A Short Interpretation
of the Little Fountain of Bernard
By
Alberto Beijern,
Carmelite Monk.
Exposition
of the Fourth Book of Chemistry, or
On the Philosopher’s Stone,
by
Bernard, Count of Treviso.
Or,
Interpretation of the Philosophical Little Fountain.
it became evident that he had finally grown weary of futile sophistical scribbling, searching, and speculating. He had grasped the true foundation of philosophical knowledge and was prepared to embark on the right work, proceeding to obtain the Golden Little Book—that is, extracting Mercury from the finest and purest Philosophical Gold, preparing it in India, and completing the first part of the Philosophical Work, namely, the solution, through the aid of the humid, vaporous fire. There, he grew tired of studying and, in one night, discovered the Little Fountain.
The night signifies the vaporous and philosophical fire, for when something is to dissolve and grow, it is said: Ah, when the warm nights come, it will grow quickly. As experience shows, the warmth of the night, mingled with the moisture of the dew, visibly brings forth all things.
Bernhardus also says
that in one night—that is, in the humid, warm fire through which the solution of Mercury occurs—he discovered the Fontina (the little fountain).
And he further states that it was surrounded by a white, round stone. This signifies the Ovum Physicum (the Philosophical Egg), with an old hollow oak tree split in the middle. This means a large oaken sphere, cut apart in the middle, inside which the glass should stand. The bottom must be full of holes, but not the top, so that the vaporous fire can act upon the glass. And it is enclosed in a wall—that is, the furnace in which everything is properly arranged.
He would have liked to sleep, as he was weary from studying—that is, to rest and refresh himself—and he sat down by the Fontina to observe. This means that when the conjunction was about to begin, he saw the Fontina open at the top—that is, the oleum (oil) emerging from the Fontina, beginning to gather at the top.
Now everything has been at the bottom of the Fontina,
thus, the lowest has risen up, and the highest has descended,
and yet it remained sealed nonetheless.
This is so that, in the rising and falling,
the Fontina would not be diminished in its weight.
And thus, he observes the movement of the Fontina,
the rising and falling,
particularly the beginning thickening and oiling,
and consequently the little vessels and leaves,
which he calls "the King in the Bath."
That he then further questions the old priest
about the nature of the Fontina and the King,
and the report or answer he receives in return,
should be understood as follows:
Since the Fontina opens up,
then the King must have been in the Fontina from the beginning.
And even when the Fontina dries up,
it still retains its name,
and it is Sulphur hidden in the Mercury of the Sun.
Thus, the Fontina, which comes from its Mercury,
must still remain sealed,
so that nothing evaporates in the solution,
which would later be lacking in the coagulation.
It shows the form of the Fontina,
that it is clear as fine silver,
of heavenly colors,
and contains the Mercurial water,
which strengthens it even further.
That is, when the solution of Mercury
into its own water and Fontina occurs,
and the coagulation and fixation begin,
then the fire must be strengthened
by one degree through the oaken sphere,
to prevent the sun and its radiance,
that is, to preserve the dry warmth,
hidden or enclosed within the white stone.
The wondrous nature of the Fontina—
when it ignites and rages,
so that it would penetrate everything—
means that when it turns fiery red,
this is a sign of its perfection and completion.
However, if it were to escape—
that is, if the glass were to break
during the solution, while it is still volatile and spiritual—
we would all be lost,
for it is the greatest and swiftest poison.
The visible entry of the King into the Fontina
may be understood in two ways:
first, when the perfect body of the Sun
is transformed into Mercury (through Mercury),
then he enters his own Fontina,
that is, into Mercury.
Secondly, when this Mercury is enclosed
within the ovum Physicum
and placed into the vaporous fire,
and it begins to dissolve
into its own water and Fontina,
then such a transformation occurs
that it is never seen again as it entered,
for it is dissolved.
Bernhardus speaks here
of this entering during the middle of the Work,
wherein the King first receives his true name,
and is called oleum incombustibile, oleum Solis,
and our gold, not of the common people.
Likewise, the Fontina also
receives its true name for the first time,
and is called Aqua perennis, permanens,
and our Mercurial substance,
which, after coagulation and fixation,
remains Mercurial, penetrating, and spiritual.
When this entering of the King into the Fontina occurs,
one can certainly observe it—
but afterward, never again in the same form,
for he does not turn back into oil,
but becomes something much nobler,
purer, higher in power and virtue.
When the King is placed at the beginning
into the Philosophers’ vessel and the fire,
he cannot be seen
until after one hundred and thirty days,
when the conjunction begins
following the solution—
only then does he start to appear.
The gatekeeper,
that is, the laborant,
steadily warms the bath
to maintain its natural heat.
Let no one mistake this bath
for the Balneum Mariae,
but rather understand it
as the self-sustaining Mercurial water,
which is continuously warmed
by the airy heat of our fire,
so that the Sulphur
is stimulated within the Mercury
to its own action.
For this reason,
it must be kept continuously,
day and night, without interruption,
so that it may be renewed at the proper time,
until it is fully perfected.
Now, when the King,
after one hundred and thirty days
from the beginning of the insertion,
is about to re-enter his Fontina,
that is, when the conjunction
is about to occur once again,
the King is first clothed
in a golden robe—
that is, the gold-oil
that floats above his own water.
This gold-oil
has a golden-reddish appearance,
while the Mercurial water,
which is the Fontina,
is as clear as silver.
Into this water he must enter,
for he has come forth from it,
so that they may unite.
Thus, as soon as this union occurs,
the King changes his golden robe
into a black velvet doublet—
this happens during the putrefaction.
After the putrefaction,
following its washing and calcination,
he wears a snow-white garment,
and his flesh becomes intensely sanguine red—
this is at the very end of the entire Tincture.
All of this takes place
in a single vessel,
completely and without deficiency.
How and when
this transformation of the robe occurs—
that is, the changing of the King’s colors—
has been explained in general;
soon it will be described in detail.
Bernhardus further states
that in our materia,
there is nothing foreign or external,
but only two Mercurial substances
from a single root—
which is Mercurius Solis.
To this, he laughingly replies
that when the King is set forth
to become this,
that is, when he is to be made Mercurius Solis,
he must first be entirely pure.
Thus, he leaves behind all foreign people,
and none but he himself
may enter the Fontina.
One does not need great labor,
only that the Laborant heats the bath—
that is, warming the Mercury in due time
through the regulation of the horse dung’s heat—
therefore, he himself does not enter the Fontina.
He further asks:
Are the King and the Fontina friendly to each other?
Answer:
They love each other wonderfully.
Yet the Fontina draws him to herself,
while he does not draw her.
For she dries the earth—
that is, the oil—
and the King first floats upward,
as mentioned above.
Afterwards, he falls back down
through his own water and Fontina to the bottom,
thus becoming equal to the other in true putrefaction.
For they take upon themselves
the power of both the highest and the lowest.
Thus, Bernhardus says:
“She is to him like a mother.”
And it is well known
that the King is made by the Fontina,
and she has so shaped him
that he is now different than before—
that is, in the beginning—
when he becomes Mercurius Solis.
The Fontina is to him like a mother,
for in the solution, she has opened herself,
and the separation has taken place.
Therefore, the conjunction of the King and Queen—
that is, Sulfur in Mercury—
must happen once again.
His people are the six metals,
all of which were created in the beginning of nature in the mineral of Mercury and Sulfur,
and they remain until the King dies,
and they inherit the kingdom just as he did.
For the nature of this King
is so extraordinary and powerful
that in one house and one moment,
he can make all metals equal
and bring them into kingship.
And he is older than the Fontina,
for she was made from him.
This is called a King of Metals,
from which Mercury is made.
First, considering Mercury of the body of Sol,
second, considering Mercury Philosophicum,
from which Mercury Solis comes and is made—
that is, Mercurial water, called the Fontina,
which is the closest materia of the Philosophical Stone,
and not common gold.
Thus, the King is older than the Fontina,
for if no gold had existed,
one could not have brought forth Mercurial water.
And the King is also earlier than any of his people,
for he is the first,
brought forth from his own Fontina and water.
Therefore, he can perfect and complete his people,
for he first becomes an incombustible oil,
which colors all his subjects in true gold.
Then, he becomes a white tincture and is invincible.
Third, he becomes a red tincture,
and a perfect Lapis Philosophorum.
Who can overcome him,
since he strengthens himself in three ways?
Therefore, he cannot be stabbed or killed by his subjects,
and this is the reason why the six,
in the beginning of the creation of the metals,
were all created by the Fontina (but not the one
that is now in the Ovum Physicum,
but the one that was long ago in the mineral),
and therefore, from the Mercurio Crudo and Minerali,
they all possess their wealth,
just as he received his wealth and perfection
at the beginning of his birth.
But since he was brought back in his perfection,
and entered into the Fontina,
that is, became Mercurial water,
and had to die in it, and rise again,
just as this Fontina draws him to herself,
strangles him and kills him,
and then brings him back from death,
strengthens and rejuvenates him,
so that no one can overcome him.
This happens all in the putrefaction, in a glass,
as previously mentioned.
Then, he emerges fully glorious,
adorned and clarified,
and according to the substance of his kingdom,
that is, when he becomes perfectly white or red,
every subject takes their part from the King’s portion,
which is very small,
so that one part can tint a thousand.
Thus, they come to the same wealth as he had
in his previous reign, as a King of the metals,
that is, they also become perfect gold,
when the Lapis, which tints them,
is perfect.
Then afterwards, one can make the Mercurium Philosophorum from them,
which, although nature has worked and generated in them,
they still cannot reach such an end,
nor attain such fertility and glory,
without the death and resurrection of the King.
Therefore, he says:
Know that the King alone,
without anyone from his people,
(although the Fontina loves his people)
enters the Fontina,
because his people have not yet deserved this entrance.
Firstly, because they are mortal, fragile, sick, and impure;
Secondly, because even if they could be purified,
they would not be reduced;
Thirdly, even if they were reduced to Mercurio,
it is not of a lasting nature;
Fourthly, they have not been made subtle through the solution in their Mercurial substance,
and brought to such dignity,
because they have come from an impure seed.
But this King has deserved it,
because he was a King of metals in his metallic nature,
perfectly so,
and even more so a King through reduction,
and return into Mercurium,
most of all through the solution and separation,
through which he has reached his highest and most subtle strength and purity.
Therefore, he alone has deserved to immerse himself into the Fontina,
to drown,
and rise again.
The subjects must wait for this.
Namely, when the King first, after the conjunction, enters into the Fontina,
his coat of fine gold beaten into leaves covers everything,
that is, do not understand gold leaves,
but barrels and skins that swim in his own water from the Fontina,
before everything drowns,
and gives it to Saturn to preserve, for 40 or 42 days.
Days at most,
that is, he will turn lead-colored,
this is the first sign and color of the conjunction and putrefaction,
and it is the prima materia of the Philosopher’s Stone.
After this, Saturn gives it to Jupiter,
and Jupiter, by the command of the King, gives it to the Moon,
who is his third consort, beautifully shining,
and thus the King is in his pure white garment,
and the Lapis is made perfect to white.
Furthermore, the Moon gives it to Mars,
and then Mars gives it to Venus,
and Venus to the Sun,
by the will of God,
yet it is not clear,
to preserve it until it reaches its perfection and tincture.
Then the King comes in his form, very beautiful, and high blood-red,
and thus the Sun preserves him.
Here, the stages of the King in his growth in the glass are finely marked,
as everything must appear in his vessel in stages with colors until it reaches perfection,
and thus one stage after another overcomes the Mercury of the Sun in moisture,
until he completely dominates,
so the Fontina opens,
that is, the one who has given him such stages one after another,
so that he may come to his sanguine, high, red-colored flesh,
and may remain united with his Queen in eternity.
Thus, it helps him with its acquired goods,
and the Philosopher’s Stone feeds his subjects,
so they then have their desire,
for they will be tinged into Luna fixa,
until they can become perfect gold.
Also to note:
whoever does not know the proper method to multiply the stone in quantity,
which is its fermentation,
will fail and lose everything.
Note the method:
put one part of the well-prepared tincture to a thousand parts of gold,
give it its appropriate heat for three days and nights,
and this must be tried in the heat of the furnace,
then this fermentation tinges one part with a thousand parts of the other metals,
into good, stable gold.
Ask, what do they do after this?
Answer:
If they wish, the six can purify the King once more,
that is, put him back into his vaporous heat.
Then, six colors will appear again,
such as black, gray, white, brown, yellow, and reddish,
and finally, red.
This occurs in three months.
Then the red tincture is completely perfected,
and all metals are ready to be tinged into gold.
What is this for?
Answer:
God makes one into ten,
one hundred, one thousand,
and thereafter multiplies everything tenfold.
That is, God has given to the artist
that he can multiply the stone after the fermentation,
so that one part, depending on whether he takes little or much,
multiplies 1, 10, 100, 1000, 10000, 100000, 1000000, 10000000.
Thus, everything is multiplied,
that is, you must never start anew from the beginning,
but rather, everything continuously multiplies without end.
Let this be a treasure from God the Lord
in this valley of misery.
Note:
To "puddle" means to dry,
which happens when the King consumes the Queen,
that is, until the moisture is consumed by the dryness.
Thus, the Fontina ignites,
and the Stone is completed.
Then the tenth part remains with the tenth,
that is, as much as was originally set in weight,
it is found again, as it has also happened to me.
Praise be to God.