With knowledge of the general and particular movement of the Elementary World and what is contained therein.
by
Mr. De Respour.
1777
PSP Transcription
To the Reader.
The Work that I have the honor of presenting to the Public, first appeared in Paris in 1668. Without the Privilege, that Louis XIV. called from the Great, had it annexed, the name of our Author would have remained entirely hidden, just as the Work itself was buried some time later in the Libraries of Scholars and Connoisseurs of Experimental Philosophy. As a caliph, he was ignored and unknown even in France and too much sought after here. Mr Pott, famous Scientist and excellent Chemist, made useless efforts to even find a copy, and the late Mr Henkel, this great Metallurgist, could hardly find a bad copy thanks to the favor of Mr Gros, Physician to the King in Paris.
Having read it, he found it worthy of being translated into our Language, both in relation to the importance of Matter, and to the profound knowledge in Natural Science and Philosophy. He undertook a fairly skillful translation, despite the Obstacles which appeared alongside the bad manuscript and the fault of the other Copies.
However, it must be admitted that he sometimes exaggerated the Translation too much, so as not to undermine the merit of our Author. Hey, how many omitted expressions, which apparently did not want to bend under the metallurgical spirit of the Translator. Nevertheless, the latter's authority was sufficient to obtain approval, so that the first printing in a short time was almost completely purchased, and we were forced to have it reprinted. But this new edition has nothing preferable, apart from two or three remarks which could not interest anyone, or contribute much to the Clarification of the Text. There are many very intelligible expressions, translated with difficulty, even the words from the French text added at the bottom of each page. I will pass over in silence the Commentary that Mr Henkel took the trouble to attach, as well as the Experiments carried out by the illustrious Hellot on Zink. All this mass of purely mechanical reflections has almost nothing compatible with the excellence of the facts scattered throughout the book, and which testify to the profound genius of Respour, a man of a vast Spirit, and of whom we can say what Phèdre said of Aesop: — emuncae naris Natura nunquam verba cui potuit dare.
As for the subject with which Respour deals, I do not disagree that it does not deserve all possible attention and that it is not worthy of so much research that great men have done on it. It is only to be regretted that several of these learned men have not exhausted the hidden meaning of this Work, as proven by their experiments carried out with all uprightness of mind. The very result of their observations never produced the effect that was expected. The lack of knowledge of this metallic body has certainly prevented Chemists from undertaking research into it until now. This is also the reason why few Chemists have written on this subject.
There is only Mr Chambon, an excellent doctor, who in his treatise on mines mentions a book entitled, Rosa mineralis, where we must find, as he assures us, some traces of a universal medicine drawn from Zink. The flowers of this half-metal are known according to their harsh preparation to all Chemists under the name of Philosophical Cotton, Hellot, Homberg, Henkel, Pott, Marggraf, Lebmann the anonymous Author ab Indagine, ci: an infinity of others have made so many tests on this metallic substance, without however having determined its proper use for metallic compounds, so recommended by our Author. Most Scholars believe that this roof is the Zinc that Respour works on, but I am far from being persuaded that the Zinc, of which the Author teaches us some secret works, is this known Educt of our homes, which has passed the fire .
On the contrary, I dare to maintain that the Antimonial Zinc, of which he speaks, could only be a product supplied completely raw by nature, as we found something similar in China called Tutenage moula, following the opinion of Mr Grill, given in Wetensk, academicians handlingar XXVI. Flight. under
K.
Leaving everyone to their own feelings I will be satisfied, if I see that the scholarly world is easy to have the satisfaction of reading the Original previously difficult to find. And it is through the humanity of Mr Fourcy and Mr Dreux in Paris, both known for their excellent erudition, who were kind enough to take the trouble to procure another copy of this beautiful book, which had become extremely rare, immediately after its release. first impression. I therefore decided to give this new edition. Nothing has been changed except the spelling of the old days, for fear of offending the delicacy of taste today. Moreover, as Mr. Hilscher has spared nothing to give this new Edition a luster suitable to the rare qualities of the Author and the merit of the book, I will consider myself sufficiently rewarded, provided that we do not entirely disapprove of the undertaking made. for many natural science enthusiasts. Langen-falza on March 2, 6, 1777.
D.Keller.
Although I have always been very reserved with regard to Science and Art, tending to imitate Nature rather than following the sentiment of those who, having given too much to their vain imaginations, to those of others, have written so many falsehoods, and so embarrassed the truth, that today this habit surpasses reason: Nevertheless I want at present as a Man, who does not claim to bear any testimony of faith, but rather of Nature which never deceive, give to the Public, what I have learned from the universal and particular movement of the Elementary World with what is contained there, starting with Metals and Minerals, continuing with Plants and ending with Animals. I had a lot of difficulty in resolving this, this is not the first time that I have promised myself to share with others the fruits of my labors, on the contrary, I dare to assure that if not had been the presumptuous people of this time, I would have already brought to light several Volumes dealing with the rarest knowledge, which until now have been heard, where I would not have named myself except in those which I allowed to be printed under other names, so that it may be said that I am entirely free from vanity. I would still have allowed it if I had not found people, whose little knowledge confused the true with the false, by a quantity of interrupted repetitions and fantastic explanations, which are used by those who amuse the Public under the reputation of Learned: their pride which makes them jealous of the happiness of their neighbor is the cause: We no longer care which side to side with, provided that we acquire false glory and satisfy our avarice, envy makes us Mute men, obstinacy makes them deaf, lies make them blind; and deception makes them insensitive, one denies what is said to him, the other blames what he sees, and he does not know why: one laughs at what he touches, and does not know it : It is not by this way that one acquires the freedom of the mind which can make them admirable, and make them distinguish what I am currently teaching, as the most affectionate of all those, who had the intention of allow the curious to enjoy natural things.
My plan is that in general we will have the means to reject lies, so that we can say in the future that there is a Book, to completely break the course of so many superfluous Authors, who insinuate errors for the Sciences, and difficulties in knowing it; they have only extravagant words as their basis, and rashly want to be listened to. What a pity ! They divert good will by bad principles; He who promises the most is he who amasses more; and having been deceived, we unjustly prefer the bad to the good: this alone has prevented the communication of much knowledge. I would not be obliged to remind you of it; if we had satisfied the Sages by doing justice to Experience. This is the only reason why Philosophers rarely write about this Science anymore; and again under different figures, so that at least, if they do not declare how it is necessary to separate the corrupting Earth, or what is perfect in the imperfect; they assure that this Art is true. How many times has it happened to me that instead of wanting to take the trouble to combat the vain imaginations of some, I have had to condescend to their opinions, and say: I work on this matter too; However, I was telling the truth, especially since we can use artifice to separate with industry what we need from various matters of the same kingdom, as I will show. But what's the point of looking for things that are far away, when you can have what's closest? What is easier than to say, this Mineral or this Metal has great properties, and therefore it can do this when it is prepared (really it will be when) seeing that for this effect, it is required to know Nature entirely, and who knows it has the choice of what is in it, because all matters are proper to it.
Thus he does not appear idolatrous of a subject and obstinate in his discussion: This means that I only confer with people whom I have entirely reserved for myself, and will remain such, until someone knows how to tell me at least, what metallic fire is: however I think I should do well before entering into discourse, to warn that everything that I will say concerning this Art, will be purely as the yeast will lead you, And so that the registrar spirits have no reason to complain attributing to me some obscurity, I have divided my liberalities into several Volumes; so that one can serve the other, to avoid the misfortunes that ordinarily bring those who exert themselves to disturb the sense of those who arise, to highlight their stupidity with that of the Charlatans, who attribute to themselves the opening of the Books of Raymond Lulle, without considering that they only change Sapience into vain subtlety, not taking care that to hear him, one must know how to do what he did, and whoever does it does not need of his Book, because it is only an extended point. Self-presumption intoxicates many students of this Art.
It is, however, easy to confuse this false sufficiency by the force of my following instructions, which I give in favor of many people who until today have too easily followed the advice of so many of these promising people, of so many creators of false recipes, of so many storytellers, and of so many deceivers, who go around swearing and affirming what they have maliciously just invented, introducing themselves under the pretext of piety, and love of God, to console the afflicted , build Hospitals, although most of the time, those that are built are their last refuge. This is the cause which makes true Scholars flee from the commerce of vulgar Philosophers, because it is unfortunate to be taken for them. We could prevent this by showing contrary effects, if we were sure of not being bothered. For me, when through too much complacency, I wanted to enrich others with my knowledge, their ingratitude not only made them publish that they were the Authors, but wanted them to decry my knowledge, which nevertheless only ever resulted in their confusion. Ah how few generous souls we find!
I protest to you that if God had not shared with me the gift of forgetting, I would not have reached the age of twenty-four to devote myself to writing; I could have done it a few years ago, if it hadn't been for what I said, seeing as it's not a work of consideration for me, having no business borrowing or stealing money. others, as there are still many drafts at the end of so many years of work. My Library is in me, do not be scandalized by the youth of my body, since it is not he who instructs you. Do not say that it is impossible that I could have practiced sufficiently and in such a short time to support all this. Just be assured that I have experienced and done everything I say. And lest your Spirit, like the others, lacking distinction, make you say, here is one who may not have wielded the Gauntlet in his life; I assure you and you will see that I am at this point the dismissal of Artists, as well as their refuge. We could prevent this by showing contrary effects, if we were sure of not being bothered. For me, when through too much complacency, I wanted to enrich others with my knowledge, their ingratitude not only made them publish that they were the Authors, but wanted them to decry my knowledge, which nevertheless only ever resulted in their confusion. Ah how few generous souls we find!
I protest to you that if God had not shared with me the gift of forgetting, I would not have reached the age of twenty-four to devote myself to writing; I could have done it a few years ago, if it hadn't been for what I said, seeing as it's not a work of consideration for me, having no business borrowing or stealing money. others, as there are still many drafts at the end of so many years of work. My Library is in me, do not be scandalized by the youth of my body, since it is not he who instructs you. Do not say that it is impossible that I could have practiced sufficiently and in such a short time to support all this. Just be assured that I have experienced and done everything I say. And lest your Spirit, like the others, lacking distinction, make you say, here is one who may not have wielded the Gauntlet in his life; I assure you and you will see that I am at this point the dismissal of Artists, as well as their refuge. We could prevent this by showing contrary effects, if we were sure of not being bothered. For me, when through too much complacency, I wanted to enrich others with my knowledge, their ingratitude not only made them publish that they were the Authors, but wanted them to decry my knowledge, which nevertheless only ever resulted in their confusion. Ah how few generous souls we find!
I protest to you that if God had not shared with me the gift of forgetting, I would not have reached the age of twenty-four to devote myself to writing; I could have done it a few years ago, if it hadn't been for what I said, seeing as it's not a work of consideration for me, having no business borrowing or stealing money. others, as there are still many drafts at the end of so many years of work. My Library is in me, do not be scandalized by the youth of my body, since it is not he who instructs you. Do not say that it is impossible that I could have practiced sufficiently and in such a short time to support all this. Just be assured that I have experienced and done everything I say. And lest your Spirit, like the others, lacking distinction, make you say, here is one who may not have wielded the Gauntlet in his life; I assure you and you will see that I am at this point the dismissal of Artists, as well as their refuge.
I would like with all my heart to be able to amply establish my principles, without stopping to destroy those of others, who have never caused me anything but displeasure, obscuring the truth with frivolous speeches; little scope would be enough for me, not to decipher everything that those who preceded me have put forward; but to discover all that is true, both above and below, and below and above, in accordance with the cause of the effect, to satisfy the most Critics, as for example, if a compound of three or four substances has such and such virtues, it is true to say that if being deprived of one of these substances, its virtue ceases, it is the substance that was drawn from it , which caused such an effect; then that this substance alone has the virtue. Hermes was obliged to make a Book of it, according to the capacity of the people of his time who were nevertheless very different from those of today in fidelity and knowledge, which I still wish to everyone by currently communicating to them what he is further noted, without having regard to the indiscretion of the Curious, but for the use of those of our Century who want to elevate themselves above the common, after having rejected all Sophistications, or cursed inventions to achieve the harm of our fellow men, and abandoned vice to follow virtue, considering that there are so many other ways of nourishing oneself in the light of your face if one has no good, without doing the job of a Thief, which is considered address, when we do not notice it; there is enough of what with honor, to get through this miserable life, the greatest would wish at the point of death to have been the least Mercenary for his salvation.
This is what I wanted to say to bring back as Brothers and Friends those who want to be participants in the secrets that I give to people who have frankness and honesty, and who will remember the good will of a Fleming from the northern West, to whom France has recently taught its language, that I wish I had learned it better to be more intelligible; because I do not seek a way to make things mysterious, and to showcase my talent; joins that it is no longer time to publish new errors, on the contrary, I only write to destroy them, rejecting by good reasons and experience the opinion of a number of people, who have had no other support than their wild imagination. What doing, will I be blameworthy; or will I be reproached for having done well?
For my part, I have complete assurance that I will not be condemned, if the truth has any credibility among Scholars.
When I have given the other parts of this work in an abbreviated manner like this, I will make many little speeches on all that is most curious in Nature, where everything will be treated with clear detail. and useful and of a style capable of instructing everyone in the deepest knowledge. I will not say anything for which I will not give solid reasons and infallible experiences; finally I promise, with the help of God, to develop all the natural secrets, not only to fill the mind with beautiful and great things, but to maintain or give to the body that health, beauty and vigor, which make it necessary
Those who I am known know very well that no motive of interest makes me write and that it is only through a zealous and affectionate movement for the advantage of everyone. I praise God for giving me the means to do without others and for making me in a mood to be more than satisfied with my fortune. So I avoid as much as possible the commerce of most of the great ones, and I love the rest of my office more than the noise of the Court.
I feel very well that a young foreigner like me, who currently has almost no leisure, has not been able to write in French without having made a large number of mistakes, and even without having missed the way of expressing oneself such as this pleasant language demands it. But certainly the little Treatises that I want to give, as I said, after this work, will be of a style capable of satisfying the delicate, as well as the learned.
contained in this Treatise
I. Particular means that the first Men practiced to arrive at the knowledge of all things.
II. Of the birth of the mineral Spirit of the generation of Metals and the means of using metallic Bodies.
III. Of the movement of the Elements and their different operations.
IV. From the generation of mineral Stones, or matrices of Metals and how Nature prepares Solar Sulfur.
I. Of the means of extracting the Mineral Spirit.
II. Motor sulfur.
III. From the Reduction in Raw Material.
IV. From the first composition of things.
V. On the usefulness of Mercury and its effects.
VI. Of the correspondence that the Fig Trees or exterior and interior Forms have with the Elements.
VII. Of the latest expansion and concentration of the Elements.
VIII. True and false operations, and the means of operating on all things.
IX. Special profits that can be made from Metals.
Recapitulation of Book II.
I. From the Conference of Two Philosophers.
II. Of a Philosopher who speaks his thoughts to Hermes, without knowing him.
III. Of two Alchemists, discussing their subject matter in the presence of Hermes who explains the Emerald Tablet to them.
IV. The Alchemists force Hermes to stay, showing him their Laboratory.
First Parable of the Great Work
Second Parable.
Third Parable.
In addition to what is carried by the titles of these Chapters, we find the way of extracting the incorporeal tincture from Copper, called Fire of Venus. The fixed orifying tincture of Zinc. The Cor Saturni or Sulfur sucking the spirit of the Sun and Moon. The way of separating sulfur from the magnet is that a dragma attracts as much iron as a whole pound. The means of converting or subjecting to Mercury all kinds of liquors, such as Beer, Water, Wine, Cider, herbal juices etc. It is shown to separate the spirit from Salt which is naturally found in the waters. strong: and to prevent Antimony Butter and metallic oils from precipitating into the water. There is the way of making the red Niter of the Ancients, and their common Salt which reduces Metals to Mercury, with the way of the true Enixian Salts, one of this, the other of Azure Lime. We learn there the reduction of Saturn into Antimony, and that of Sulfur into admirable Salt, into fixed Sulfur, and into flowing Mercury. There are still a number of other very useful operations found there, which provide examples for universal transmutation.
As for the terms used by the Author, most of them were taken from Latin, in order to avoid prolixity.
When he speaks of the Akalis Salts, he does not mean only the Salt of the Herb called Kali, but of all things, which after having passed through the Fire, retain much of its Nature, such as the Salt of Tartar, the Salt Ash, Burnt Saltpeter, Quicklime etc.
If we read this entire Book with attention, nothing obscure will be found, because one word explains the other; it was necessary to disperse things, to shorten the long speech, and to avoid what is useless to other Sciences which cannot be taught openly.
Particular means that the first men practiced to arrive at the knowledge of all things
To know what Mineral Spirit is, and how the seed of Metals is brought to light by Nature, it is first necessary to know the operations of the Elements, not as our scrupulous Ancients taught them, but, simply a betrayer of the truth, because it is impossible to be able to arrive at the perfect intelligence of one thing, without the knowledge of others, whose principles the envy of the Sages still hides, because they learned them through long assiduity, carefully rejecting what was useless for the desired effect.
They had to tirelessly examine with all sorts of accuracy the origin of the fruits, that Nature or the Tree of Life surrounds with spirits and apparent residences of serpentine Water; until deep meditation made them know the aquatic point by your triple effect.
Then all the things of the World were known to them. They easily saw that they were naked with knowledge: they knew the spaces and distances of the differences without discontinuity between the first Bodies, which through their gaze and touch generated everything that is seen in the animal, vegetable being and Mineral; therefore having open eyes, they gave to each thing a name according to its qualities or virtues: thus seeing that Water was like the weight, the wheel, and the spring of this great Machine, they will call it Medin, which the Latins interpret Mars, and the distance or gaze from Water to Air is explained Sol, as meaning alone because it is the distance from the middle of the four components, and that each thing has only one middle fixed: Air is signified by Venus; and the space of dissimilarity from Air to Fire was called the gaze or light commerce from one to the other, which we attribute to Mercury.
Fire was compared to the Moon, especially since it does not burn unless it is aided by matter like the Moon, which only illuminates by borrowing; and because it acts against Water like it.
The look of Water and Earth is called enjoyment of one to the other, or Jupiter, whose movement pushes us to the Treasures of Earth produced by means of Water.
After they understood the three middle places, and that one Element could not be without the other, they knew because of their three distances, that there was a triune unity, and that the Elements had come from 'one by extension and inversion of its own parts; besides that, seeing that its parts helped each other to open and close, they said that this Universe had an intelligent factor; and thus going from difference to difference in relation to one thing to another, they knew all things and used them according to their correspondences by numbers, as for example, by dividing the seven, which came from the four, all as well as the four Elements; we find thirteen, which is still three after ten; or one after twelve, and four after three times three. This will be seen more fully in the Chapter on the correspondence of figures.
They have also learned through these three distances or double ends of the Elements, the usefulness of the Pentacle for the abstraction of the senses, by means of the five stars which are seen from the others on both sides; the attraction of spirits by the highest and the lowest, which are only seen from one side; and the movement of Intelligences through the application of the Middle Elements, which are also seen from both sides. They considered that this Binary corresponded to the extremities of Nature, just as it served as the extremity of the three means, designating the high, the low, the strong, the weak, the large, the small, the light, the darkness , dry, liquid, hard, soft, cold, hot, pros, cons, etc. And as these two middle Bodies are each seen from two sides which are four, they judged that the name of the Creator must be contained in a quaternary name, taking with it the means of pronunciation which are the vowels, to testify to his greatness, because without a vowel it is impossible to pronounce anything, each consonant alone is even pronounced by a vowel, which takes the place of a living soul. This is why the Hebrews had this name in great veneration, both because it also includes the means of mutations of intelligence, which consist in the spiritual freedom of the fixed thing, and in the power to move the stable thing. , that, because it contains bodily what is necessary for speech, and this is the reason why Saint John named the son of God, Word.
From this name all the names of the Angels were derived, saying El or God; Michael or almost God, and so as much as we want, always diminishing, signifying them according to their characters, which we found by the sole consideration of the Elements, disguising more or less the long and round figure, as you will learn in Chapter of the Correspondence that the figures have with the Elements. The Magi joined the letters which were found approaching the Nature of Fire, by correspondence of its figure, and thus of the others, to attract qualities of resemblance; they also composed several figures according to the elementary degrees, so that it seemed that the mixture subjugated the Bodies to which they related.
Through the figures of the Elements, we have also known the virtue of the constellations, and according to the figurative movements, we make various kinds of marks corresponding to the Stars, which being joined with the figures of the precise degree of a temperament, produce beautiful effects , without there being any need for the names of Spirits, unfaithful servants, or ignorant people. It is true that we can invent or take words which correspond by letters and syllables to the number of degrees of the extension of the Elements, which I will mark, or compose harsh words, difficult to pronounce, or expressing things which stop the senses according to the activity of the movement that we seek, in order to help the rest.
We have drawn a lot of knowledge from these movements, carrying out through them operations which seem supernatural to those who are unaware of them, and this is what the Demons serve crude people with.
On the contrary, the learned Man has nothing to do with himself, and can do as much alone as all the Demons together; because if he wants to move something forward or backward, let him take care that such a thing is subject to such a movement, then knowing that too much or little is harmful, he can offend by a more violent or gentler movement which is in other subjects; the Devil can only do the same: For example the activity of a dominant element of a compound, being excited by Nature or by Art to some degree which I will mark in the seventh Chapter of the second Book , if he introduces a weaker one, he will risk the compound; or if the Demon wants to harm this or that part of a Body, he does it by an entirely contrary movement: if he wants to cause headaches, make one lose the senses or restore them, he excites the movement of the brain by a hot and dry one to harm, and by a cold and damp one to remedy it, this is what can be done to all parts, only marking how cold or hot a particular grass or thing is.
There are also artificial things, which excite or prevent movement, such as tones, objects, etc.
Do you want to provoke friendship or enmity, by the sole consideration of the Elements; use the compounds that come from it: cold can be combined with heat by means of dryness; that is to say, if your heat is hot and dry, and if your cold is cold and dry, similarly the hot humid mixes with the cold humid by means of their humid, because the neighboring degrees serve, and the distant places harm: it is also the foundation of Medicine, and of the conjunction of Metals. In the first place Tin (which the common people call Jupiter, and the Philosophers Metallic Body) can be joined to other Metals without harming them by a preparation of Saturn, thus Iron by means of Tin, Gold by means of Iron , Copper by means of Gold, Quick Silver by means of Copper, and Silver by means of Quick Silver, that is for coagulation, But for liquefaction or dissolution, the Spirit of Quicksilver dissolves Silver, that of Copper dissolves Mercury, Gold separates the parts of Copper, Iron those of Gold, Tin those of Iron: Lead can so spiritualize Tin that he can whitewash others. And just as there are two kinds of dissolutions and coagulations, some cold, others hot, there are also two strong kinds of mixtures; one when the parts are made similar by the conjunction, and the other when they are made similar before the conjunction, as happens by making the Water oily by Alkalis, to mix it with the Oil. Water can penetrate Bodies and join with them according to the means that we have found to retain it in the fire, especially since to reduce a thing to the last fusibility, or to incinerate, it is necessary to make the Bodies volatile like water. 'Water, then mix them with Water, or make the Water fixed like Earth, and mix them together, as Nature does in Mining by amassing Tin, Gold and Quicksilver that the The first Men sought through the three distances of the Elements, to make of them an entirely celestial Essence, which gave them the riches of Jupiter, the dignity of the Sun, and the subtlety of Mercury.
On the birth of the mineral Spirit, the generation of Metals, and the means of using metallic Bodies.
The center of the Elements is found in their smallest part, as well as in the middle of their Globe, and no one can put their inside out except he who made them; this is why our first Fathers, having found this impossible, looked for a subject where there was an abundance of inverted earth to cover the Water with it and make it metallic in imitation of the first Artist, because the center of the Earth joins the exterior of Water makes the mineral Spirit, and depending on whether this Earth surrounds the parts of the Water by long digestion, the whole freezes into Metal, depending on whether the Earth is well centered, because if its true center is outside, it makes gold out of it, otherwise, something close to it; what Bernard de Trévisan and others do not have; not known, this was the cause that they made a mistake in the metallic graduation believing that one changed into the other, as well as in the vessel containing the philosopher's matter, which I will reject in the Chapter of the first composition things.
It is true that Metals can terminate in each other, as they said, but it is only insofar as the exterior of one corresponds to the interior of the other, namely this that which is evident in Lead is hidden in Copper, that which is manifest in Silver is occult in Gold, the visible part of Quicksilver is invisible in Iron, and the surface of Copper is interior to the Tin. This is the real center. As for the middle center, that of Tin corresponds to that of Venus, likewise Lead to Gold, Silver to Iron, and Mercury to all: For the exterior to the exterior; Sendivogius spoke of it, although he insinuated that the mineral spirit or the oleaginous moisture received various metallic figures, according to the place of its digestion, which is a false thing; the different central distances of the atomic grain (so to speak, so as not to confuse the total with the particular) causing, as I said, various kinds of humidity, which nevertheless are deemed one, because they are all of mineral nature, and only distinguished as the Earth is more or less centrified.
Each part of Water is changed into a coarse metallic spirit by the addition that it is covered with a less prepared earth, which is not done every day; it was only done once at the beginning of the opening of the point, and since then nature has led it without it being possible to deepen it further.
If the humid mineral, coarse or subtle, has as its vessel or matrix a pure or impure place, the Metals will be more or less useful and useless, the Gold will be higher or lower; Copper and other imperfect Metals will be sweet or sour for use, and their Mining will yield less, if there are many foreign Sulphurities; but wanting to believe that one could change into the other, it would follow that we could open or close the Elements, which is not to move their points away, as Nature or Art does, as you will find in the Chapter of their extension; on the contrary, it is to extend each part of the component parts, if it were in the power of Men, they would make Creatures at their pleasure.
Many errors have crept in by those who have possessed the physical Stone, because they believed that it was only necessary to observe the degrees of movement of their composition, whose action because of the speed perhaps all the less understood, as Nature is slow, truly those who invented this Stone, had many other knowledge, this one is the least that a true Philosopher can possess, it has nevertheless been much sought after, so much because it can fill us with health and wealth: that to be placed in the company of the ancient Sages, of whom there is still a band today, who do not receive anyone unless he has completed his apprenticeship at compose this Stone, which one must have or know when entering, and then we put them on the path to the beautiful things that are in Nature, if happiness makes them acceptable.
The Philosophers' Stone is only a corporeal spirit, which has acquired so much dryness that it can retain the moist metal in the Fire, and so when it remains there more than the coarse Earth of the Metal, it is forced to fly away and leave the pure surrounded by Gold or Silver, which served as a ferment, strong as the ferment serves to bring in the powder to spread the ferment.
Today we suspect that this Stone was made in some place by Nature, which makes some people eager to search, and so that everyone can participate in this encounter, I want to teach to know it, that it is an invariable white or red matter, which Fire and Water cannot revive into Mercury or Metal. We find many things that come close to it, being guided by the colors that we see when the stone is cooked, whether it is composed by the dry process, which I will talk about, or by the wet process; the Minerals or Metallic Marcassites correspond to the dry composition according to the colors, and those, which do not have the metallic luster, refer to the wet composition, but as the majority are produced by the artifice of Mercury (as you can see in its Chapter) there are few useful ones, nevertheless if one is encountered, to which Mercury is very mortified, use it according to the order of the colors, so as not to make more or less than is necessary.
The black body has several degrees to pass before it is white, but because this cannot be done by the direct apposition of fire, as in the secret mixture of the Philosophers; you should know that the apparent mercurial Minerals must be governed by Alkali Salts, the others dissolve with those who have not suffered the flame; or you can make any material lose the metallic shine, you can finish it by separating its superfluities with Saltpetre instead of before it must need an Alkali; the Minerals, which are neither apparent nor hidden mercurials, can be prepared by common Salt, and other similar things, observing how many degrees must be advanced; for there are nine degrees to White; the little Blue is eight colors away from the White, the Sea Green by seven; the Gray Citrine of six, the Pale Violet of five; the Black of four, the great Iris of three; the Green pressed by two, the color of a dead leaf by one, and from White to redness, there are only two degrees, marked with blue Violet, and the variable, which complete the number of twelve ; after that we must consider that instead of cooking as in the Great Work, we must only separate the impurities, that is to say everything which harms the degrees of color; or add what it lacks by borrowing it from one who has it, always having before its eyes, that Salt comes when Water envelops the Earth, and Sulfur when Water and Earth equally embrace; so that everything there is is made by adding more of one or the other, and like from a little to a lot, there is a space of everything that can be increased or decreased by great or small apposition, there are, and will be done, innumerable things, both to Minerals, to the generation of the Mercurial spirit by the Earth inverted on Water, and to Plants by Water eccentricized on Air, and that to Animals speaks the center of the Air surrounding the Fire.
As for the Elements which have had no disposition other than their continuous extension, they also produce different things, but because they do not duly enter one into the other, which they do, with little difficulty. duration.
Of the movement of the Elements and their different Operations.
The origin of all knowledge is the supposition of a point: And we called Savant, the one who by this means can clarify each thing without taking anything else. This general point is surrounded by other particulars, which are the names or attributes signifying and distinguishing, which we receive by common agreement, by agreeing on the properties, virtues and qualities of things, without changing anything, otherwise when it we should talk about it; if we said that it is no longer that, no conclusion could be drawn from it, because it always arises from what has been decided, if you conclude with me, that a Man is a Man, it is It follows that everything that most resembles a man does not resemble a Horse more; whereas by saying the contrary, we would rather condemn our intention than sin against the truth.
It would be a great confusion, if asking a Man why he would have said: This is true, or I know this, he would answer, because it is not true, and I do not know it, as those who do after having established part of what they have imagined, add brazenly when their point can no longer provide them, by an occult virtue: thus it is as much as if they had said nothing at all, since their point discovers falsity, by not being able to provide consequences.
The Water has frozen; how ? By the cold: where does this cold come from? they will say of a quality, without considering that all quality comes from the movement of some body, and that all movement produces heat. Fire makes Water exhale; how ? by its natural quality: and its natural quality, who is it? to act on Water; Great conclusion! the least ignorant person will say the same. What is the Philosopher's Stone made from? of a drug which has the virtue of producing Gold. And what thing has the virtue of making Gold? the one from which we make the Philosopher's Stone. Would one believe (by binding Books of this Doctrine) to learn what one does; and the profit that comes from it is to lose meaning.
From there I conjecture that those who wrote them wanted to hide the operations of the Elements from us, or that they were ignorant of them, especially since most of what they say is false; and for the first Water is neither attracted from above nor pushed from below; you will soon know how it rises only in small invisible drops, which being extended in the Air, are carried along by the general movement coming from the Water, as I will prove, and not, by the highest Sphere of which we speak; since its being does not depend on its continual action, like that of Water. We need only go deeper into this: God does that, say the crude. It was true that everything comes from him: so many rare secrets that were previously ignored were also attributed only to his omnipotence: and nevertheless presently a simple Worker does it; What, a Watchmaker will make a small machine work well without always exciting it using some spring; and the Sovereign will have made one so big, full of what is needed to make it go, and it will not go? No, don't believe it, he didn't do anything in vain.
This error comes from Astrologers, who, not being Naturalists, added a point to their point, being content with the effect, without seeking its principles.
It is, however, laudable to contemplate the situation of the Stars, to observe their different powers, and to notice their usefulness; the habit of this contemplation can do a lot, being regulated from a particular point, like the common one, which extends to Astrology alone; but the faithful point shows that the movement cannot come from the largest Circle, since we cannot prove it without remaining there, so that when it is necessary to learn another Science, we would have to change point, and fall into the above errors. He who wants to become a scholar must extend his point to the ends of Nature; if he cannot, he must leave him and take one who can go there.
As for the means of taking a universal point, it must be according to Nature, because we cannot extend a supernatural point; for example, if you want to find the origin of movement, first seek if there is nothing in nature so disposed to move from its creation, that its being is express, that it depends on it, and that 'by ceasing action, it ceases to be. To say that the Globe of the Earth is the first mobile is an error, since its being does not consist of moving, that it could well subsist without acting, and that there is a body which would cease to be what it is. he is, if he did not move. Fire is also an immobile Element, if it is not excited; Air all the same; Water, on the contrary, is only stopped within and around the Earth by your movement; this movement does not appear, because of its speed, like a wheel which seems to be immobile due to its great activity. I do not mean that this movement is the accidental action of the total, or of a part of its parts together, as when a quantity or a drop of water flows down the slope; I only speak of the interior movement of its smallest parts; there is indeed water that we see flowing, because the rivers meander due to the great descent, or some other accident: it is not yet this movement that I mean.
To better understand this, we must consider that no things are known except by their own natural effects, just as they are only by the effect of being: the accidents of Water show us that it is moving, and each small indivisible part continually turns in circles, like so many little balls or wheels. As proof of this, notice how they must rotate to crush and break the salt into its parts, which is dissolved there.
Everything that they dissolve or break, is placed between their figurative distances, until they are full, the Etching, so called because it has with it the terrestrial angles of the Salts, which to it serve as teeth, doesn't it also seem immobile? However, everyone sees that she immediately ate and devoured the Metal. But, you will ask me, why doesn't the Water fall? Is it in its center, or is it supported by the Earth? If so, tell me first, how the Earth is supported?
I answer that the Globe of Water cannot fall, because it has nothing to push it, as when it is poured, or because it flows by inclination, especially since then the one behind it , chases away the one in front. We can experience that the last drop easily holds without falling, if it is not removed by some other one that occurs, or by wiping it. To say for any reason that it is in its center, I find that it is to change the point, since it is a vague imagination which limits the senses, the Earth or the Water is not in its center, nor in the center of others; but only in the center of the Globe of others, which does not deprive them of weight. This saying that the Elements do not weigh in their center, should not be understood as the thought of Aristotle, and other pillagers of Books, on the contrary, it is because Water supports itself, especially that its round atoms all move together, as we can experience in several balls or wheels biting each other; for while one rotates on one side, it causes those which touch it to rotate on the other, and thus ad infinitum, while one descends, the other ascends incessantly. A similar movement is noticed in the Water of Life (because it has a lot of the Nature of Water which is simple and without earthliness); when we throw drops of turpentine spirit into it, the liquor being at rest, the drops are carried from one end to the other, because of the various movements that the little balls make them make; And because in the end the thickening Turpentine oil becomes porous, they no longer have a hold on it: Water in all its parts invisibly does the same to the Earth, and by this means holds it with it , the places which appear driest to us, are filled with as much pure water as in the open sea.
Experience shows that all things can be put in water, not as the Alchemists do by affixing a predominantly humid, but without increasing anything, and almost not decreasing the weight of the body that was there. If it is said that Water was separated from dryness, that is to say that one of its parts was put under this appearance.
We do not see a Tree grow or an Animal grow, and anyone who has never seen a Clock might at first doubt the movement of the hand which marks the hours. The movement of which I speak is like a ball or cluster of small Animals which move all one after the other without shaking the Globe: Water therefore by moving thus, remains immobile in its whole, and its small parts moving continuously, would hold the Air without action, if they were not round, because as I said, while one turns on one side, it makes the one that presses it on the other turn, but the Air being pushed from one and repelled from the other, slides on the side of a Pole of the balls (if I may speak thus) of force that the Air has movement around the total as well as fast-paced action. Now to know if this movement is regulated, I say that what is continuous does not cease to be continuous while it is continuous; Water is continually water, and to be continually, it must be continually, and it cannot be continually, without continually having the quality proper to its being: the quality proper to its being, and the continual state of his moving being, which being removed would no longer be; if there were delay, it would sometimes cease to be, since its being consists only in the continual state of being such, and thus there cannot be inequality of natural movement, without inequality of be.
It is always, because the whole Globe of Water is not sometimes changed under the appearance of stone or earth, it is therefore impossible for there to be inequality.
Why the Air which is driven, is also led around the Earth and the Water, which are only a Globe, and this Air similarly drives the Sphere above, and thus one gives movement to the other, up to the last circle; and the luminous bodies which meet are carried with them according to their lightness or heaviness because being light, the hectic movement of the Air stops them, and depending on whether the Stars are susceptible to this swinging movement, they are more or less relaxed. circular movement.
We should not be surprised how such large bodies can be moved, since their place, which is larger than them, is indeed so; Water which is only a point with respect to the rest, if you do not consider its Nature, must surprise you more, since it has the force to move everything: the other Elements are open, and this one here compressed with so many parts, that a drop can fill a very large vessel. Experience teaches us that when it evaporates, or when it is mixed with earth and distilled over a very high heat, a drop becomes so rare that the containers, which can hold ten pints of water, , burst, due to lack of enough space; thus Fire, Air and Earth were drawn from it alone by extension. This is why we must only consider the Elements according to their dissimilarity, and not for their elementary discontinuity in the circle of the Elements: Whatever we raise a grain of earth, or a little water from its Globe, it does not is not nevertheless discontinued from other Elements, and when (to make myself intelligible) I represent wheels, balls, you must take them as continuous, because all that there is is only discontinued in appearance , and this is where the sympathy of things comes from. The Animal which appears the smallest to our eyes, carries smaller ones on itself, and these latter still the least; so that an Animal may have an indescribable number each with parts suitable to their bodies, and each part is composed of an infinite number of points of each Element. Water therefore by its circular movement, besides that it is joined to the others without ends. (which the weak sense can hardly imagine) balances the Air, as I said, and during this trembling, it subjects it in itself, not in its center, but in its whole, and it is which it breathes and continues its movement, also, the diversity of the Elements was only made of the Sovereign to help each other. Having therefore filled itself with Air, it swells and overflows until the earth it contains has pushed it back out; then it becomes again as before; but this can only be seen in places where it abounds the most, as in the Ocean Sea which ebbs and flows from day to day. This air which swells it each time, causes it to be lighter when it swells than when it is decreasing. The reason why the Sea is big, when the Moon is full, is that the refraction of the Sun, which causes its light, presses the Air against the Water, so it takes in more.
The virtue of the Stars consists in what they return, and as Water takes it with Air, it is more filled with subtle parts, expands more, and appears larger; we must not believe that this is done by a loving virtue which is the refuge of weak minds, because they end their knowledge in something without limits; In saying this, they want there to be some quality without body, do not consider that all that is here are only smaller or more open bodies, which being pushed collide with each other, and those who push each other away, assemble the others by retreating, and reject each other strongly as they meet from afar.
All that we receive from the Stars, apart from light, are therefore only small, very subtle bodies, which emerge by encounter, depending on whether their internal parts have action. I say internal because the Stars are composed of subtle parts, but more extensive than those of those down here.
No thing can have light except by contrariety of parts, this is what experience can show: thus the Sun rejects small bodies by the wind of its particular action, or better said by its movement of existence, and these small bodies shock others, always larger and larger all the way down, which is the cause that we cannot look at the Sun, because particles of the Air appear in our eyes, as if we throw sand there, they cannot even tolerate the reflection of its rays by a mirror, if it is not placed in water, especially since these small bodies reflect less on a soft subject than on a hard one. The combat of these corpuscles causes the heat, and it is they which in their fall remove the water in small drops, as I said, and the idiots presume that it is attracted. However, this is how it is done. It is then scattered by the hectic movement, and carried circularly sometimes so high that, unable to fall as rain, the fire pushes it back and throws it back down, pushing it aside with so much impetuosity, that it violates the bodies as it passes. ; we called this wind, to which we give names according to the place where it comes from, and its duration continues in proportion to the quantity of vapors from which it comes: if it encounters other damp while breading, they collect together and fall as rain, which stops the wind.
It is dangerous for this exalted water to remain at the top for a long time, because the terrestrial parts which it has carried away, cook and make the water sour, which then precipitates in the form of clouds, the coarse parts of that which arises, from where a mass results, which is only destroyed to the extent that the points of the more subtle bodies penetrate it despite its resistance, which makes us see these flames which we called Lightning bolts: during this effort the mass bursts and breaks into small or large parts with so much force that the noise is terrible, and it is rightly called Thunder. When these masses fall, they stink greatly, because of the corruption of the water; sometimes the speed of their fall dilates them so much that they penetrate the most compressed bodies by dividing their parts, which appears to us to solid things by their fraction, and to liquids by their alteration, as we see in wine and other liqueurs , who become embittered.
Here I would have reason to speak of flaming Meteors, or impressions of Fire, but I reserve it for the treatise on Light, and on the admirable Nature of cold, which has never yet been heard. However, see again (to operate better) how everything that is done in this large body, also happens in the smaller ones, which come from it. We must first consider, that we cannot perceive all the parts of a particular body, just as the general, because we are not in it. Similarly, we cannot see the world outside, like a man or a tree; nevertheless through one, the other can be known.
When the flame sets a body ablaze, the Fire is on the outside, and the other parts on the inside; this Fire does not act, either in the appearance of a luminous body or otherwise, without the Air, of the burnable matter that we give it, then the humid most united to the Earth leaves a part of the Air or Water rarefied, who, not being able to follow it, separates from it and falls back with violence; in such a way that the flame coming from this action, forces the spirit of the compound to manifest itself under the redness.
The reason that Water and other things evaporate in this Fire, is, that the terrestrial Atoms of the combustible subject, being violently excited, beat apart, and push the containing vessel, so that the contents are forced to jumping out shuddering, as if one were hitting with a stick, this vessel cannot appear moved, because of the great continual speed, with which it is struck from all sides, and the Water comes out in such small drops, that it does not seems like smoke to us.
We still attract Water by coarse vapors, or by inhaling through the mouth: this is done in the same way as I said, except that the particles of Air being moved by the attraction, beat circularly, and carry away the liquor. It can be drawn in this way to infinity, because the Air is supplied by the interior ends of the conduit, which also happens to a pump and such other instrument. The Fire acts differently from the Air, it even makes the air sparkle. gold in its great liquidity; but because it is better bound than the imperfect Metals, it does not spread in smoke like them, unless we multiply the terrestrial parts, by throwing in Armonia, which rises take it with you; because all volatile salts, as they are deprived of moisture to spread, quickly fly away from the Fire: otherwise there is an oily liquor, which being thicker does not get carried away so quickly, the proof of this is seen in the dust which is easily driven off from any subject, if it is not moistened. Common salt placed on a shovel, jumps and sparkles, because the terrestrial parts, which the fire causes to be separated, beat below and to the side, as if striking with an instrument: the bodies are carried away in the same way out of the retorts at strong fire , by the help of particles of the Air, which are so excited that they beat and penetrate on all sides.
The Philosopher-Artist must also know why pots and glasses break, and break easily, at the onset of great heat, in order to avoid accidents because: if it happens that the terrestrial particles by moving apart impetuously, collide against the vessel, and their movement meets the humidity of the Water, which introduces another, or stops it, there is a shock of the two which makes it jump back, and this is what which opens the body, as if it were drawn wide on two sides; but when the Fire makes them beat slowly, they urge the moisture to come out a little at a time, without it causing any reaction. There is Earth, which being thrown there completely wet does not crack, this comes from the fact that it is subtle and only lets the Water go little by little, despite the violence of the Fire: thus it happens, as if we had graduated it. The Earth which has large grains also does not split easily, because the Water circulates around these grains, and is not carried away from the corpuscles so quickly, because of the pores.
From the generation of mineral stones or matrices of metals; and how Nature prepares solar Sulfur.
I was willing to teach the first Mobile according to the Cabalists, whoever will find it strange. It is enough that with this observation, I challenge all Men to show me a single truth concerning metallic transmutation, unless it has been given to them, or unless they have found it by chance. Utility is more laudable than vain speeches: it was necessary for me, despite the apprehension of the censorship of the Critics, to establish this for lovers of secret Philosophy, so that by this means they could, in addition to other knowledge, arrive to the possession of philosophical Mercury, which is the main Mover in the generation of Gold, and everything that is done in the mineral kingdom, comes from it particularly, as well as in general everything comes from universal Water, because between the Metals there is only need for a Water separated from its terrestrial, and then an ounce of this liquor will rarefy more Metal, than a thousand barrels of common water, and this because that ordinarily is filled with so much foreign soil, that it spoils the Minds if we put it there. The same happens to Saltpeter, because out of a hundred pounds, there will not be two ounces left, if we continue to dissolve it, and freeze it by evaporation, after having passed it through the gray paper, which always retains the earth: this is why the spirit which is drawn from it does not have the power to bind the Metals; if Water and Earth of the composition of Salt are not better joined together; what I will teach in the first Chapter of Metallic Agents; we will also learn the means of covering water with inverted earth, which is truly only dry water, which the Philosophers have called Arsenic: this pure water, as I will say, joining with the others, the purifies and reduces to their first dazzling simplicity through the body which holds it.
Truly, the foundation of this Art; is only a water stronger and more penetrating than ordinary waters: the Salt of the Azure Quicklime that you will learn to make later, what does it not do? He reduces all bodies to semen, gum and very clear water, because his body suffered a little more Fire by means of Sulfur. Take this maxim as assured, and be certain, that all things ripen only by the natural heat of their humidity; when a Mineral is taken from its Mine, if you think of allowing it to ripen by a stronger heat than you could give it, it will happen as much as by cooking a still green apple separated from the tree: this fruit cannot be mature, experience teaches us. From this we can conclude that when a thing comes to maturity, in addition to being aided by the universal fire, it is assisted by a warm humid which is of its nature; thus he who takes part in cooking the Metal without first having the humidity or the mineral spirit, work in vain: but this humidity is only a nitrous spirit, brought to metallic dignity in the veins of the earth by nature, which we imitate through Art. O how admirable Water is! It is she who makes the colors we see appear, depending on whether she is excited, it is she whom the wise have called the universal spirit because she is all things; it is the cabinet of secrets; it is she after God, on whom the whole machine of the world depends, as you will see in the third book; the Lord himself found it so precious, that he revealed it to Men to water human bodies with it in his name, and present the Salt that it produces, to banish the natural indignity coming from the disobedience of the first man. When it rains, it takes the subtle parts of each thing dried up by the fall of the corpuscles returned from the Sun, and carries them everywhere, then the water being chased away, the quintessence of their Salts rises with it, and falling back on the Earth, each compound takes its invigorating spirit for food. If this is done in Spring, the Water participates in Mercury, And if it is around Autumn, it is sulfurous, especially as it is filled with vegetable dyes, and others produced by the heat of Summer . This sulfurous Water mixing by digestion with the Earth, an inflammable windy Salt is made of it, which we call Nitre Salt, we see it flowing in humid places in the form of slime, from which it can be distilled by the retort placed on it. fire, a very sulfurous stinking water, which when cold attracts the Mercury of Copper, which also becomes brittle and white, as if it had been put with Mercury, but from the Water of Mars and April it is in fact Salt, which coagulates into Stones, and if this Water has with it metallic Spirits, they come out of these Stones like the Gum of Trees, as we can see in the Mines: this is their second origin . When this Salt is dragged into the Sea, it becomes penetrating, and it is he who makes it salty, this sea salt draws the dyes for the metals, instead of the nitre drawing them and keeping them for itself; But whoever can draw out the redness of Metals with Saltpeter or Nitre, and make it take with Mercury, after its preparation, will have a thing ten times more perfect than fine Gold.
The Niter was named Spirit of Wine, because it is generated as I said, of the vegetable sulfurities joined to the Earth by means of the Water of the Summer Equinox: this spirit is the cause, that the Imperfect metals have with them something burnable, especially as its humidity mixes in their composition; in the same way the second matter of Metals, from which we make the Philosophers' Stone, is generated by the conjunction of these two Salts of Nature, in this way.
Firstly, the metallic orifying spirit, being carried away by the spring water, falls into dry places, and coagulates with the earth, so if no fatty and sulfurous humidity arrives there, the result is Alum, which is a non-fusible body, being deprived of moisture. But when there is a quantity of humid autumn fat, the whole thing freezes and a combustible metallic body is born, which I will name later, when I teach the way of separating its excess humidity, to leave only its tinting spirit. in ash or dry aluminous body; The Tincture which comes from its water, is seen when this ash is hot: the ancient Philosophers called this material, the Moon in the head of the Dragon, and several other names that you will learn. It is an admirable thing that this Mineral, being dissolved in the etching of Saltpetre and Alum, takes the form of a grape cluster by crystallization. I saw a golden ball the size of a musket ball, which weighed a good sixteen pounds. I am told that by continuing to mix it with the spirit of this matter, it would make it much heavier, without increasing its quantity, and then that by dipping it in Saturn oil, it would again become as light as in front, without decreasing volume. This Ore, placed with whatever quantity of Antimony you wish, will not receive any damage; on the contrary, upon stirring it rises from the bottom of the Crucible, and swims like a Fish between two waters; but when the Antimony is all gone, it begins to catch fire if it is left there any longer.
Pontanus called this Magnet, Fire, because it burns, and is only Fire; you can with a wash of Pebbles, or Stones put in Lime, extract by evaporation its dye similar to an oil of Gold; but it must first have been dissolved in Etching, and drawn into foam over the Fire with ten times as much Common Water, then dried slightly. He was right to say that there is nothing impure about this material, because anything can be used, even what remains of the red Nitre, which you will learn to make later, contains a marvelous Salt. Van-Helmont wrote about this fire in vain, since by hiding it he reserved himself so much that he did not even dare to give the extraction of the fire of Venus, which I give you here in passing. Calcined Copper is made and sublimated with Armoniac, we take the sublimation which must be mixed with two parts of Quicklime, and leached together, then by distilling, the essential Sulfur passes with the clear Water, which being placed in the cold and circulated, becomes an oily tincture without body. If this Author hid this Fire, so useful to health; what difficulty should I not have in teaching a Fire which does even more, and of which it speaks according to Paracelsus with so much reserve? Should I also reveal the Gold rotten by Mercury in a matter that you will learn in its place; finally I give you everything here, but I only teach you by reasoning the means of assembling the substances for coction, lest the compound which is made be profaned, I only reserve for myself the extraction of the Cor Saturni, which you will nevertheless be able to know by the example which follows, especially since this Saturn reduced to first matter, (as I will teach) being put by artifice into a Salt on all triangular sides, is changed by an Alkali common in Sulphur, sucking the soul of the Sun and the Moon, just as a dragma of Sulfur of common Magnet, separates a pound from its gross body by a little spirit of Alkali, retains the force to attract the Iron and the virtue of all that there was, or more: If a common Alkali Salt does these wonders for the separation of substances, what will then do that which is found in the ashes of our Nitrous Mineral; which without alteration serves as Fire, Furnace and Article for all kinds of operations? Ha! what virtues this metallic Niter has! We have all been shown the figure of the old man Neptune, who is the true Lord of the Waters, since they obey his power, as will be said. The Poets have industriously depicted it well, pretending that this woolly fleece is guarded by Bulls who throw fire and flame: you will conquer it with much less difficulty than Jason had, or the curious Naturalist with his beautiful meditation : he had to work incessantly to find in the end what you have here at the beginning. I say beginning, both for those who have not yet begun to work in this Philosophical Art, because most lovers of natural knowledge have no light of true Chemistry, even at the end of their days. It seems that God wants to make up for the long years that one would need to have, like our first Fathers, a perfect understanding of all things, since he inspires me to make common to aspirants what the Philosophers of past times did not. They were rewarded for their labors only at the end of their days.
End of the first book
Of the means of extracting the Mineral Spirit.
Several before me have written the way of preparing Metals, both for Health and for Wealth, but considering that their Books remain useless, for lack of the necessary Agents which they have hidden from the public, I put here the way of doing them , so that we can also achieve the desired effects of the beautiful and curious operations that they have brought to light, to the advantage of their solvent declared Alkahest, or Alkalized water, which few people possess, for lack of knowing the ash of the true mercurial Alkali, which is enveloped in universal Sulfur at the center of all things in the World, although the best is obtained from a material commonly called Espiauter, or Antimony Zinc, in this way:
Melt it over a low heat, in a large enough crucible, and when it is red, move it with an iron spatula, which has a sufficiently long handle, to protect yourself from the heat; and after having moved it a little on the surface, as if foaming, it will begin to flame, which is the sign that the raw Mercury is detaching itself from the foreign Sulphur; remove with your spatula everything that appears to be cotton or white wool, which some have called Sericon, and put it in a terrine; however the rest which is in the crucible, similar to molten lead, will light up more than before. When it has still sublimated to the height of about half a finger, you will pull it out, as you did the first time, and put it in with the other: do this, continuing until everything is as it is. I said, taking care each time you draw from it, to pick this flower skillfully, without taking any metal. Then you will have this dry water, of which the Sages have spoken so much: saying that it comes from the rays of the Sun, to make it understood that during the operation, the matter sheds a clear light, dazzling the view, as well as the Sun. It has therefore been very well said that it comes from its rays, and even from those of the Moon. When this water is converted with the waters, and the waters are converted with this water; they pretended that this was done by the force of steel, comparing Zinc to steel, because of their great resemblance and virtue. Steel sparkles, this one ignites, both silver and gild Metals, and have the power to concentrate minds and tighten bodies; there is only this difference, that one is difficult to melt, and the other point, being softer and obedient to the Artist: also it is said: what is the point of looking for this in a hard material, seeing that there is one which is soft in itself, which being sublimated, as I taught you, can convert all liquid and sour things, from the first time into this central salt or philosophical Mercury, which we have sought so much ? Here is how I did it with common vinegar.
I took part of it, and put it in distilled vinegar, until everything was almost dissolved, then after filtering it and evaporating it to the consistency of fatty oil, I removed it from the fire, and it froze in the form of salt, which I put in a large retorte of glass over a low heat, and the whole melted, beginning to distill by veins into a spirit of wine which burns, like that of ordinary wine, although 'it was insipid: after which, a greasy and reddish phlegm came out, and then all the matter inside the retort began to swell with greater fire, whereby, there arose a spirit in the form of snow in great size. apparent quantity, like the thickness of an inch, which sometimes fell partly to the bottom, because of the abundance, and what escaped despite the paper which stopped the container, gave off such a good smell, thus as Bernard de Trévisan admits in his Abandoned Word, that it surprised my senses, as it did him. After everything had cooled, and the vessel was opened, I found all around a delicate body which had the luster of common silver, more beautiful to the eye than Oriental Pearls. This Mercury was obedient to the finger, and smelled like Camphor: we can have it, as Trevisan says in the treatise on the Nature of the egg, sometimes in liquid Mercury, which is good; in a resplendent and coagulated body, which is even better, and in white powder, which is very good.
So you have just learned the way to draw the metallic humidity, not that it is humid as we say in all its substance, such as one could imagine water, on the contrary, it is not only accidentally that it appears thus to us, when the thing is dissolved; this is why the Philosophers called it Air, and by several other names: also the reason why the Ancients and Moderns said that they used May Dew, Equinox water, Spirit of wine, of Urine, and of Blood, it does not matter with what one draws this Mercury, because, as I said, all liquid things can be used by means of this mineral as
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This is the reason they said, that their Mercury is everywhere, calling it Universal Spirit, although indeterminate, because otherwise there would be no need of this vessel, which is this flower, to extract it; just as an herb attracts other things to itself, which is necessary for its sustenance. It is on this that the Ancients pretended that they had different vessels to attract this spirit from liquid bodies, because we can extract this specific matter from various Metals or metallic Minerals; However, in one place she finds herself less embarrassed than in another.
Among all Minerals, there is not one more disposed by Nature than this, and it is the only one among metallic bodies which suffers the division of the fixed parts of the volatile, as well as wood in the fire. Its ashes have admirable virtues; it binds everything that is disjointed; as for example the oils of Metals or Minerals, causing them to no longer precipitate, after they have only once been distilled with it: this ash also divides what is assembled, separating by the same means the spirit from salt, and others which are found in ordinary etchings, so that they can be received separately, each with an increase in its strengths, both for Men and for Metals, because it makes manifest what was hidden in each compound. She easily changes into all kinds of appearances. If the rest of the ashes, which are difficult to dissolve, are reduced to salt, it will appear neither more nor less than Venetian Talc, and because of its resemblance the Philosophers have named it thus, which has misused so many people until today, believing that it was common Talc, from which they tried to extract oil to whiten the complexion, as the Ancients said, disguising their secret from one thing to another. This mineral ash has in itself everything that is necessary for the Curious, those who knew it, had the material, from which it is taken, in great recommendation, and for fear that it was known who it was, they imposed on it several names, such as Lunar, Saturnian grass, and others. Some have compared it to the Salamander, because it lives in fire; They have never portrayed her better than speaking of the Phoenix who is reborn from her ashes: others have named her Lucifer or Lightbringer, Venus generated from the foam of the Sea, because she is drawn from foaming. It was called Dragon, because it burns like Saltpeter; Eagle, because we get the mercurial Armonia from it, they said, that it is the King, especially since he is the most respected among them; and the Lion, because of his great strength. They say that it is the metallic soul, because it vivifies all metals, and that it is body, because it corporifies the spirits. But commonly among Philosophers, it is understood as Mirror of art, because it is mainly through it that we learned the composition of Metals in the veins of the Earth, as I will show next. Also it is said that the only indication of Nature can instruct us. It is Sulfur and Mercury conjoined by nature; the Cinnabar of the Sages, of which so much has been written, assuring us that from these two we separate an average body of such great virtue. It is Sulfur because of its tingent and combustible part; and Mercury, because it is the humid radical of metals frozen by nature, as Geber says. We pull it in two ways; namely volatile and fixed. I taught you the extraction of volatiles: here is how we proceed to get the fix. Mix one part of metallic ash, with two parts of pure saltpeter, in an earthen pot, which you will put in the fire for twelve hours, moving it sometimes with a stick, when the material swells: it is necessary that the heat is such that the pot does not become in any way ablaze. The materials being cooled, break the pot and turn the mass into a coarse powder, then fill Crucibles with it which you will put on the fire, one after the other, as it escapes.
Have a stove that has from the grate, three times the height of your Crucible, or approximately: it must be made of small brick, or pieces of tile, built against a wall, drilled open, that the hole is a little larger than the square of half an ordinary brick, and that it faces the grate on it, so that the wind can excite the fire: which being, you will place one of your Crucibles, and make it so hot that you can: When you see that your Crucible begins to glaze, lift the little lid, and see if the material is purple in color, which you will know, when it appears tarnished, as lack of fire; the other sign is that a little ahead there appears a beautiful star. Immediately remove your Crucible, lest, having passed the necessary moment, the mercurial spirit flees in the form of smoke, so that, being out of the fire, it does not cease to exhale, and when it is gone, matter remains of a gray color, and no other spirit can come in its place; it's up to you to put it together, since it's not difficult. When you have removed your material from the furnace, and it has cooled, it will have the color of sunken lacquer, tending towards purple; This operation is done in an hour.
I told you the way as I did it, although the ancients put much more into it, and even the moderns were only able to complete it in three hours. They called this Red Saltpetre: It's up to you to experiment with what they say, since you know how to do it. We let it resolve on its own if we want, and thus it separates from the faeces in the form of a Gum; when this Gum, after its preparation is joined to another Gum, namely to that of the Sun, then they become like flowing water, under the metallic shine: This Gum is also called Amber, because of its attractive virtue of bodily Sulfur; Soap, because it cleans bodies: and Sperm, because of its smell. When this Sperm becomes oil for a longer time, the Philosophers call it oil of Tartar, which has made people work so much in vain, on the common Tartar: They called it Vitriol; meaning, Vitri oleum, or Glass oil; because it is fired, as I showed you, by Vitrification fire. After the Glazing Crucible is cooled, the matter appears like a Rose, surrounded by green leaves, because of which they named it Rose. The salt that we get from common water has innumerable virtues: it volatilizes everything that is fixed, and fixes everything that is volatile; it removes the venom from the Sublimate, like Arsenic, and from any other dangerous thing, like Herbs, Roots, Flowers and Grains, etc. Being reduced, as you will learn below, it dissolves Gold and Silver, as hot water liquefies ice, without any noise or corrosion, rising together through the Alembic: In short, it makes so many beautiful things, that the Chemical Books are only filled with its effects. This is why I refer you to those who wrote how to use it.
In everything that is composed of Elements, there is a foreign Sulfur, generated from the action of Water and Earth, which is the engine of natural Sulfur; he is the first subject on whom Fire operates, by means of Air, and through whom it makes us feel its forces, whether it appears to us in the form of a luminous body or otherwise: it is he which subjects all things to the force of Fire and corrosive Waters, and because it prevents the continuity of bodies, it is the only cause that they perish; without it, they cannot be filed, folded, sawed, broken or powdered. The Craftsmen do not inquire about it, and nevertheless it is to him that they owe the end of their work.
It makes bodies sour and brittle, because it is a foreign substance to the subject, which dries easily; this is why he takes up with little difficulty the humidity of the resins and salts that are given to him to soften them; it is he who carries the bodies to the fire, which makes them extended or contracted, according to whether it abounds, it is he who flies apparently from the flame, upon the calcination of Zinc.
Finally, what can be said in particular is that it is a thing located between the interior and exterior part of any body, and it is nothing other than a subtle, nourishing earth, which is sublimated or dignified. by mineral, vegetable or animal humidity if it is found there. Animals have more than Plants, and Plants more than Metals. In Animals almost everything is carried away with its own moisture, in Metals and Minerals it is very strongly linked to it, and in small quantities; but as the means or environment always corresponds to the environment, we resort to Plants, and experience shows that there is sufficient of them in the salt of ordinary ashes that we remove from our Hearths. When this material is extracted, it resembles Argentine Silk, and a leafy earth, like Talc, mainly after the following preparation.
Dry out the alleged Salt, and pour over them twice as much distilled vinegar, grind them well with a pestle, and having rested a little, remove it quickly, then put back more, thus making four times, the vinegar will load with dye and vegetable viscosity. If it still comes out, repeat, until what remains in the Marble Mortar remains white, and after having dried well, it is like river sand. Then grind it with clear water, leaving it to stand for two or three hours, the whole thing will become like curdled milk, which you will put in the filter, and what remains in the paper is the required material. Let time deprive it of its superfluous moisture, and use it for a sulfurous salt, which we call such armoniac or ammonia, because it is taken from sand. Consider now how different it is from the common one, and no longer wonder why those who take the writings of the Philosophers literally are usually deceived.
The water which results from the preparation of this Sulfur, leaves after its evaporation a beautiful salt which is tasteless, and the red dye which is drawn with the Vinegar, leaves when distilled at the bottom of the vessel a black earth, of which the water separates a very sharp salt: thus as Art brings to light the bodies that Nature hides in ordinary bodies, it produces things all the more worthy and admirable, such as this Sulfur, which even still appears radiant and victorious, after the end of the compound. We see it everywhere on the stagnant waters; both in the streets and elsewhere, swimming like sheets of silver colored in many ways.
It does not have such great virtues for Animals, and lacks power over Metals, when it is surrounded by its vegetable residences, unless the herbal part is overcome by the mineral: because that which suffocates the natural humidity by a stranger, does almost as much as if he removed it: why dry out this salt well, which the Ancients nicknamed common: and instead of making the anatomy of it said before, dissolve it in the very strong spirit of Vitriol. This must be done in a large cucurbit, so that the mixture is not lost when the foam rises, which being put back into water, then distilled down to the last drop, leaves a meltable salt like wax, which when cold becomes hard and white.
When some Metal is melted with it, and it is ground for a few hours, it reduces it to a paste, which the humidity of the air turns into oil, which being distilled, the salt remains at the bottom, and the best part of the Metal passes with water. It is also used to draw dyes from bodies, and does everything that was previously said about it, speaking of such an enixe.
From the Reduction in Raw Material.
All that is most sought after among lovers of this Science is the Reduction of Metal to its first material, which Philosophers unanimously assure to be Sulfur and Mercury. I think that the vulgar take earth and water in their place, because we see few Artists who do not dissolve the metal in the form of water, to make it coagulate, which is to make it appear as earth: whatever we find in the writings of the ancients, that any solution must be made while preserving the manifest species; thus it is to deceive oneself to reduce it to the form of Elementary water, seeing that the metallic splendor is dampened, appearing only simple water, liquid or thick, colored or otherwise, so that if it arrives there whatever mark of corruption, it is not the Metal which is altered, since it can only be so under its own species, separated from any foreign thing, except water! What benefit is there from boiling water, believing you are grading a metal? The end sufficiently shows that the metal is not changed, since when melting the Gold returns to Gold, being projected onto a bath of Gold, and the Lead onto the Lead. So this way of Reduction is absolutely useless; and even if we had put a Body in Earth and Water, we could not use it with regard to Metal, than Water and Common Earth, since it would be Earth and Elemental Water , to which we cannot give any form of metallic species, experience showing that this is impossible.
Some want to ignore that the Mercury extracted from Bodies, such as that of the common, was made of the first matter, and that it is in vain that we put it in the appearance of Sulfur or Salt, since the principles of Art are not those of Nature.
Likewise, it is a waste of time to make it similar to accidental things; as are Vitriol, muddy Gold which is taken from the Waters, and others. Because imperfect Metals, like iron and Copper, are easily rusted by the water, which passes through the Mines, and are corroded by the Salts which it carries there; but Gold cannot be dissolved, lacks the sourness of Salt, is carried away by the water in small parts which shine in the Sand, being precipitated where it stops: so much so that it is not the first material metal, on the contrary, is the metal itself.
The characteristic of Men is to have little esteem for the falls which are familiar and ordinary to them: this has been seen so far, everyone knows that the first material which gives us metal is Mincirai, or Marcasite from which we draw it, just as Lead is the first material of Minium: And nevertheless we ask afterward, and we dispute it, as subtlety is the enemy of truth.
When we say that the metal must be reduced to Sulfur and Mercury, we must not believe that we are hearing about natural Sulfur, because there would be no reduction to be made, seeing that Mercury does not perhaps Mercury without its own Sulfur, which determines it to the metallic Nature, and which makes it different from common water; it is therefore only reducing it with the Sulfur engine of the natural Sulfur which nourishes it, and the more it eats of this dry Earth full of fire, and the more its humidity has the power to remain in the fire; doubting that it is only dryness which has the power to retain the damp on the fire. For this effect, Art imitating Nature, opens a Body by fire, but with a much stronger, than the Fire of the fire of closed fires, it contains it in the earth, but an earth more subtle than it; it imitates the movement from the East to the West, but rather than the Sun. Thus Art, following the example of Nature, by means of Nature, can give back to Nature what it has taken from it, namely a Sulfurous earth, which the melting fire has separated.
The usefulness of this restitution is, that the metal which is nothing other than Mercury frozen by its own Sulfur, can be so excited or extended that the humid is entirely supplied, which can never happen by nature, lack from the little action of his fire; so we act as if we were transplanting a Tree from a cold place, into a very warm one, to have rather, more beautiful and better fruits.
I taught in the preceding Chapter, how one can have the driving Sulfur, which causes this perfection by natural force, with the help of Art, so that the Curious has the satisfaction of visibly contemplating, what barely he could previously imagine through the writings of others. It remains to be said in what way the metal subjugates it and also takes it from everything, to be put back as it was before, while retaining its apparent Mercurial species. Have a Salt with the same ease of melting as the metal you want to reduce: Make the hard correspond to the hard, the soft to the soft, the volatile to the volatile, and the fixed to the fixed; considering what metal can withstand fire, defend itself from being calcined, and that its external form is not hidden under the aquosity or earthiness of the Sulfur Salt: on the contrary, that everything that is good in this salt can be overcome and covered with metal. For this we have tested everything, and there was not one found except that which corresponds to Saturn.
Melt it in a German crucible: also take some Saltpetre which has had several waters and do the same, then when it is of equal heat to the other, pour it over; there must be three parts of Lead for one of Saltpetre. Immediately afterwards, the assistant who will be with the Artist will begin to move everything with an iron rod, continuing in turn, while one another puts coal and gradually slows down the fire. It will be well governed as long as it has the power to keep them melted, and the metal does not turn into mush, which is a sign of perdition. It is useless to move on this occasion if it is not melted. The violent fire drives out the humidity from the Saltpetre, and having only the terrestrial left, it becomes difficult to melt, the greatest fire that we are obliged to make to make it liquid, is so strong that the rod of iron ignites, melts itself and spoils everything: This does not happen, when we observe the heat that Salt can endure without evaporation of what makes it liquid. The operation is completed in three hours. When everything is cold, break your material, and you will find it similar to the mineral metal in veins of Gold and Silver, in needles like Antimony, which because of this, and the metal of which it is made, was named by some Philosopher, Antimony of the parts of Saturn. The Ancients taught this operation under the means of making Cinnabar, in which the Chemists were deceived taking Mercury and common Sulphur. Others have represented it, giving Mercury a rod twisted with two Serpents, to say that the metal should by means of movement, for which we need a rod, be prudently chained from earth and water, which represent the two Serpents which attach themselves: Geber therefore pretended that it was Bismuth. It was also given to the public under the sublimation of Mercury with Salt and Vitriol, which the people of the present time follow inconsiderately: therefore everything they do with it is of small consideration, attributing rather the fault to their misfortune than to 'to their little knowledge, which makes them look for the freezing point in what is not frozen, stopping rather in the fashion of the Merchants who gave the name to drugs, than in the true Naturalists.
There is no one who has satisfied the Wise and Fools so well as Avicenna, when he said that Lead always remains Lead. The ignorant have said on this point: it is therefore useless to work on Lead, and have turned away from the good Saturn. The Doctrines of another side have said: if Lead always preserves its coagulating quality, and its fixed grain which it holds in its center, with the tinting Sulfur which we give it, without doubt there will be nothing in the there: because then, he will freeze the Mercury into Gold, with the same coagulative power, that he had when he froze it into lead. By similarity, it is all the same as if in an instant we enlarged a Child to the height of a Man, preserving its power to grow: when it came to grow to half of this size, what it should be, how much would it not differ from another?
The above-mentioned composition was taught to us by Nature itself, with the destruction of Zinc, so it is said that with the destruction of one, we learn the construction of the other. If we receive the Nitrous material which is strong when burning, we will find that it is nothing other than a subtle earth, accompanied by elementary water in the form of Nitre: for this reason, considering that it is not better than that of the vulgar Nitre, we leave the trouble of extracting it to those who have more time to waste than the person who wants to benefit the Public. However, common Niter is sufficient, whether we return it to the very body from which it was expelled, or whether we give it to another which lacks it, like Saturn; which nevertheless cannot be done, if the metallic sulfurous mercurial spirit, which abounds in iron, is neither; because of this the lower Mars is esteemed the Sun of Art, which the Ancients represented with rays around its head, to remember the usefulness of iron and steel in all kinds of Arts, as well as of that of the Moon and the celestial Sun with natural productions. There is another strong reduction in the first material, properly called Fermentation, having regard to the sour dough, which makes it rise and sour others, likewise this first Reduction being brought to white or red, revives by projection the 'Gold and Common Silver; and this Reduction is done by extension of the parts according to whether the powder is subtle, and preserves its species, as well as the other; because of this, this Gold or Silver is called Living Gold, because it is revived by the sourness of white or red Sulfur, and put in the appearance of a mineral Gold, which when melted gives Gold a hundred thousand times higher in carat than the common, and as much as it has degrees of perfection, it can be lowered by the mixture of imperfect Metals, just like Gold at twenty-four carats (which is the last power of Nature in the dignity of the metal) can tolerate even the mixture of some part of Silver or Copper, and hold it with itself to the examination of Fire.
Here one would have reason to ask me how to prepare philosophical Antimony, and reduce it to Sulfur transmuting and converting perfect bodies into first matter, since I have taught well, how to put the imperfect ones there. The books are quite full of them under the names that I taught you; there are some who wrote it in clear words without omitting anything, saying that it must be powdered, and three substances separated by various means: for it does not matter in what way, provided that it is do. I abbreviate all that they have said, warning that each thing in its preparation manifests a fatty substance, another which is not, and an average thing, which is neither one nor the other. . Now the means of preparation are fire, air, water and earth, the common Fire makes combustible things, and powders them; the common Air serves as a place to extend the body which rises, the common Water separates what has been stolen, the Earth and the stones are used to make Pots, Crucibles, Glasses and Furnaces, to contain: Besides this, for greater clarification of the separation of the main parts of a compound, here is an example on common Sulfur.
Pulverize two parts of calcined pebbles reduced to lime, which you mix with one part of sulfur passed through the sieve, in an unglazed earthenware pot, stopper it with its lid, and put it in the fire for twelve hours, the grading until at the end the pot wants to turn red, then let it cool and break the pot, you will find the whole divided by two colors, namely white and red; the white one will be on top and the red one at the bottom, the material on top dyes the water yellow, filter this water and distill it over slow heat, the Sulfur of this Sulfur will pass through the still in the form of very clear water without odor, which in the cold precipitates red as blood and fixed, which you will take, removing the useless water by inclination, which being done, take another seven or eight pints of water extracted from the white matter, and leave it repeat for a few weeks, until the creams it throws have fallen to the bottom; then separating the water, there will remain a black earth which is put into flowing Mercury, by moving it with a stick; the red material below gives no dye in water; but after having been washed with its salt, it becomes very blue, which being exposed to the air becomes abundantly charged with Nitre, very full of spirit. To have rather done, we dissolve it in distilled vinegar, then we obtain from it a red salt, which can be made fuse by the spirit of vitriol, and volatility in a body, which puts it in water to dissolve its own sulfur, in order to exalt your Mercury.
From the first composition of things.
Remember, and always bear in mind, that no one can have a thing better than the thing, as long as the thing remains as it is; because the thing, having with it the thing of the thing for the thing, remains the same thing.
The Salt of volatile tartar or otherwise, united with the spirit of wine, is nothing other than wine: for the wine has the dregs with itself, from which comes the tartar, from which the Alchemist draws the Salt; if he also has his mind: What is the use of this division to reunite them? If one says that it is to separate its terrestrialities and its phlegm, I answer that they will never reunite without phlegm, or some foreign damp. Experience shows that the spirit of wine never takes Salt without water: therefore avoid this false operation, leave it to those who want to regret their property, having done the same on any subject, without considering that it is It is something other than undoing and redoing what they believe to have undone, whatever it is the same thing which seems different, because it participates in the preparation of the fire; also everything that has been more excited by fire, participates more in its Nature; fire cannot give any quality except by dissipation of humidity, and the more a body is deprived of humidity, the more activity it has to take up another, whether pure or impure, although there is no there is nothing bad in Nature with regard to faith. What is impure is only impure for the pure, and venom is not venom for him, therefore there is nothing impure in wine, being simple wine, the only decoction which brings out the moist from its earth, will make it successively have all kinds of taste and color, which can be used according to its different effects, it is the same with metal, which is simply metal, separated from everything that is not. not. But because there is none in this kingdom that is not still more or less enveloped in mineral Agents, which are the elementary Earth and Water excited by fire and air; In order to reach its final metallic simplicity, we are forced to use some artifice to separate them, and it is only then that it is subjected to digestion to acquire the desired virtues: this is why, when they are still there , that we do whatever we want, such labor, such pain and assiduity that we put into it, were it in Salt, Sulfur, and Mercury which are the principles of Art, never it will receive no more worthy form than at the beginning.
It is true that by long calcination, some small part of the agent will be able to separate from the metal, and depending on the separation will give some Gold or Silver, but these Metals, although perfect as far as we are concerned, do not leave not to be enveloped in some impurity which prevents their power. Human industry has found two ways to remedy this: one by separating what harms it, and the other by increasing what is lacking. We separate what harms the imperfect, and we give what is lacking to the perfect body, not that the imperfect Metals are imperfect to be what they are, but they are only called imperfect because they are not Gold: and Gold is also so with regard to the subtlety and multiplicative virtue that is claimed from it. I taught how it is necessary to separate the superfluous matter from the imperfect, by the foreign Sulfur which we force to move the natural earth, and after its preparation (according to the example which I gave) to insinuate into the Gold or in Money the necessary power: thus perfection takes the beginning of indigence, for no one can move in vain, either to attract or to repel that which resists it, and this movement is called life, whereby life takes beginning of what he lacks. Each body carries with it other bodies, and this one achieves the goal of knowledge which avoids confusion.
Therefore let metal remain with metal, animal with animal, and vegetable with plants. The land of Animals has the nature of Fire; that of Herbs of the nature of Air, and the Earth of Metals of the nature of Water.
Animals abound more on earth than plants. For an example of this, look at a thing that has been pushed to the point of redness, it abounds more in the spirit of the Fire nature. See also that the more a solution is evaporated, the more it becomes oleaginous like Animals.
Plants have less earth in their composition than Animals, this is the cause that they have more Water than them, and have all the qualities of a thing half grown or half evaporated.
Metals are composed of water and earth, like Plants and Animals, but they have more water than other things; the land they have is in less quantity than in the two aforementioned kingdoms; the perfection of Metals is their land subject to the power of Air, and that of Animals to the power of their own Fire; thus Fire dominates, and is lord of the other Elements to the Animal, Air to the vegetable, and Water to the Metal; It is clear that Quicksilver is generated from pure altered water as long as its interior part is placed outside, and as things can only be done moderately, strongly and weakly, depending on whether the center manifests itself, the moist bodies are generated, which participate in the good or bad qualities of the earth depending on the places where they are nourished.
The possibility of this generation must be considered according to the Elements converted, subjected or chained for the composition of an animal, vegetable or mineral subject in accordance with the mixture, and recognized by the Elements, which are not arranged, being yet to be converted or to assemble: for when the elementary creatures were in possession of their first times, they were each according to their being of pure and simple form, to which there was nothing but converted. The Animal could not have died if it had been free from dry and wet. When the heat dried up and the humidity did not come soon enough, they ran to Water, or to the juice of other bodies, and when the drought was overcome, they had recourse to the dry body, as still happens to all days, what we call drinking and eating: This moved them to make several kinds of preparations to meet their needs: some steal the earth with roots and seeds, others assemble them, and unfortunately (if it is a good thing to remain as we are) these things never leave our bodies without leaving behind some part of theirs, which the animal form hides under its extent and becomes enlarged by it, thus when it arrives at its last latitude, the Animal no longer grows.
Man is subject to this misery, his seed which participates in the extension caused by foreign parts, is like wax filled with so much subtle powder that it can no longer obey the ordinary movement of the hand: thus from now on more and more as the animal form suffers the company of foreign things, Man will subsist accordingly, and what comes from it will be of such short duration, that finally we will no longer have time to produce his fellow man . I believe if there have been Scholars, that this has always appeared to the Sages, or else I publish it, so that everyone will annoy him.
It is the same with Metals, because depending on whether they are loaded with a foreign Element converted or to be converted, they remain less in the fire, and appear to us quite differently than they should be.
It is a rather curious thing to know if in the beginning there were as many species of metals as at present.
I was not there at that time; but since there were several kinds of Trees and Animals, there must apparently have been various kinds of Metals in the Mines, some less encumbered and more free than others; like Man towards other Animals, and one Grass towards another; and each multiplied according to his being, Lead multiplied and multiplied into Lead; Tin in Tin, etc. Which being, by what means can we have the Gold that we say is in them, since it is only Lead or some other metal? It cannot be separated unless it was assembled by accident in the neighboring Minières; as we usually see that one is mixed with the other, because of the place of their multiplication. For then truly, as they sometimes flow together in the cast iron, Art can separate them; but if Lead or Tin, Iron or Copper are separated from the others; we cannot extract anything other than Lead itself if it is Lead, and those who say otherwise are liars.
Philosophers have always pretended that they were only separating the pure from the impure, but this is very false with regard to a simple metal; they did not dare to say the rest, for fear that the Inquisitors of this Science would be too enlightened, by declaring that their Stone is nothing other than Gold so extended that it can embrace the metal on which it is placed. throws it, and wrap it in such a way that it can protect it from all danger. This is the reason why some have called it Tincture, because it dyes and does not convert, but only gives it the virtue, the appearance, and everything that is required to appear Gold or Silver, until at the end of time. I advise that the People are not scandalized and have no repugnance, since this Gold can wipe out their times and the time of the Occurring, with the same or more effect than the natural one. Thus we can conclude that the Philosopher's Stone is only a Sophistry in perpetuity.
The experience I saw of it forced me to believe it, because we were unable to find anything to the contrary, having tested the quality of one and that of the other: consequently the Powder that one projects on the imperfect Metals, does not dye only in Gold or Silver, but generally contains their parts in its latitude, separating for this subject everything which is not metal, namely the driving Sulfur coming from the Elements which are to be converted, or who are not converted into him. This Powder before its fermentation, is called Quintessence, as meaning a thing more extensive than Fire, which is considered to be the fourth in ascending. It is also called potable Gold, which everyone seeks for Health, because it can deliver the radical humidity from the captivity of corrupting Powder or Ash, and thus keep Man in good condition for a very long time.
On the usefulness of Mercury and its effects.
You learned about the Quicksilver generation by talking about other things. And just as the universal Mercury, namely Water, is the first visible Agent of Nature in the elementary World: I presently say that Mercury determined to the metallic Being, is the first Agent of the last operation of the Art, because without it, through it, and with it, perfect Sulfur cannot emerge; this is why it is said that in Mercury consists everything that the Sage claims for Metals, as long as it remains simple as it is; otherwise if it were dissolved in water, by him or by another, it would cause more imperfection than perfection. It is he who delivers his Father (who is the metallic Soul) from the hands of the Tyrants who are the Elements. He is older than his Mother who is Water, because he is more advanced in the age of perfection. This is what gave reason to pretend to be Hercules, because he kills monsters, being victorious over foreign things far from metal. It is he who reconciles his Father and Mother, banishing their old enmity; it is he who cuts off the head of the King (who was represented by an Argus) to have his Kingdom; his eyes signify the care he must have to preserve his Earth, or the cow that Jupiter, Father of happiness, gave him to guard. He is given several names to hide him from the knowledge of the wicked. Someone named it Steel, without any propriety other than the appearance of its color, which moved him to then add, that it was found in the belly of Ariès or Aries, compared to common Mercury. , which we pass through the sheepskin, to purge it of accidental waste. Its water abounds in quantity and its Earth in quality, it delights in various things, we are indebted to it for the variety of Minerals, it is the messenger of the Gods or Metals, it passes from one end to the other, sometimes he is near, sometimes he is far away, and while traveling he always leaves some mark of his lodgings.
The dryness of places easily becomes damp, as we see when we bring it up with Vitriol and common Salt or something else, especially since it is the property of Salt to drink water as it may be. ; This is why Mercury having allowed its humidity to take hold, then its own Earth greatly abundant in dryness, has more dryness than the rest of things, and for this it takes the place of a very penetrating Fire; but as the Salts love the elemental humidity more than that of the Metal, they easily take it back, and leaving the other by alteration of their sourness, the Quicksilver becomes again as it was.
Similarly, from the veins of the Earth it is sometimes attracted to plants by the sucking wind, and sometimes elsewhere: it never coagulates except by the dryness of the metallic bodies that it encounters on the surface of the Mines, that the Metal which lodges there infected with its vapor, and if it is Lead, it is converted into Lead, if it is Tin into Tin, Gold into Gold, etc. So poor Mercury is surprised like a fly by the Spider's web. This is the final effect of metallic multiplication, and the only operation that Art imitates.
If Mercury passes through the Mines, and stops at the Metal, it will spoil all the matter, which is the reason why we see so many different metallic Minerals, if it mixes with Lead, it comes from Orpiment, with Tin from Arsenic, with Iron from Coal of Stone, with Gold from Sea Lead, with Copper from Sulfur, and with Silver from Talc, and so from places corresponding to the degree of dryness of the Metals; if it is mortified by essumation of the humid nitrous, it comes from the Crystal, and other colored Stones, after the separation of the Quicksilver.
Thus Mercury produces in the Earth, and on the Earth, admirable things, when he is defeated, he multiplies another, and when he is victorious, he is multiplied.
Of the correspondence that the exterior and interior Figures or Forms have with the Elements.
According to the composition of things, there are compounds of simple things, compounds of compounds, and compounds of simple things and compounds; however, the simple ones to be composed, are composed, because we cannot have any simple one that is not composed. For example, the simple, to be composed is Metal, separated from everything that is not Metal, nevertheless this simple is composed of Elements; and the compound of the compound is a mixture, as one would say, of several kinds of metals molten together, or of some prepared earth, dissolved in water to obtain the salt. This Salt is a compound of water and earth, water is elemental from air and Earth from fire, thus some are elemental and others elemental, and according to their actions, they manifest different parts.
When Fire is lord of a compound, it surrounds all its subjects, as well as the others, each in turn, and makes themselves appear under some figure, so that he who is master of the compound, makes the contents obey by his own quality, and this own quality is known to us by the external form; and the definition of the figure or the external form, is by its extremities.
A sharp thing can prick, penetrate and divide better than a blunt one, a round thing is easier to blunt than a flat, square thing. The round corresponds to water, because it always flows, if it is not prevented, like water which cannot be supported within its own limits. The figures which remained with the other Elements, must correspond to the form to which they symbolize: the Earth is elemental of fire, therefore the fire participates in the angular parts of the Cube, and according to the excess of its movement, it has fewer or more ; thus the Triangular, Pentangular, and Sexangular participate in fire, and as there is a closed fire and an open fire, the simplest correspond to the closed Fire; the closed Fire is the natural Fire; and the manifest Fire is artificial or accidental: in the same way Water corresponds to the round figure, and the round figure to Water; so much so that everything that is orbicular, whether several clustered together or otherwise, counterfeiting angles with blunt points, corresponds to Air; the two and three points of this kind correspond to common Air; but the five, the six, the seven, and the others refer to the excited Air which is commonly called wind: this is why, as there is no quality without body, we learn being in the body corporeally their virtues depending on the body we look at or touch. So much for the exterior figures or forms: as for the interior ones, they come from the situation of the Elements, as I said above. The Elements also have their figures since they are bodies; for there is no body without a visible or invisible figure; perceptible in its entirety, when we see a figure at meal, and imperceptible in part, when it is moving, as when a square, angular thing (or some figure however far from round it may be) appears round to us while turning.
Thus are all things in the World shared; nothing is done without means. This is why everything we do, and everything that is done, is double in going out, and triple in entering into the image of the sovereign. The binary is the thing, and the action of the thing; the threefold is the thing and the action of the thing, which acting in its whole, being all, is only one and the same thing. There is nothing useless in general, nor anything without virtue: he who knows the mystery of the binary, possesses the knowledge of everything, because it consists of the first number. There cannot be a point without a center, nor a line without latitude, so the line will always be divided into two, and the point too. The line composes all the figures which correspond to Fire and Air, and the point composes all the external figures or forms which relate to Water. And just as there are no other principles in the Art of representing than the Circle (which is only an extended point) and the line; we can also only see Earth and Water, invisibly containing Air and Fire which are four. Now as a point cannot be added divisible to a line without composing four, and four can only be multiplied by its own root, like all things in the world, the extent of the number four is four times four ; and considering that the first four is not a number because of its unity, we leave it and take only twelve for the complete number, which because of three times four is estimated as three, or the return of perfect things: and because of this return, the twelve is circular. But as everything came from the binary, we separate two from twelve, and then there remain ten, which flow to infinity.
From the last Extension and Concentration of the Elements.
Despise things powerless to act, if your intention is to aid the movement of Nature, removing that which harms it.
Water can extend the Earth twelve times its width without art; Air one hundred and forty four, and fire twenty thousand seven hundred and thirty six, and can be tightened accordingly.
By art the extent of the Elements is contained in nine letters, (as the Sibyl said) carrying by its means their virtue up to four hundred and seventeen thousand six hundred and ninety and six, which is the first number. This is what she had also calculated according to the number of the first bodies, and the roots of the quantities.
The above-mentioned Extension must not be understood of discontinuous bodies, such as a part of the Earth raised from its totality, as well as a Man whose head would be a few leagues from the feet, on the contrary that the piece of earth, or the part divided from its whole, can be put up to its last extension, otherwise it would be a division, and not an extension; just as a grain of metal, which is never divided except by divisible and interposed part, was spread in a sea of etching: the proof is still seen in the water that the we distill, which falls after its rarefaction.
A metal rarefied by common Water, beyond its last latitude is no longer metal, but only Common Water, as well as the other Elements. This is why Philosophers forbid not distancing metal too far from metallic Nature. If you enclose the fire in water, it will extend the Body, the Sulfur or the Earth in its degree, not in its own body, because it would be converted into it, and would no longer be earth; but in the vessel of its quality, which is the void, of which the Elements help each other to move.
As for us, what is empty of one is full of the other. The Vulgar does as one can fill a vessel with metal, glass or wood, because this consists of the containing figure; everyone fills the water, for example with salts, etc. because all this is done by means of Air. But who is he who can fill or trample the fire of art, seeing that it extends according to what is put into it, carrying away the humid, and liquefying the Bodies, and as it is multipliable? , until things return, it can cause the multiplicative power. We see the experience of this every day in Saltpetre, which having lost its humidity by fire, dissolves into oil by attraction of a greater quantity of water than before, and even when this water is separated and received by distillation, the Salt being in the Air, takes some more; and always thus, whereas this Salt did not dissolve before and was frozen in the water: The cause of this abundant attraction is that the fire of matter was more awakened by the acting fire than before, and according to which he's excited, he takes a lot and longer.
The same happens with Gold and Silver; before separating their foreign humidity, because they can then by projection amass Mercury or imperfect Metals and retain more or less of them, according to their decoction, especially since elementary bodies are naturally subject to continual extension, and by art of concentration: and for this we called death a body which is immobile in itself, and which only has action by accident, as when one throws a stone against a wall. Lead has its parts extended as much as is necessary to be Lead, it cannot digest what is given to it as long as it remains as it is, and for this it is considered dead; but if it is animated by Fire, and its coarse humidity is separated by circulation, then an ounce has the power to attract the radical humidity, or the Sulfur determining so much gold, that the world could contain 'other Metal; which shows us that the end of Art, which we call Transmutant, is not to have an aquatic substance; but on the contrary a concentrated fire, similar to an earthly body which, being thrown on the Metal, comes to upset all its pores, extending like a spring.
Thus the beginning of this Medicine consists of separating the raw Quicksilver from the imperfect body, by giving it to a very cooked Mercury, the middle, to cook it until it no longer varies in color; and the end is to make this Sulfur fuse by its own sulphide humidity, which is a small portion of the Mercury friendly to it, like the Air of Fire: therefore everything like Air willingly surrounds Fire; the part of Mercury which suffered with Sulfur, is esteemed the air of fire, or the humidity of Sulphur. For example, a salt dissolved in water evaporates to dryness; this Salt, although dry, is still meltable at this or that degree of fire, and when its humidity is still exhaled, by the long fusion it melts at a greater level, and when it solidifies at this degree, we it can be remelted by another, and thus until its last term, which is when the Water, which had reached the center, comes strongly to the surface of the Earth without being able to leave it, and from this last movement comes a matter diaphanous, which no longer dissolves in Water, from which we make Glasses.
The reason why Glass is transparent is that the water which still dominates, divides the parts of the earth: this water as well as the other has its round atoms, as we have said, and in such a way that these bodies circles could be amassed, there always remain places that our sight can pass through; similarly the cause, that the thicker a Glass is, the less one sees through it, is because the small holes have half, thirds, and sometimes whole circles opposite the openings; what can be experienced in pierced cards, considering, that just as we can put the holes directly opposite each other; the same is done with very thick, dark or transparent glass. Do you want to know why Glass or anything else melts and flows when heated? It is because the flat part of the cube is pushed and raised on one of these points by the rise of the fire, which being like the square does not happen. can support, he falls and is carried away by the figure of the water.
The movement of artificial Fire is direct, and that of Nature, circular: Man can well imitate a circle and move in circles, but this is only by the accident of his will: because artificially he cannot throw a thing in the air, which can go anywhere other than the directly opposite place, and Art has rather finished than Nature, because by direct movement, it has more quickly arrived at the end, than if it was going in circles like Nature.
The Philosopher Artist, knowing what things are due to the perfection of a subject for use, fetches them where they are, and gives them to things that lack them, or else he removes what harms them, bringing out the Water or Earth by Fire and Air, in accordance with Nature, the abundant Earth makes black appear, because the flat figure lying down (which entirely corresponds to the earth) does not resist the light, which slides above without hindrance, the abundant Water causes whiteness, because the round figure moderately resists the action of light, still sliding in a circle on the half balls or blunt angles which refer to Air; Fire corresponds to right angles or perpendicular lines, and because they are better encountered, they cause more action, and make us appear red; the mixed colors, arriving following the mixture of the mixed figures.
All these diversities come from the movement of the parts of the situation, more inside or more outside, I mean outside as for the simple, and not for the compound, and the inside or center of a compound, and not of a simple .
I said, as we can introduce movement by the artifice of repulsive and attractive things, as we can still see with quicklime. When we expose stones to the fire, it drives out the superfluous moisture, and concentrates the natural moisture. This moisture, by concentrating, divides down to the smallest parts, to enter the most intimate place, and leaves the outside destitute. wet. These Stones being cooled, and no longer having any heat, take the Water that is thrown on them with such violence, that the speed with which they take it back, causes flames; thus Fire serves to rarefy the foreign humidity and to tighten the natural humidity: when it acts on the natural humidity, it causes cold, and when it operates on the foreign humidity, it causes heat: on the contrary the Earth serves to concentrate the foreign humidity and to rarefy the natural humidity, by rarefying the natural humidity it causes cold, and by concentrating the foreign humidity it causes heat.
True and false Operations and the Means of operating on all things.
We have been taught that Art must begin where Nature left off, meaning that Art is a general thing, but is determined by the thing on which it operates; if it is on Plants, it is for herbs, and not for Metals; because cultivating a plant is not filing a metal, similarly the Art of purifying Metals has no other goal than the Metal.
If you want something that can perfect or improve a Metal, the improving thing must be better than the thing you want to improve. So by what, with what, and how do you want to perfect a Metal, to perfect imperfect Metals, if the most perfect is perfect only for it, and the most perfect thing that we can have of impure Metals, is the 'Gold ? and perfect Gold not being clean, the rest of the Metals which we called imperfect cannot receive any perfection from it? So consider carefully what you have to do, and what you want before operating. Is it not true that you are looking for something that has the power to perfect an imperfect Metal? For this, a perfect thing is required, and it is true that the most perfect thing is Gold, and if Gold does not have the power to perfect, having itself, nothing too , with what do you want to improve, or elevate its dignity? It cannot therefore be by apposition of spirit of any Salt whatsoever, and of tincture, and other deceptions of Alchemists: but only by a submission, or an imprisonment of cold Elements of the compound.
We have shown that foreign Sulfur, or Elements which are not converted to Metal cause their imperfection. Now it is decided that common water, or everything that wets something other than its own metallic body, does not have a metallic substance; and since the end of this Art is to separate from Metal everything that is not, it is to sin against one's own intention to put elementary things there. We called elementary things everything that has the appearance of water, oil, or any color; unless they be of the metallic mercurial appearance, which cannot be corrupted or altered for the better, except by the aid of the secret fire.
This Fire is the vessel and is not the vessel, and yet is the vessel: it is natural and is unnatural, and it is natural; it is closed and is not closed, nevertheless it is closed.
It is the vessel, because it is the first container or is the mercurial soul of the Sun and the Moon. It is not the vessel, because it is itself contained, and is the vessel, because it contains the Elements; it is natural, inasmuch as it is brought to the nature of the thing on which it acts, it is against nature, because it is not yet naturalized to it, and it is natural, because it is the Fire of its composition; it is closed, because it does not burn like the fire of flame; it is not closed, especially since it is ardent like the common fire, and it is closed, because it is enclosed from the proper subject; and to express myself better: who operates without this fire, operates without matter, and who operates without matter, operates without this fire. But those who operate on matters do not operate with this fire, although they operate with this fire; they do not operate with this fire, because it is in the center of the compound, and because nothing has action unless it finds resistance. This fire excites and awakens the spirit of fire which dominates in this body which we call Gold, and it is then that this spiritualized Gold spiritualizes and adorns the imperfect Metals, because as much as it is dyed, it dyes them, and as it is fixed, it fixes them. We see the experience of these things in the smallest subjects, and everything there is in the elementary world serves as an example for us, which has led the Philosophers to say that everyone has this work before their eyes: or to explain them to you, all things are done like this. Fat or oilseeds act on what is not; Acid versus Alkali; cold versus hot; wet versus dry, hard versus soft; the heavy against the light; the volatile versus the fixed, and the fixed versus the volatile.
Arsenic put into powder dissolved in fountain water, and filtered, becomes Salt after its coagulation: This Salt put in a Matras and sublimated, separates from its fixed part which remains at the bottom whiter than snow , instead of everything being sublimated before: the cause of this fixation is that the earth or the dry body which lodges in the water, retains a portion of this fleeing body, because we see that by redissolving what is is sublimated and continually reiterating, everything remains fixed; the Orpiment crushed with double the Salt of tartar which has been melted, remains fixed in the fire, and the Salt separates from it with the Water, leaving its terrestrial part at the bottom.
All these fixations are without benefit, because they are done by a foreign body; but if we fix a metallic substance, with a metallic one, things as precious as Gold and Silver are made.
There are things that we believe dissolve, freeze and fix without addition; nevertheless if we look closely, we will find that the water which is spread in the air joins with the subtle smoke of the dry Spirit, as when we make sour of Sulfur, and that the 'we bread the Mercury with a burning earthen vessel: we still put the solution in the bath, in the cellar and in horse droppings, without considering that it is not a resolution as for the Metal, because the body does not have been dissolved, but foolishly extended in a foreign water, which leaving to its evaporation the muddy Salt, which the Metal holds and surrounds around its parts filed or attenuated by it, easily takes up the smoky humidity of the manure or the cellar.
There is this difference between Alchemists and Philosophers, that one throws away what the other takes, the Philosopher separates foreign things like Water and Earth, which are not Metal, the Alchemist on the contrary separates them. takes, and forces the Metal to take them, so much so that by joining the volatile parts, it carries the Gold in the form of oil, Water or Sublimate, like dust is carried away by the wind, it secretly circulates the Spirit of Salt or other at very slow heat in an Alembic, and when it is dephlegmated, it remains in oil, which he calls its Circulated, not considering that the Philosophers call circulated, several things brought in a circle, which is to say, in one, otherwise it would follow that by putting rain water, or something else, into circulation, it would be as well Circulated as their Circulated, or solvent; they want to dissolve radically before reaching the root, and stop at a pile of refuse, which disguises the bodies.
But the Philosopher (I say) separates from degree to degree all that is impure until he arrives at the natural Water of the compound, which he then then freezes into powder of such color as he sees fit: on the contrary the Alchemist works incessantly, and neither advances nor retreats, because he only puts in and takes out, gives and takes back, thus consuming his miserable life doing nothing, always working without awareness.
Special profits that can be made from Metals.
Remove the pure from the impure by Water and Fire, then join the cooked with the cooked, so that the dry helps the wet, the wet helps the dry, the strong helps the weak, the heavy helps the light, and that the good part of an imperfect be joined to that which is good of another imperfect, separating what harms one from the other as much as possible.
The means of joining one extremity to the other is the thing capable of uniting the two; and the bond of these two is the love of one or the other, and the love of either is introduced by Fire. If it acts on a solid body, it disposes it to take on the humid, if it acts on the humid, it makes it penetrating and corroding dry bodies, and if both have been excited by it , they embrace each other with much more ardor than before.
There is Gold which is sometimes suffocated by the food, which its stone gives it by transpiration of the nitrous Spirit, so that according to whether the Water or the foreign Earth abounds there, it seems to us Lead, Iron, Copper and Tin, so that they are sold for such. Whoever considers these bodies as Gold removed by volatile Salts, will be able to remove Gold from them, stopping these Salts with more fixed Salts: just like when one wants to put back a dissolution or volatilization of Gold into a body. The same happens to Money. We can still extract Gold and Silver from their bodies spoiled by Mercury reduced to Bismuth, Antimony, Zinc, Sea Lead, Gold or Silver Marcasite, but this cannot be done. do only by volatile salts, because volatile salts refer to Sulfur, and fixed salts to Mercury.
Natural Sulfur also sometimes causes accidents in Mining, because when it is too excited by Motor Sulphur, it deteriorates so strongly that it cannot have enough moisture, which causes it to come from it. dry minerals like Emeril if it is Iron, Calamine if it is Copper; and when natural Sulfur lacks action, it cannot digest what its stone gives it, like a sponge or breast which fills with the humidity occurring at the Mine. From this defect comes (if it is Copper) Slate, Marble, Black Earth, from which pencils are made; and if it is Iron, it comes from Ochre, Umber, and such others; if it is Lead, it comes from Bol, Mountain Green, etc. Finally, according to the accidents of too much and little, various things are apparently born.
All of this can be remedied as with dissolved or calcined metals, but it would be useless to remove imperfect metals from them, because they are too cheap. All these Stones and Marcassites are very useful to us, if we want to operate on imperfect Metals to attract what is perfect in them, because to draw out what is good in Saturn, Jupiter, Mars and Venus , they must be put in the form of Salt, under the appearance of lime, powder or earth, Amalgam, and other preparations, which we find already prepared by Nature without bothering to make them. Vitriol or Black Earth can be taken for dissolved Copper, Calamine for calcined Copper, Sulfur for volatile Copper, and so on from the others, from which we can separate the impregnated foreign Sulfur from the natural Sulfur, and join it to the Metal which contains it. lack.
Red is changed into yellow by means of White, and this yellow is pressed down to the last carat, by means of Black. This is how one must govern the tinctures of bodies to have Gold.
And in conclusion, I warn you that you will never join the Moon to the Sun except by means of Saturn: nor Mercury without Jupiter, and Venus without the permission of Mars.
of the second Book
Friend of truth, and honorable reader, do not allow the evil envious person to blame and accuse of falsity what experience will put in your hand. For assurance that I have written nothing but truth; These are not long-term operations, we can see the end of them in a few days. Firstly, I taught the conversion or specification of Waters by calcined Mercury, so that we no longer waste time reducing Metals to common water; and if I have not sufficiently declared the means of using it, it is because it is necessary to leave something to exercise for fine minds, so that they are distinguished from the ignorant. I also taught how it is necessary to separate with Nitre, the Spirit of this calcined Mercury, from which comes a quicksilver, which is so friendly to Gold that it can never separate from it. I also did not want to divulge it, for fear that, being public, it would become common to the wicked, who would do with it whatever they wanted for the resemblance of Gold and Silver. Besides this, I would end the practice of those who meddle in Medicine, since the crudest could by it alone cure all diseases, because the hot freezing, the glacial dissolution, which make the extremities of Nature, have been witnessed of the birth of this Hermaphrodite, who moved me to teach the movement of the Binary, after having spoken of the usefulness of Mercury, and said that without him our Sulfur was only imaginary, and that however by him alone , he could not reach the center without fire, and with it which is to be said in him, he did nothing except by means of the double body. This Binary Treatise also demonstrates the curiosity of the supernatural Sciences, which consist of the search for Unity, which is really only found the first after ten, and this is the cause that is not admitted for a number of eleven: So I wanted to show that this Unity gives knowledge of the multiplication and distance of the situation of the Elements, according to Nature and Art.
I still leave to the heirs of fine knowledge, the consideration of the Sulfur Motor of each compound, and warn them that all Metals are similar in seed, but some purer than others; for just as there are Elements more subtle than others, there are things more perfect in each kingdom, so that the cause of their imperfection coming from their indigestion (as they say) is not to be understood. of their second digestion which is done according to nature, nor of the third which is done according to Art, but only of the first coming from the Sovereign, which separates the pure parts from each participating part.
End of the second Book
From the Conference of Two Philosophers.
K.
After seeing so many beautiful things, here is my broken vessel, am I not unhappy? what will I do? the same will happen again if I start again, since it is the tenth time.
X.
I think this is a Chemist. Alchemist, let's approach him, he was not crazy to speak alone; despair compels strong.
Sir, perhaps you don't think we can hear you? People look at you askance like an imaginary person!
K.
What does it matter? the rage that my displeasure causes protects me from shame.
X.
Stop sir, where are you going?
K.
Despite is leading me to drown.
X.
What a poor resolution for a Man like you, whom everyone esteems! Is it an act of force to kill oneself?
K.
Liars, I no longer trust my reason, since it deceived me, Goodbye, I know that death is the cure for all ills.
X.
One more word Sir, a good resolution banishes all misery; If it's just money you're looking for, there's one here who makes as much as he wants.
K.
So take advantage of it, and leave me alone.
X.
We cannot sir, because it only opens up to scholarly people, the others he pays them with trifles, and thus gives them to each according to his scope, if we would have believed you curious, we would have had recourse to you who are economical of time and Spirits.
K.
I don't care about anyone, for Science, I've had enough, I've silenced the Oracles.
X.
And what do you do to prevent your pot from breaking?
K.
Everyone is provided for by destiny.
X.
Destiny with its accidental son, and its fortuitous daughter, does not however break our bottles.
K.
So you are not working with the real material.
X.
It must nevertheless be the right one, then it must show us all the required marks and signs; I have a philosophical egg which is already four months dark, and my friend has one which is almost white, we once had one which was red; but a Lackey stole it.
K.
What, your Ships don't break, how do you avoid that?
X.
This is because we work on real matter.
K.
If that were the case, all your eggs would break.
X.
So no one has ever done it?
K.
Who doubts it? otherwise I would get through it like the others.
X.
The one we spoke to you about earlier could make you see the opposite. Let's see it, let's see it, let's see it.
X.
Good day, Sir, we have come here to have the honor of curtseying to you.
H.
Do, gentlemen, do.
X.
Sir, it looks like you're going out.
H.
Do you want anything else?
X.
It is because we have spoken, that you possess many rare secrets, and that all the beautiful qualities shine in you.
H.
Do you believe it?
X.
Yes.
H.
There is therefore no need to persuade you further. Farewell.
X.
Hey, Sir, you will make those who say that good is communicable lie.
H.
It is true that if the biggest or the biggest were the most virtuous, they would have defended the use of measure as well as the rest, for fear of being known to unwelcome people.
X.
You communicated yourself to people less than us, our conversation was not so contemptible. We disputed the illustrious rank with people who undoubtedly knew something.
H.
It is difficult to be and not know anything, I confess that these people knew more than me, and then they argued against you. This is what I cannot do, because it is impossible, since you cannot say anything about yours, to argue against you, but rather against those from whom your memory borrows the doctrine. In my time Science was served by ungrateful people, just as much as now, we arrange the thoughts of others to suit our fancy, instead of subjecting our senses.
X.
It's having a bad opinion of your neighbor.
H.
It is not my neighbor, it is my distant ones: for for myself I am a servant of the truth, I love my fellow men very much.
X.
Know that we know the truth well, and that we have faced heat and cold to guarantee the Philosopher's Stone which is its footstool, which it keeps hidden in the center of bodies.
H.
I presume that you only know what hot is, nor cold, nor the center, except by hearsay.
X.
Ha, by God, were I to reveal my secret, I want you to see the opposite, I knew very well that I would find the opportunity to let you know who I am. Just give me the grace to listen to me, and you will see.
Of a Philosopher who speaks thoughts to Hermes, without knowing him.
X.
It is certain that any quality, such as it may be, does not add weight to matter, as is seen by the influence of the celestial bodies, which neither diminish in order to give to us, but which we increase in order to receive. Similarly, the hermetic Planets imprint by their movement the effects of their power in the Spheres of their Heaven (which is the subject of the Philosophers, in which is hidden the Treasure from which God drew the mercurial wind, or the air sublimated and dignified by virtue higher bodies) to serve as a prison for metallic Spirits, according to the power of Art; so that the life of Plants was distinguished according to the intention of Nature, and that of Animals, according to the will of God, who wanted one of them (as a witness to his glory) to know its Author in the Anatomy of each genus, which is made according to the contrariety and concordance of the Elements, which composed the neighboring matter of which they were made; because nothing has action unless it finds resistance; and if the Elements did not have contrary qualities, everything would perish, because the movement which is the instrument of the conservation of each thing would be prevented by equality, so much so that the strong would no longer act against the weak; Fire would not heat the air, and the air would not give birth to light by means of the Wind, from which Sulfur or Soul results; the Earth would not drink the water, and the water would no longer produce the spirit which only subsists through its body. The Spirit is only the idea of the Soul, and the Body only had the work of the Spirit, the Soul can only regain its Spirit by means of the Body; the Body can only regain its Soul by means of the Spirit, the freedom of the Spirit comes only from the separation of the soul: the Soul can subsist without its body, but the Body and the Spirit perish each one separately; because the Body only lives as long as it is agitated, and the Spirit is only alive as long as it has action: for the Spirit is a corporeal soul, and the Soul is a body spiritual, or better said taking away some quality of the body, as does the Mercury of the Philosophers, which is only an animated Spirit, which draws the Sulfur from each thing, that is to say the vivifying Tincture, or the soul which makes the compound subsist. For example, Gold is a body, and when the Soul is separated from it by sulfurous quicksilver or metallic sperm; it remains as heavy as it was before, without having increased Mercury at all. Then this mass which is not at all diminished by having lost the soul, which this dart, this knife, this philosophical spear has forced out, can never become Metal again, on the contrary remains in earth, powder or trash, for that the Soul which has no weight (any more than that of Man, who has not diminished any of the gravity of her body by leaving it) lives in the Heaven of the Sages, freer and more powerful than she was; waiting for the Artist to please return his body glorified by the fire of his judgment.
This Soul, this Golden Sulfur, or these rays of the Sun that we draw from its shadow, does as I said, everything that the Philosopher wants, so much so that he can send it back to the World, because the throwing on a body, however imperfect it may be, it returns to dwell among the others, with as much value as it had before.
It is therefore evident that virtues will not increase matter, and matter cannot serve anything without virtue, and virtue proceeds from the action of matter, and the action of matter is spirit, and the power of the spirit is the effect of the soul. Which makes us know that transmutation does not consist of the Body which can do nothing of itself, without the Spirit which derives from the Soul the power to prepare such a dwelling in the place from which it came.
This is what made Plato's Master say that the earthly power on its resistance according to the deferred resistance is the action of the Agent in this matter, given that the earthly power is the thing which informs the body, which gives it existence, and who makes it subsist, such and such; and the thing which has the force to destroy the body in order to have the body of the body, is its resistor.
Those who have seen this solvent that Avicenna interprets as Salt of the Wind, following the opinion of Hermes who says that the wind carries it in his stomach, have admired the effects of this universal Spirit, that is to say the Spirit which is universally in the metallic genre for its conservation, and not for those of the other genres, which have no affinity with each other, and much less this universal Spirit, which we can call the Universal of Universals which is God.
If any Herb has been found which has frozen Mercury into Metal; it is because of the dissolution of some metallic body made by the activity of the salts which are found in the earth; of which the dissolved part has vegetated with the juice of the Grass: for there is only Metal which has the power to join with Metal.
Something equally surprising happens to the animal species, when its natural humidity is carried away by the Air outside or inside the Trees, from which worms are born, and even from the breath of the Brutes in the places where they withdraw, which relates to wood, according to whether the material is more or less susceptible to the vapor which exhales, because dense and compact wood is not as soon corrupted by any animal substance as the air there. trains; thus the Air is the messenger, which carries with itself the aqueous vapor of the bodies, or the Balm of the southern wind, which makes the Zodiac of the signs roll by the alteration of the colors, according to whether they are more or less excited by Nature or by Art, especially since by Nature the Animal movement is the strongest, and the vegetable exceeds the mineral, on the contrary by Art, the mineral is the most violent, the vegetable weaker, and the animal the weakest. This is the difference between the three genres, insofar as they are supplied to Art or to Nature. Take for example something to which Art has helped; for the greatest heat that nature can give is the weakest that Art can provoke: A stone reddened by fire can always be preserved as such, as long as the Artist perseveres, but as soon as it is removed from the steps artificial fire to follow those of Nature, Art will no longer have a place. All things made by Nature are also reborn by Nature, the Worms of the human body put into powder and swallowed, cause the other Worms to die, because of the heat and dryness only, which their bodies contracted to be made powder, but as soon as they are rehumidified, and this heat is lost, as many Worms or more are reborn as there were.
The same happens to all Insects, to which Art has contributed nothing, because the Spirit is so linked to Matter because of coldness, which cannot be lost, if this body is not annihilated. This is the reason why Quicksilver which is made by nature always resumes its being: which moved the curious Naturalises to extract them from bodies, so that being born by art, they obey the Artist, knowing very well the lack of self-sufficiency of the common Mercury, which the Idiots boast of destroying, without thinking that if they took as much trouble to revive it as they took to mortify it, it would easily become again what they were before , unless they know it, noting that the Serpents which twist together are adopted by art, to be continued in their species, and to have posteriors during their life, whereas the others do not have them. that after their death, thus the effect of love is the mirror of the future life.
Vulgar quicksilver is in no way different from other bodies, except that this one is liquid to Air, and other liquids to Fire. It is liquid in Air, because in its composition Water predominates in quantity, and it does not wet, because Earth predominates in quality, and because it has more water than all other bodies, it greatly blackens the things with which it is mixed, and as Water is continually moved by Air, it always becomes again what it was by hot things, and is always frozen by cold things like elementary water.
But the thing which made this Mercury is the solvent, the agitated Air, the Cream of the Universe, and the Vehicle of the Soul of the World, which alone has the power to unmask Nature, and which knows the quintessence of metallic bodies, and those who say that there is another, will find the opposite.
The Salts and Crystals of all Metals are only calcined bodies, from which the metallic spirit which caused their fulgidity has withdrawn, and cannot give anything mercurial, if they are not reduced to what they were previously, which was to be Sol, Moon, Saturn or Mars, And when they are reduced as they were, nothing can be done with them without liquefying them, so that the water of the matter which causes the liquefaction there, can be moved and altered by air, or the spirit of the compound by means of fire.
This liquefaction is not reducing them to clear water like rainwater which becomes yellow, green or red, as happens in the dissolution that the ignorant do with their lye and etchings, which is as I said , rather a calcination than a dissolution; but it is only softening them, and reducing them to matter of quicksilver, that is to say that the body, however liquid it may be, even if it is more flowing than rock water, must always retain its metallic luster, no less than common quicksilver.
This is what the Mercury of the Philosophers does, and not the spirit of the Salts or of destroyed bodies, which only volatilize a compound, which subsequently no longer has any affinity to the metal, because the spirit mercurial, where the metallic splendor is hidden under the poison of their atramens, which they say without corrosion to be sweet, not considering that the taste of sweetness comes as well from Salt, as acrimony and bitterness; for lack of knowing that this word corrosion means nothing other than what is contrary to the true naturalness of the manifest being of Metal. All the tinctures that they say they draw from their atramens are not the true tincture of the Metal, but only an alteration of the corrosive Water, which depending on whether it is more or less excited by the preparation of the overdominant Salts. , corrodes and burns the Bodies instead of moistening them; and the excess of this acrimony always appears under some color, which is the Demon of this seductive Art of the presumptuous, who believe that blackness or whiteness, that Water causes foreigner who holds a metal under the species of gum or oil, that is to say the true color of the alteration of the metal, taking no care only because there is nothing homogeneous, sooner or later fire or water will separate them.
This does not happen in the work of Philosophers, because the dissolving Water is impregnated with something more subtle than itself, which is the soul of the metal, as we can understand by the common water which receives the heat of the fire. Also it is not a body dyed by the streetlight of the fire of our homes, seeing that all the dyes that the imagination calls Sulfur, are only a part of the body that Philosophers throw away, as if they were drawing the tinting part of some matter, which after the natural or artificial fusion, is as much a body as the body from which it was taken. It is true that fire brings out the color, but it cannot separate it without a greater fire, which is that of the love of the Planets which we call the light of Fire. Gold has a Sulfur in itself, and the seat of this Sulfur is the fire of the decoction, and although this Sulfur is very hot, it is nevertheless cold with respect to this Quicksilver; and however this Mercury is the female for the generation of Bodies, because it serves as their matrix, and as this matrix only had fire, it cannot contain anything other than qualities which cause the life of metallic Bodies, which is the effect of the life of fire.
Of two Alchemists who discuss their matter in the presence of Hermes, who explains the Emerald Tablet to them.
H.
This is a collection of many beautiful things, if you hear them; And you other gentlemen, what do you say about it? let's take turns.
K.
For me, Sir, I would have interrupted this speech a long time ago, were it not for the respect I owe to the Company. What's the point of so many words? It seems you have to be a Wizard to do all this! why do we say that the truth is in the Wine? It is to teach us that we can draw the depth of knowledge from it. The Poets have represented it to us by the foaming Serpent, which devoured the Companions of Cadmus who killed him with a spear against a hollow oak tree. Cadmus is the Artist, the Spear is the Forest which pierces the hollow Oak, that is to say the Barrel, Also the Philosophers have painted serpentine bodies like vines; and we find nothing in their Books other than Treatises on their vegetal Mercury or spirit of mercurial Wine. There are white and red Vines, some correspond to the Sun and others to the Moon: this is the own intention of Abraham the Jew, he paints a King with a large Cutlass, who is killed in his presence by large Soldiers quantity of small Children, whose Mothers cry at the feet of the merciless Gendarmes, and the blood of these Children is collected by other Soldiers, and put in a large vessel, where the Sun and the Moon of Heaven come to bathe. This King, is he not the lord of a Land bearing a quantity of Vines? The Soldiers are the Workers who each have their own slicer to cut the grapes or small Children, then don't other Gendarmes Workers take them to collect the blood at the press? And then do we not put it in barrels or vessels which give us Tartar, whose spirit of its Salt dissolves Gold and Silver? You see that it is not necessary to have so much finesse: this is the reason why the Poets pretended that Midas, a crude man, received from Bacchus the power to transmute all things into Gold. As for the Instruments, I am of the opinion of the Sages , I say that they are of little value, all the operations that I do can be done in the head of a pot and a mortar; two mean pieces of bricks, and a penny of coal are enough for my fire and furnace. (This is a great deal) And you, my neighbor, who are very rich, nevertheless have more Furnaces than Pistoles: you need a year, and I only need three days of preparation, as Mary the Prophetess says, and twelve hours to cook and finish this Stone which made you say so many useless words.
X.
I only said the truth, it was admitted to me.
Z.
However, Monsieur is not wrong in everything. He met a Cabalist last St. Louis Day, who told him that the Sulfur of the Philosophers is more common than the common, that there is nothing more known, and that the Peasant knows it, that it is everywhere, and nevertheless that there is only one subject in the World from which it can be entirely separated from Salt and Mercury: that a certain metallic Salt puts Mercury in a short time like that of the Metals in Water, which can easily pass into spirit, that there is only one Metal between the Metals which is Metal and not Metal, which can currently be destroyed and separated from its substances; that this Sulfur instead of being actually Gold, it must not be simply matter and an indeterminate thing: on the contrary, Mercury instead of being potentially, it must be actually; of matter it must be form, and of indeterminacy it must be determined by the metallic species: that the Mercury of the Philosophers is more common than the vulgar Mercury, because it is Water, that it is simpler than the 'Common water, because it is Element. If the Sulfur of Gold is actual it is a body, and if it is a body how can a body be joined to a body? since two forms cannot be joined together, neither two matters, nor one matter to a Body: in the same way one cannot join a form to a body, because it would have two forms: He also tells him that the destruction of Gold is impossible, because its Mercury cannot by any means be separated from its Sulfur, otherwise it would not be constant to fire and to all tests, because the general solvent cannot destroy Gold by any means, but only projective matter, and that by extension of the parts; that common Gold has much of the virtue of philosophical Sulfur and substance, because it is very pure; that it has much Mercury, and little of the lively Spirit of Mercury: that Quicksilver abounds in the substance of philosophical Sulfur, and has little of its virtue: that it has little of the substance of Mercury, and a lot of virtue: that the General Agent is so powerful that he acts without fire in a few hours, like the lightning that burns the Sword in its sheath, because he has a mind as subtle and celestial: that the Sulfur of the Philosophers is dissolved in a moment, the longest is half an hour, it passes into clear water, which in three or four hours becomes white as milk, green like an Emerald, then black and red, and in this time takes on various colors. It coagulates into cheese with an Iris around the vase, then turns into black ash, which takes on all the colors before being white and red, after the colors we draw from it in a certain way a white water which must be put back on his body, and finally a red Water, from which we make the same, which are the Imbibitions, they are made to shorten the time of the coction, and that this Agent does everything in a short time for individuals, than at the beginning the spirit of the silvery Mercury of the Philosophers, gild and made a peacock's tail; this Stutterer assured him that he would see with his Agent the proof of what he told him.
X.
It therefore did not take place (when we met him) to complain that he was cohobed with miseries, laminate of misfortunes, calcined with deputy, volatilized of rage, concentrated and fixed with spite; on the contrary he can imbibe others with his Wisdom, and freeze us with his Doctrine, then he is dissolved or released from the feces of ignorance.
Z.
He is partly right to blame your speech, because in this Art, whoever lacks one thing lacks the other; I am not also of your opinion in everything; I have something better than that. The Constellations teach us that we must join the microcosmic Spirit with the macrocosmic encyclopedicly according to the chaotic Elements. The Spirit of my Microcosm makes me discern that of the Macrocosm by a magnetic, astral and magical virtue. The Rain of the Equinox serves me as an instrument, to bring out from the center of the earth the Flos Cœli or the universal Manna which I am going to gather to make it corrupt, in order to miraculously separate a Water which is the true fountain of youth which radically dissolves Gold.
I am not like those who pass through Antimony the Tin of ice, which they call their King, and reduce it to Water by the blood of the Wolf or Azinat butter made by means of sublimation; I would be foolish to claim the leafy land of the Philosophers as they do.
Well, sir, what do you say about my Azot?
H.
It’s a very beautiful Azot; You others act like certain Horoscope Pullers, who say so many things that some of them are true, although they cannot distinguish them unless they are shown to them. We no longer study except to keep up appearances, it seems that the goal of Science is to surprise others; I have known people who changed their Matter, and their true principle, to find another that they did not know. The most sincere writings only serve to adorn the speech; the Trimegist who is believed by common agreement to be the leader of those who possessed this Science, left in a few words the general Theory of everything that is in Spaces, and in Spaces of Spaces, as we can see in its Emerald Table which has been found so difficult to hear, that very few people have understood what it contains, however it is so clear and intelligible that it needs no Commentary, because everything is there without any ambiguity, also (he says) It is true that what is below is similar to what is above; by this the wonders of one thing are acquired and made, which is to say Nature which is only one, also one in ascending refers to one or the first in descending, the highest Fire and the Lowest Earth, Air above Water, Water below Air, all this is Nature; and its diversities only produce things according to its power: and as (he continues) all things are made by one and meditation of one, so all things are made of one, by conjunction, meaning: Like all things are made of this one Nature by the will of God, all species are also multiplied by one by conjunction, namely of male and female. He gives an example by speaking of metallic multiplication in this way: The Sun is the Father and the Moon the Mother, the Wind carries it in its belly and the Earth is its Nurse, the Mother of all perfection: it is that is to say, Gold is the Father, and flowing Silver the Mother, they cannot be united without movement; we cannot move without agitating the Air, the agitated Air is the wind which serves as their belly, adding that the Earth is its Nurse, to teach that these are two liquid things which cannot support each other without a vessel of a earthly firmness to contain them. Also a thing is imperfect if it does not support itself, which is why self-support is the symbol of perfection. He argues that her power is perfect and she is changed into earth, commanding to freeze the liquid matter, and make it like the Earth. From there he says: separate the Earth from the Fire, the subtle from the gross and the thick with modesty and wisdom, which one must observe exactly in the coction, dividing the central Fire out of its own earth by the fire, so that the subtle is disunited from the coarse and the thick by the corruption of the Bodies, having the modesty not to be too hasty, and the wisdom to get there quickly enough; during which, it will ascend from Earth to Heaven, and descend from Heaven to Earth, and will receive the power of higher and lower things, for the mixture sometimes rises partly to the top of the vessel, then it falls back below, thus the body receives the virtue and property of the fixed and the volatile. Finally he said: by this means you will have the glory of everything; reject darkness, all gloom and blindness. It is truly very glorious to have gone this far, all that remains is to make this material diaphanous, like a Diamond or like a Ruby by applying the necessary moisture, especially since in this way the force is multiplied: which is (as he concludes) the force of forces, which overcomes all forces, and subtle things, as are violent diseases, and penetrates hard and solid things, namely common Gold and Silver. In this way the World was made, and its conjunctions and effects admirable, and this is the way by which these wonders are made. It is also very surprising to see that a little powder converts so much imperfect metal. Can we speak better than that? Can we say more? To explain oneself too clearly, must one not be heard and considered obscure for being too open?
K.
Whipped cream all that! But the movement you talked about. Sir, am I not introducing it into the reincrudation by a very long decoction?
H.
No, truly, since it is impossible to make a thing raw by cooking it: and furthermore, Metal can only move in itself, namely in what is Metal; because to move in another, that is to say in that which is not manifestly so, such as oils, waters, metallic butters, and everything which has the appearance of something else, like something else. Elemental water, I say it can't be.
X.
Sir, how do you know? have you experienced it? Of course not, since I did the opposite. Here again is the hand which made a happy projection of Gold which had been vivified by three substances, which I helped to separate from the Adamic earth, which a Turk showed me.
Z.
As for me, I saw Antimony multiply with a thousand others, calcining it with the Burning Mirror. We drew the rays of the Sun into clear water, using a little ice. Besides this God would punish me if I revealed the secret of attracting the Roral, mellific, aurific, argentific vapor, which gives us narcotic Sulfur and diaphoretic Mercury. I have been inexorable to those; who asked me how to bury the Glass Bells to have this Balsamic Water, on which the spirit of the Lord is carried, which rolls and turns in the vessel from Blue to Black, and from Black to Blue, as long as the Water freezes into whiteness. Who would dare to tell of the miracles that I had performed with it, if a Ghost had not forbidden me to use it? Have you heard about the error of the Crystal Stones feeding the Saturn Mine? My only advice made the operation succeed, adding the Spirit of urine, which the Philosophers called the water of our Sea, because everything like the big World has a Sea, the little World which is Man, likewise has a meeting place of all the Waters which is his bladder full of salty liquor. It was a Satyr traveling in distant Regions who taught me this in praise of the Macrocosm, of which he claimed to be the true copy. His reasons were so good that he seemed to be speaking some truth. He made a connection from one to the other, arguing that to resemble the original, one had to participate analogically in everything like him. However, I did not take any of his urine, mine was used to finish off Pandapharmaque as well as he did with his.
K.
Therefore you are wrong, Sir: it is not today that I am also in possession of this Catholic remedy of Helen's Nepenthe and Homer's Moly, I even know a Man who with it The common Spirit of Salt draws from Saltpetre, binds all the Metals by dissolution and digestion, and converts them into Gold. I have also seen Mines made that can be multiplied in white and red to infinity, with Salts.
H.
Would you swear in favor of this Art of pure love, of true friendship, of frank inclination and tenderness, prostrate before the Altar of sincerity, on pain of present and future misery, that Was this true? Do you dare to assure what you have never done, and to resort to lies, to overcome my reasons?
Can you deny that the whole can move in another, and that if it moved in another, it would not be everything, everything that is necessary for the metallic being? Is it not found in metallic Nature? Its Sulfur extends in its own body, and cannot move into another, because it would cease to be what it is; if it expanded into water, it would be changed into water, and would be worth nothing more than water; if it does not expand into water, the operation is false, and if it expands into water, it is useless: should we be surprised that water eats away and cuts Metal, since a chisel does it well, although we cannot do it so subtly because of the weakness of our eyesight? If the smallest filings that can be made from the largest mass of Gold do not convert the Metal into Gold, it is very wrong to claim that the subtlest powder that can be made from the smallest filings , converts it. You called the tinctures Sulfur or Soul, and you know that Soul is the occult thing of the compound that we see; which being, if the tinctures which you draw from bodies against the opinion of the Sages are visible, these tinctures (I say) and these Sulfurs are not Souls. The metallic soul is only that which causes its splendor, for the grasses and the bricks are dyed, and do not make Metal.
K.
But, Sir, there are many deceived people, all the authors say that the stone is made of such a vile material that everyone has it.
H.
It is true that a grain of Gold is of much less value than an infinity of Mars that it produces for us.
K.
So here I am happy. Sir, I have a Gaulish manuscript, which devoutly teaches the preparation of Gold and others. Metals, he calls the Salt of Saturn Nitre, the Salt of Mars common salt, that of Venus such as Alkali, that of Gold salt Albrot, Mercury salt Armoniac, the Salt of the Moon Gem salt, and that of Jupiter Talc salt , ordering to mix the salts of the white Metals with the white ones, and the citrine with the citrines to make Medicines for Gold and Silver.
H.
There are so many Books, which begin with: In the name of God my Son, take.
X.
What do their Works mean, animal, vegetable, and mineral?
H.
This is because they follow the Philosophers to the Letter, taking Blood or something else for the Animal, the Vine to do the vegetable work, and the Minerals for the mineral, not considering that the Sages call animal work, when the Soul or the natural Sulfur of Mercury acts on its own body; which they call vegetable work, when this composition multiplies in quality and quantity, and mineral work because the whole proceeds from the mineral Spirit.
K.
Lord, how unhappy I am! So I will never make stone?
H.
The time which we must all share equally is drawing near.
Z.
You delight us, Sir, tell us when.
H.
What was made of the Elements by the adorable Creator is part of their qualities, and when one of the qualities dominates, the distinction of the compounds begins. However, despite their different figures, virtues and properties, they are both Creatures. The World is also a Creature, being therefore a Creature, and having nothing in it so conformable as a Creature to a Creature; we can with all justice compare one Creature to another, and it is very certain that the virtue of being this or that Creature, is when the thing always remains as it is, therefore nothing could come to an end, if there was no dissipation of any part of the compound, all compound is of Water and Earth, one is like the male and the other the female, and both in their interior have their seeds invisibly, namely the effect of Air and the power of Fire, by which all corporeal things are made; the Earth is fixed, and Water is volatile, which is why, when a subject loses something of his own, it is never just Water. We also see that everything that is made up of the Elements is altered, lacking its own moisture: because Water being moved becomes rarefied in the Air by means of fire. But it must be observed, that whatever an Element is constrained to be rendered according to its Agent, it is nevertheless not converted into it, unless the thing which extends is enlarged beyond its last latitude, to enter into the first of what contains it, which is something naturally impossible. The Elements can indeed subject each other, but not convert it; otherwise all forms would be corruptible, and the Water which had formerly been taken up into the Air, could not have fallen back to submerge the Earth, if it had been converted into Air. The Fire had acted for a long time to raise such a large quantity of Water, and even so abundantly, that after its fall the highest mountains were covered with it, the Water could not have fallen again if it had been raised without the power circular of that which remained on the surface of the Earth causing ordinary rain, when it is not carried there, and this Water apparently exceeded its initial quantity, because of the extension of the radical humidity which does not is that a Water concentrated for the conservation of elementary Creatures by movement, which consists of a continual extension, and no longer having a formal place to hear itself, remains idle, what we call death.
All Creatures in their middle ages occupy the middle between the humid and the dry; Man becomes dry and decrepit, which we take as a mark of old age and the last indication of the natural end, as well as other things. The World was the same at the time of the Flood, seeing that there was so much clean moisture changed under the appearance of water, and water under the likeness of Air: to this something happened. It is admirable that the wrath of God prolonged the primary being of the general, by shortening that of the particular, because the action of the Fire being stopped by its power, the Earth once again received its humidity, which having filled the pores became as vigorous as before. After which, there was as it were a new World, the Earth resumed in thirteen months twenty-two days, what two thousand one hundred and six years or approximately, had dissipated, and from there, before the central movement arrived once again until to the degree he was, has since had to survive without taking into account old age because of his new strength. Let us now consider within ourselves that this time has already passed, there are this year one thousand six hundred sixty eight thousand five hundred seventy eight years taking it only in the middle of the age of the World; so that naturally this whole machine can no longer last beyond five hundred and twenty-eight years: we nevertheless find by the course of the Stars that it will not end soon, thus one says in one way, the 'another from another; who should we believe? We must consult the truth, because only its Oracles can explain it.
Listen, she said, I approve that heat is the cause of the evaporation of the humidity of all Creatures, heat comes from movement, the Sun and the Courtiers who are the other Stars, move and will move for this Indeed, as long as there is something to move, since they have even been established for lower things, but the lower being exhausted, the quality existing through matter will be multiplied by the action of bodies, and thus this which is presently will no longer be, in the meantime be all reasonable in the conversation, otherwise if you give up a point which is that of believing, the most ignorant in the World will triumph over you. For assurance of this, that reciprocally or grant you to be believed, you will then be able to put forward all imaginable things, and there will be no contradiction.
H.
See, I pray you, on what the pride of Men is founded, they deceive themselves to deceive others, and glory in the caprice of some dreamer, Farewell, KentIUD, XaLIo, zCesIM.
K.
Which Man is this?
X.
O amiable truth, who has given us the grace to speak to us through him, tell us his name for love of him, who is your servant.
V.
Cest, Hermes;
Z.
Let's run after my Friends, let's ask him to stop, let's hasten our pace, early, skillful, quickly, move forward, follow me.
The Alchemists force Hermes to stay, showing him their Laboratory.
H.
What, are you still following me?
K. , Z. , X.
We will not leave you until death, do with us whatever you please; for since we know who you are, there is some assurance in saying that you have not come late to go off alone, give us each a catch of your quintessence of the general chaos, so that the other four essences , which are the Elements, do not have the power to corrupt us, until the coming of Enoch and the universal Elijah. You who are the Elijah of Artists, will contemplate it with us if you wish, to obtain our final fate: we will never be delirious, nor will we ever wish for other riches.
X.
I am no longer eager for treasures, I no longer think of putting armies in state, as I had offered to do, when I would have this bless stone.
Z.
And I put all my vessels under foot, I no longer want to use any other vehicle than my arms. O Sir, allow me to embrace you, and let my heart serve as a Tabernacle to your Image
X.
The echo from the street will discover us, let us withdraw, the People gather.
K.
Here we are near my house, let's go. He's right, let's get out of the crowd. Come in, come in, Sir, let's get into my Laboratory, and let's pay for the time.
H.
What glass vessels!
K.
The Fire really broke some others for me.
H.
What is this diversity for?
K.
It was to carry out all the operations that I had imagined following your writings, here is a compound of believers, whose beak enters the ass of the other, it serves to separate the subtle spirit from matter, who passing into the middle one leaves his phlegm there, which is then thrown onto the earth from which he came, to extract the Salt.
H.
What did you call it?
K.
Botum barbatum.
H.
God, what a name! and this one ?
K.
One Hell, the other a Pelican.
H.
It's a shame he's not alive, what do you call this one?
K.
A Cucurbit, this is the head we call a cap, this one is a one-eyed cap because it has no beak, the rest are suckers, meeting vessels, philosophical eggs, balloons, thuines, and funnels for filtering.
H.
As for the others, it is useless for me to ask their names, I know them well.
K.
These are retorts and matras.
H.
There are many.
K.
Have you ever used stoves like these? There are some reverberating, others distilling, some with a fire of suppression, others with a fire of sand; here is a tripod for cooking in the Sun, here is a Lamp Furnace, an Athanor, a Bain-Marie. I am not talking to you about the Wheel Fires, and of degrees that I made in the past, here are still Furnaces for melting, for vitrifying, etc.
H.
What is the point of these pierced pots that fit into each other?
K.
It’s a descender.
H.
And these interlocking earth pipes?
K.
It's for sublimating Minerals. The rest are terrines, Creusets, etc.
Z.
I believe that the truth deceived us, because if it were Hermes, he would not ask what the least Artist should have.
X.
Don't say a word, be patient, wait until the end.
H.
Who does he have in these Boxes?
K.
It's to make tests, in order to have some particular reality, while nia Pierre is cooking, I always hoped for a small Bidet to bear the costs of the expenses during the time of the great work, that's what which made me work in any case with red, with Alexandrian Tutie, Calamine, Verdet, Vitriol, Crystals of Venus and Mars, with red Precipitate, Sulfur, mineral Cinnabar, Emeril, mineral Lead, and with the red Sulfur of Jupiter, Antimony, Orpiment, Realgar, Ochre, Ferette of Spain, Aes ustum, Mineral and common Gold. The other Boxes and Papers are filled with drugs to strip Venus, namely Tin Lime, Sublimate, Alum, Tartar, Arsenic, Saltpeter and Bismuth, etc. nothing of all that.
H.
What would you like to claim as something other than the thing, since you use each thing as it is? Again, if you separated from a subject, white from red for red, and red from white for white, good things would happen after the fusion, since there would be no contradiction. You know that when the Sun and the Moon are conjunct, the night is dark.
K.
Lord, give some small example of this separation, because I separated them by Waters, by Salts, it seems to me, and I have never seen anything good from it.
H.
It is necessary to know the Salts and separate the Bodies before using them, the Silver Lime drawn by the Copper Lamina is used to make some separation: for example, if you want red and white, fix it and the volatile of the Orpiment, grind one part with two of the other, then put them in the fire, and the white will sublimate at the top like snow, leaving the red at the bottom with the Silver. We even see that the the most sour things become gifted by artifice, common Vinegar contains in itself an admirable sweetness which can be extracted by distilling the Vinegar, as long as the faeces remain at the bottom, which, being dried of their phlegm by slow heat, must be exposed to the air, as long as they partly turn into oil which must be filtered, then frozen into a strong and sweet salt, which has the virtue of correcting spoiled wines and stinking waters. Etchings themselves also give by Art very good smells, if we sprinkle rye straw in a terrine, and then let it dry for some time in summer to put it into powder, it will have a very smell. suave.
K.
Lord, I have volatility of the Gold with the Aqua regia by cohobbing, and exposing it each time one night to the Air, and when it was paw, I put Water in it, as much that everything was very weak, so I added Mercury which made my Gold rise into cream, which I collected and evaporated into oil to soak the Sulfur of Mars and Venus, I also made some with 'Spirit of Salt, another with Spirit of honey, I reduced the Saturn to oil, put the Moon into Eraser by sublimation with Armonia and Sublimate, and all this in vain: then when I Having wasted a lot of time, I started wanting to make big Diamonds, by amassing lots of small ones in one.
H.
There is not much profit in changing Diamonds into Glass by melting.
K.
It is true that the flux or the salts which melted them never wanted to separate, so I lost everything.
H.
What's in these Fire Flasks?
K.
Gold and Silver conjoined at the time of Saturn and Mercury mixed between Mars and Venus on the day of Jupiter; I collected from time to time with a feather the soul of Gold, in the form of a red Powder which I imbibed with its own radical moisture. Here is another which contains Gold dissolved by Silver Water; and this is the Spirit of the Sun and the Moon drawn by the animated Salt, which is made by dissolving common Salt in Water, and then oil of Vitriol is thrown into it; the whole being filtered and evaporated into Salt, it must be melted in a Crucible, to which Gold is thrown, stirring it until it is in paste, which being placed in the Air becomes oil, which it is necessary to distill, and after the distillation, mix it with Silver Water which must be drawn in the same way, except that instead of common Salt, we use Saltpetre. That says it all, here they are cooking, the greenness appears. As for this one, I saw wonders: it happened some time after darkness, which we saw as if little spider nets were moving, from which a dragon with sparkling eyes was born, which became so large and so swollen that it burst; so there was a noise in the ship like a trumpet, to which all those in the house with me ran. Shortly after, as we looked at the Vase attentively, it became azure, and appeared at its top a Sun, a Moon with other stars, at the bottom a green, grassy field filled with Trees. Next to it there was a beautiful Fountain which threw out Water abundantly, from which the Earth drank a little at a time, then everything disappeared. I don't do what comes of it; when it turns white, I'll make a proof of it.
H.
It has been a long time since the lie first adorned History: couldn't you refrain from hiding the lie? I'm not asking you all that, I want things that are true like the rest, although useless.
K.
You are right, Sir, I was afraid that my comrades would not consider me knowledgeable without telling them surprising things, but since the World will end soon, I no longer want to lie. Metal can tolerate Fire better than me, I will no longer cause my ships to explode as in the past, when I had made another conclusion according to the Authors, or when I had imagined some addition: I renounce the quarrels that I often have brought into being to take the place of changing people, when they did not provide me with enough.
X.
I know that the most beautiful lesson that one can give to a friend is to recommend him not to lie.
Z.
For me, I no longer want to water Flower Onions, nor the roots of herbs with sweet solutions of Metals, so that having vegetated with their juice, they can freeze Mercury into Gold, if it is of Gold, etc. with which I have deceived and made so many people wander.
H.
May this good will always accompany you.
K.
So break something for us to get through this miserable life, because if we were rich we wouldn't say we know everything in order to have money, we wouldn't sell the secrets that are still to be found; our Friends would not be Spagyric Doctors, and for counterfeit money, we would never talk about it.
H.
Should we, in order to have more bread than is necessary, and for superfluities, make ourselves criminals before God and Men? It is poor eating to feed on one's damnation.
K.
No digression, here is the Manuscript I spoke to you about earlier; at least explain it to me if you don't want to tell me anything else.
H.
It is easier for me to teach the truth than to make someone who does not know it say it.
X.
I am therefore going to throw it into the Fire with this other, which is said to have been composed by a disciple of Artephius, nicknamed the Saunier.
H.
The first part of our work advances the one who possesses it, but in the second we do not use Salt.
K.
So there is something good?
H.
Nothing for everything.
K.
But who make good Authors?
H.
Those who say that they have no other Sulfur than Water, no other Earth than Mercury, and no other Salt or Stone than the two spouses. Those also who teach to introduce into Mercury a dry tincture, and then a liquid.
K.
It seems to me that there is something of this in the copy of the letters that were formerly written to Alexander. Here is another writing which contains this doctrine, or I am deceived, because it comes from a good Old Man who commanded the Demons.
H.
A Craftsman whose profession requires a lot of observations, has no need to put them in writing for himself when he makes them; and you want something that is written even on the forehead of the smallest insect to be there?
Z.
So what are the attackers?
X.
They are not antagonists, but they are people who study the Books, and each time put their thoughts on paper, then it happens that everything being written down they come to die, so their successors have nothing else to inherit only imaginations, during which it is said that a Man of this sort knew the Philosopher's Stone. If we object that he was poor, we answer that he pretended to be so, afraid of being known, loving his freedom better than a captive life.
K.
For this one it is a writing which comes from a Man, who undoubtedly left his Woman six or seven gold ingots, as big and long as the arm, there is no mockery, I am an eyewitness of it.
H.
What is he talking about?
K.
Take some lunitive.
H.
Since it is enigmatic, you will immediately take the first printed Book that comes to your hand, provided that it is from a Philosopher, and not from a plunderer of Authors or a hoarder of recipes .
H.
But here is a receipt which comes from a holy Religious, whose life was irreproachable, I do not believe that he wanted to deceive.
X.
The Rosary is not deceptive, but it is widely used to deceive.
K.
I'm not talking to you?
H.
No quarrel: holla, what is this Monk using?
K.
He beats Stones with Guns, and receives the fire in a bottle, which he calls his Sulfur, then cooks it, he also teaches how to make a philosophical fire, among other things an oil of Sulfur and Mars which is always hot, then another of crushed charcoal, mixed with two parts of earth, with a little water to put it into balls or pellets, which being dry burn and heat greatly. He also makes a fire of brandy and loam. There we find how to make a potential fire with flour, or the bark of shrubs, then he teaches how to make incombustible oils to put in lamps.
H.
How can they be incombustible, since they are combustible?
Z.
By circulation and relapse of the oil which has risen.
K.
He also teaches admirable secrets for Medicine following the writings of the Philosophers, who say that Nature enjoys its Nature; that Nature amends itself in its Nature, and that Nature overcomes the ordinary effects of Nature. The heart of an old Raven is used against dropsy, the brain of an Owl against melancholy, the blood of Snails against quartan fever, and the skin of a Lizard against gout, some out of sympathy, others out of antipathy. . This is the rarest thing I have, which has until now been the treasure of my hopes, and I now know that these are follies. O that Man is chimerical. I confess that the first day on which I embarked on this perilous Sea, I believed I knew enough to brave the greatest and most learned, I could not fail, it seemed to me, but it was to fail: I I thought I was the darling of the times, the favorite of fortune, and now I see that my happiness is in your hands, I admire the kindness you had, Sir, in opening my eyes, while the confusion brought back memories of the time that passed.
Z.
Our Father, you can deliver us from evil, command, you will be obeyed, we are ready to do whatever you want, trust us, as people who have just stripped themselves of all vice.
X.
Make us work, and don't worry about the rest: a man as you know hearts well, if I cheated on someone I myself was the first, we cannot blame me as to others that my first subject was Money(Silver).
K.
Let us not do like those who do things without bodily interest, to better establish that of the Spirit. What should be done ? What material do you like?
H.
Do you have some gold in a bowl?
K.
No.
H.
So melt some Lead, and then when it is very red, throw on three pounds a quarter of a grain of this powder wrapped in a little wax.
K.
Alas! Sir, the Crucible is pierced from below, I believe that Matter is flowing.
H.
Do you not know that to be transmuted into Gold, eight parts in size, it must tighten, and appetize by more than five?
K.
I thought it would have made a noise, as those who saw the projection say: Ah! the deceivers, who now come to tell me that they saw a weight projected on a thousand, on a hundred, etc. Can't we project onto Metal in another way?
H.
Yes, when the powder is too strong, we leave a grain of it to soak in a pint of water for the space of two or three minutes, then we remove it without being diminished, or if it is, it is is incomprehensibly because of its small quantity, like a grain of Musk which gives its odor throughout a room without us noticing the reduction, so this grain can always be reused and put back into new water when it has done its effect, which is to dissolve the Bodies that we put there, to separate the terrestrial Sulfur, which it pushes to the surface in the form of foam until the pure remains at the bottom, which it must be put back into body.
We still use this Stone, when it is in oil, which is done by giving it its own humidity, as long as it can no longer freeze, then we heat some pot or cauldron however large it may be, then we put a drop with a small glass button, and immediately it spreads everywhere.
When our Medicine is not melting enough, and we do not have time to moisten it, we sublimate it with volatile Minerals, then we use them.
We can also correct the Miners by throwing some into the Waters around them.
We sometimes make it so penetrating that it transmutes Quicksilver into Gold in the palm of the hand, but when it is not penetrating or multiplied enough, we use the perfect Sulfurs which are found in the Metals, which we overcome by melting Copper, Iron and Lead together, then we throw a grain of Powder on it, and thus the Medicine is multiplied in virtue.
Philosophers still enjoy showing realities through the mixture of Metals, one weight out of twelve, out of three, out of four, out of two etc. both white and red; insinuating a little of their Powder which they hold secretly at the tip of their finger, with which they rub in advance some piece of Metal or Quicksilver, then when the Artists come to cement, calcine and melt them, they find that they have a beautiful Gold or Silver, which they presume to do again other times, starting the operation again, during which time the Author is no longer there, they work in vain. This is not done to deceive, but to show the presumptuous ignorant that the metallic transformation is real.
K.
Sir, shall I remove the Crucible from the fire?
H.
Yes, pour.
X.
O the beautiful Gold! it is over twenty-three carats.
H.
Cut a piece and share the rest between you.
Z.
This is done; what should we do about it?
H.
Make this large weight no longer weigh anything by means of C and mix it with two parts of L, or A. C, then dissolve it in water adding PM a fourth part of all the solution that you will evaporate , then put it all in the fire, and it will be transmuted. After which you mix one part with four of Quicksilver extracted from red Nitre, if you want to finish in seven months: or with six parts, if you want to finish in nine; or with ten if you want to finish in twelve: because the more moisture you put in, the longer it will take to dry everything by fire: In the first place, the Water passes through the natural pores of the grain, and the spirit whoever finds himself there being freer, because it is liquid, than in a dry body, wants to fly away; but as Water is by its means extended in all its parts, it flees from it, and from the two a medium body is made which appears to swell, because the parts of the Earth are divided.
Remember to moisten it when it is dry, and dry it when it is too wet instead of dry, which can cause heat, and can be adjusted by affixing.
K.
These are beautiful things, let's see if I remember them correctly. We have taken the Mercury of Quicksilver, the Moon of Silver and the Sun of Gold, by affixing to the Volatile a fixed body, so that it is similar to the fixed: And before conjoining the black with the white we first bleached.
Z.
Would you believe that something so easy was so difficult to find?
X.
Isn't it almost like I said?
H.
Tell everyone your feeling through Parables, and give them to the Public.
X, Z, K
So start first, so we don't have to do anything while our Matter cooks.
H.
When I was in the Province of Pentapolis, situated between Arabia and Palestine, where I had gone to see the remains of such a beautiful Country, which formerly was more luxuriant than that of Promise, and the would still be, had it not been for the horrible sin of the inhabitants of some of these Cities, I would wander here and there to find some Water which was not infected with their abyss, to satisfy my thirst, during which I saw some Apples, whose attractive beauty promised me the help of their juice, but when I had bitten into them, I found them full of smoking Powder which they still hold from the curse of the land, whose ire of God formerly banished substances by an entire burning.
As this violent alteration pressed upon me more and more, I noticed an eminence where I had climbed, like a little Being reflecting the face of a Woman with long hair, who pleasantly changed place from time to time. I spent a long time contemplating whether it was not a swimming figure, and I would have believed it, if the tranquility of the water had not disabused me. Being on the edge of this pond, I always saw the same thing except that it seemed more beautiful than from a distance; a fear surprised my curiosity, and the confidence I had in my happiness made me look around for the original of this lovely Image. After my pain had put me beyond hope of satisfaction, I stooped down and drank some water which was very good. As soon as I had taken it, the eyes of my intellect were opened; because when I turned around I saw the subject of this beautiful portrait that Air had represented in Water. She showed me a very small animal partly similar to a Man, who had legs and feet as many times larger than his head as there were different things in the World. He is a bastard of Saturn, she told me, an abortion of Venus, when he fights against Mars, he has no other help than the humidity frozen by the earth; in the meantime Vulcan sends a star to help, and Mercury separates him by the prayer of Venus who, for a little dregs of the Sea, disguises him as water to hide Mars from his fury, then this Water comes together with the frozen water, until the heat of the Sun takes them both away, and the Moon makes them friends by the journey by dint of wandering, then they make Phoebus lie down by Pallas, and when he is whitened, they separate him from his superfluities, rubbing it with oil of fire, so that the snow cannot hurt it, until the rising Sun. XaLIo, speak your turn?
Z.
Let it be me, sir.
H.
Say then.
Z.
I was once very troubled by what was said that the Sun was no longer elevated according to the degrees marked by the writings of ancient Astrologers, since the moderns found it much lower than them; but presently I know that this comes from the abundance of Water which is rarefied in the Air, as Hermes taught me. And experience shows that bodies appear larger in water than elsewhere; the Sun being on our horizon, seems to us much larger than when it is at our Zenith, this comes from the gross humidity, and from the Earth which distances it from us half of its size.
If we no longer measured a luminous Body as a dark one, which does not help to be seen; if we made the penultimate of seven going down, to be the middle one, going up and shifting; since we made the penultimate on the way up to be the third on the way down: we would be disabused of those who say that the Sun is larger than the Earth and of many other things, because we would easily arrive at the beginning of the fourth which is the middle, where we would find that half of the composition must really be according to mercurial metallic principles, and that the rest is imaginary.
X.
That was too clear.
H.
And you XaLIo, also say a few words.
X.
The Zodiac is divided into twelve figs, the first four correspond to the Plants; the other four to Animals, and the last four to Minerals: and according to the order of the Elements there is always a sign of Earth after one of Fire, and a house of Water after one of Air; but whoever wants to make this circle square, let him do it after the first five.
May this teach you to know Water, because since all generations are made by extension of parts; consider how tight it must be, still near the center of the Earth, seeing that Gold is so bright.
H.
It is very well spoken2 for those who know Nature.
K.
How can you find out what she is hiding if you have neither money nor credit?
Z.
It would be necessary to add some particular procedure to help poor Artists, so that they can employ themselves without any other care than to study continually, and by this means achieve the desired end, as well as those who can give something thing to their entertainment.
X.
It would be good if our writings being disclosed, only reached people's hands, who have already finished their days to turn infected coals of infinity of drugs that they sacrificed Air, or of those who have ruined themselves for having been of the sentiment of the Imaginaries: On the contrary the foolish flatterers of the ignorant, who have always despised and decried this divine Work, would only consider our liberalities, according to the profit that can be obtained from them, to to act beautiful and brave. I don't care about secrets, a Badin said to me one of these days, just give me some Gold and Silver, we'll get on well. As if the Man who became wise by having abandoned superfluities, made much of becoming mad, through the seduction of a fool.
Hermes concluded, as I was tired of listening, that the weakness of the simple often caused more harm than the malignity of the wicked. However, I left the Alchemists, supposedly reformed, cooking their Stone, to tell you news about it, when it will be completed.
END
Quote of the Day
“as a Woman desires a Husband, and a Vile thing a precious one, and an impure a pure one, so also Argent vive covers a Sulphur, as that which should make perfect which is imperfect: So also a Body freely desires a Spirit, whereby it may at length arrive at its perfection.”
Bernard Trevisan
Treatise of the Philosophers Stone
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