeared dressed in white, who had hung the lights on the trees, first she was dressed in white with yellow stars, but now she is white and shimmers strongly with gold. Yes, if you look at this elixir properly, it is as if God had been mixed with an amber, which always shimmers as if they were stars: /: I thought that it was precisely those who had previously lit the lights in the path and extinguished them, and that these were her servants who had previously placed them on the trees. This one was now not white as before, but dressed in a snow-white, shining dress, which shimmered with pure gold and was so clear that we could not look at her boldly.
The two boys were almost the same, although dressed a little worse / : / : Truly if you have Albedo, you have accomplished a feat: For that reason you will then be able to contemplate nature much more sharply and better, and also progress in art much faster and more joyfully than at the beginning. That is why Ars & Natura, the two boys are now also a little better dressed than at the beginning.
Yes, this maiden Albedo is a tester of all alchemists, and all philosophers have sought her with great desire, and those who have found her do not want to leave her, but always serve her in the form of little lights, that is with her writings. : / : As soon as she came into the middle of the hall and got down from her chair, all the lights bowed before her.
Then we all stood up from our benches, but everyone stayed in our place. When she had shown us, and we in return, all respect and deference, she began to speak in a sweet voice: Here it is shown that before there were many who boasted of great strokes, but now the time has come to do the test: for if you do not first dissolve and putrefy, you cannot coagulate and calcify, that is, if you do not first use the sword, you cannot whiten, much less redden. Now Albedo comes and wants to hold an exam and ask how and in what form they got them.
have / and declares himself to be in the following verses: The king, my most gracious lord / who is now not too much / as well as his most beloved bride / who is entrusted to him in honor / who have now seen with great joy your arrival ready / and offer each one in particular their grace at all times / and wish from the bottom of their hearts / that you succeed at all times / so that your future wedding joy will not be mixed with anyone's sorrow.
Then they again politely bowed with all their little lights and soon after began: You know that in the summons no one has been summoned here who has not received all the beautiful gifts from God for a long time and has been adorned with all the necessities, as is fitting in such a case.
Although they may not believe that someone is so daring who is in such a difficult situation, in that case they could do something about it if they had not prepared for this wedding a long time ago. Therefore they are in good hope that everything will be well for you all. They are happy that so many people have found this in such a difficult time. People are still so daring that they cannot move their rudeness and force their way into places that they are not called to. So that they are not here.
Boy sold /
A scoundrel is running away with others /
But they soon get over it without anything /
want to have a clean wedding /
So tomorrow the artist's wages will take shape /
So everyone will easily be able to see /
What he has forgotten at home /
If there is someone in this group /
Who cannot trust him at all /
Let him get ready quickly /
Then it turns out that he is taking longer /
All grace is lost on him /
And he must go under the spurs tomorrow /
Whoever his conscience knocks at /
He will be put in the cage today /
He shall be free by tomorrow /
But he will never come here again /
If anyone knows what is stopping him now /
Let him go with his servant /
He will show him his room /
Where he may find his rest today /
Where the path with glory awaits him /
Otherwise it will be really hard for him to sleep /
The others take it for granted here /
The one who does against his ability /
The one who is better / he will escape /
One must hope for the best from everyone.
With these verses, the Virgin Albedo shows us how we should behave in this art. Firstly, we should see whether we are provided by God, secondly, whether we are also the servants of nature and follow her in all things. Thirdly, whether we can also endure misfortune and misery.
Then, whoever is not well assured in these three points should not apply to a fraternity to learn this art, he will not achieve anything fruitful. So that no one should act as if he knew a lot and had special secrets revealed to him by God, even as if he were the most God-fearing person on earth, and yet there is a scoundrel hidden behind it. For this reason the artist is set to work, that is albedo or the white elixir, which quickly drives out what is in the heart.
If there is a person who does not want to use it for the honor of God and the piety of poor people, but for worldly splendor and luxury, then he will soon notice that if he can only snatch up a small particular, which does not stand up to the final test, then he should not believe that he will endure the journey and attain the true universal, but rather stand by the time limit and spend nothing more on it, and he should not seduce others with his sophistical words. For to such a person, who uses it for worldly vanity, God will not give it or allow it to be revealed: For this reason he is here admonished to desist and to leave it alone.
But there are still so many who are so bold that they think they only want to seek art and never consider how they want to use it, and then end up in poverty, ridicule, insults and disgrace. It is not art that is to blame for this, but rather the artist himself, for art warns you to look carefully and examine yourself so that you do not then face disgrace. : / : As soon as she has finished speaking, she makes her bow again and jumps joyfully onto her chair. Then the trumpeters began to blow again, which many could not take away from their heavy sighs, and they led them out again invisibly.
But most of the little lights remained in the room, and one always joined ours. In such a state of perturbation it is not possible to express the serious thoughts and gestures that were exchanged. The majority were still intent on awaiting the weighing and, if it did not happen, on leaving in peace (as they had hoped). : / :
Here he shows the course of the world that when artists hear that such difficult conditions exist and that it requires such a godly and modest life, they are greatly frightened by it, but in the end they take courage and think, what do you think, you want to try it, after all, this prince and potentate, yes, lord and nobleman, must lay out the money and spend everything, if it is possible, as soon as you get a good one, if it does not make any progress, you will probably look for an excuse and excuse yourself so that you can come out of it with honor, and will thus be content with the full feast and good days, while you have them, no matter how the end turns out. This is what the same false alchemists and land swindlers do.
But how do the right and true philosophers do it? See, he continued: / : I soon came to my senses, and because my conscience convinced me of all sense and unworthiness, I decided to stay in the hall with others and to be content with the meal I had received rather than expect future defeats. : / :
Here he shows nicely how the real art-seeking students should behave when they see that such conditions are required, they should humble themselves, diligently ask God for help, and diligently seek nature. They would much rather stay in the hall than sleep in well-prepared beds.
That is, live in simplicity and Christian love, than strive for high honors and dignitaries. Yes, even if they have to lie imprisoned and bound in darkness, that is, even if they are reviled and persecuted by others, that they renounce worldly luxury, and are scolded for being hermits and slackers, there is nothing wrong with that. Let the false impostors now boast and show off.
The time will come when they will be ridiculed, and the God-fearing art-seeker will be raised with honor and come to true art. : / : After one here and another had been led into a room (each, as I later found out, into his own) by his little light / : / : that is / according to his free will, for God has given the human race its free will to do good or evil / : / :
There remained our 9th, and among others also the one who had spoken to me earlier at the table: Although our little light did not leave us / : / : that is / We had our free will, we wanted to reveal ourselves to princes and lords / and have good days / or not, it was still up to us at the time. : / : Soon after an hour one of the appointed boys came. / · Ars brought a large bunch of rope with him / . / · scripta Philosophica, and asked us first whether we were resolved to stick to it.
When we agreed to this with sighs, he put everyone in a separate place and thus retreated with our little lights and left us poor in darkness / : / : that is, after we decided to surrender ourselves to God, nature and art alone, our little lights, that is, our free will, were taken away from us through the wisdom of God, so that we no longer followed our little lights in the soft little beds, that is, we did not seek our fleshly desires, worldly pleasure and luxury, but were bound with the cords of darkness, that is, we had to keep quiet about our art and not make a big fuss about it, because we did not want to use it for worldly splendor, so we had to keep quiet / : / :
Then the water began to run over some people's baskets, and I could could not refrain from crying. For even though we were not forbidden to speak, the pain and sadness prevented anyone from speaking. The ropes were made so strangely that no one could cut them, much less remove them from their feet. That is, only then does the cross come with a heap.
Then one has renounced the world and all sophistry, and is persecuted by them for this reason, or one cannot expect much good from them, for one is only their mocking bird and their joke. In addition, the philosophical writings are so tied up with doubtful knots and substantive writings that one cannot understand them, and one almost falls into despair and abandons art altogether. But here F. C. R. gives us a fine example of how we should then behave and console ourselves. : / :
I am still comforted by the fact that many who have now gone to rest would still face great disgrace in their recovery, but we could atone for all our presumptuousness with a single night. : / : He gives us a fine consolation that we should not despair, but remember that the false deceivers who present themselves to princes and lords and are now having a good time will once again receive a bad reward.
On the other hand, we, who seek and use this only to honor and serve God and our neighbors, can only endure this for a short time, since God does not want to give us or reveal this to us, and we have to answer for it better than they, since we are the very ones F. C. R. spoke of on the first day, who held on to the rope so tightly that they also broke their arms. stretched out from the body, had great effort and diligence, and had not deprived anyone of what was his, and seduced him because of it.
If it were to come to the test, no greater harm could befall us than if we had not endured and had walked in false, erroneous paths. The others, however, would have to give a great account of this to God and also here to man, because of their seduction, by which they had seduced others and brought misfortune. / / : Until I finally fell asleep in my heavy thoughts. Then, without noticing the fewer part of us closing our eyes, I could not hold back because of the tiredness. In this sleep I had a dream, although it does not hinder him much, I do not think it unnecessary to tell him about it: / :
This dream would have been unnecessary, since everything has been sufficiently widely reported before, but nevertheless, so that we can see how pride and greed are such a great hindrance to this work, he repeats everything that was said before in a very brief summary in this dream, so that no one should be proud of the gifts that God has given him and make them known, since the one who gave them to him can also take them back, unless he uses them to please GOD, as the author explains in the following dream:
I thought I was on a high mountain and saw before me a large and wide valley / the world / In this valley there were an indescribable number of people together, each of whom had a thread on his head / : / : that is every person's happiness / : / : with which he was attached to heaven. Now one hung high, the other low / : / : that is / one exalts himself highly with his happiness, while the other always remains in his simplicity on earth.
And even if God sends him good fortune, he thanks God, from whom he has received it, for it, and does not arrogate himself, nor does he despise his poor fellow Christian, but shares with him as much as he can manage and answer for with a clear conscience. : / : A few hours later, an old man was still on earth, but in the air he was flying around, who had a pair of scissors in his hand, with which he could cut the thread of one person here or another there. The man who was now close to the ground was finished all the sooner and fell without glory.
When he came to a high place, he fell so that the earth trembled. Some of them had their threads let go, that they came to earth before the thread was cut / : / : that is, some still think that when God has placed them in honor, they could fall again, and are therefore so humane with such honors and high dignitaries that it is surprising. Although such people are not often found, they can still be found from time to time, and everyone should take an example from them, avoid arrogance and strive to be gentle and humble / : / :
I took pleasure in such tumbles, and was delighted with myself when someone who had long exalted himself in the air in his majesty fell down so shamefully, and took some of his neighbors with him / : / :
With this he shows how kind and pleasant courteous people of a praiseworthy fraternity, namely that they rejoice when they are overthrown because of their pride. On the other hand, they also have a heartfelt desire, desire friendship, and are happy to show their help to those who strive for humility and godliness, as is shown in the following words: : So it also makes me happy when the one who has always kept himself down to earth can come out of this so quietly that even his neighbors do not notice. But now, when I am at the height of my joy, I was unexpectedly pushed by one of my fellow prisoners, which is why I woke up and was very unhappy with him.
I thought about my dream and told it to my brother, who was lying on the other side of me. He didn't mind and hoped that there might be some help behind it. We spent the rest of the night talking like this and eagerly awaited the day. : / :
From this you can see, clergyman, that if you want to learn and gain something fruitful in the art of alchemy, and also be acceptable to the fratribus and enjoy their advice, you must be God-fearing, pious, humble, wicked, patient and completely harmless to your neighbors. If you follow these principles, I have no doubt that you will achieve what you desire, provided you also properly investigate nature with art. This is therefore the explanation of the first and second day of the Chemical Wedding
F. C. R.
END.
Quote of the Day
“The salt of metals is the Philosopher's Stone; for our Stone is water congealed in gold and silver; it is hostile to fire and may be dissolved into the water of which it is composed after its kind.”
Anonymous
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