The Testament of Nicolas Flamel

Written in France towards the end of 1750 and published in London in 1806. The original document was written by the hand of Nicolas Flamel in a coded alphabet consisting of 96 letters. It was written in secret and was only intended for his nephew. A Parisian writer named Père Pernetti and Monsieur de Saint Marc were finally able to crack the code in 1758.

1. Me Nicholas Flamel, writer in Paris, in the year 1414, under the reign of our good Prince Charles VI, may God preserve him; and after the death of my faithful companion Perenelle, I am seized with the desire and pleasure, in remembrance of her, and in your name, dear nephew, to write the entire magisterium of the secret of the powder of projection, or philosophical tincture, which God was good enough to give to his very insignificant servant, and which I have discovered, as you will also discover by working as I will declare to you.

2. And for this reason do not forget to pray to God to grant you understanding of the reason for the truth of nature, as you will see in this book, where I have written the secrets word for word , sheet by sheet, and also how I did and worked with your dear Aunt Perenelle, whom I very much regret.

3. Take care before working, to seek the right path as a man of knowledge. The reason of nature is Mercury, the Sun and the Moon, as I said in my book, in which are those figures which you will see under the arches of the innocents in Paris. But I have wandered considerably for 23 and a half years, working without being able to marry the Moon, which is Quicksilver, to the Sun, and to extract from them the seminal excrement, which is a deadly poison; for I was then ignorant of the agent or mediator, by which to enrich the Mercury: for without this agent, the Mercury is like common water.

4. Know then in what way the Mercury must be enriched by a metallic agent, without which it can never penetrate into the belly of the Sun and the Moon; after which it must be hardened, which cannot be done without the sulphurous spirit of Gold or Silver. You must therefore first open them with a metallic agent, that is to say with the royal Saturnia, then afterwards you must sharpen the Mercury by philosophical means, so that you can afterwards with this Mercury dissolve in liquor the 'Gold and the Moon, and draw from their putrefaction the generative excrement.

5. And know, that there is no other way, nor manner of working in this art, than what I give word for word; an operation which is not at all difficult to perform, unless taught as I am now doing, but which on the contrary is very difficult to discover.

6. Hold as immutable, that the entire philosophical industry consists in the preparation of the mercury of the sages, for it is all that we seek, and what the ancient sages have always sought; and we, no more than they, have done nothing without this mercury, prepared with the Sun or the Moon: For without these three there is nothing in the whole world capable of accomplishing the said philosophical and medicinal tincture . It is therefore essential that we learn to extract the living and spiritual seed from it.

7. Look therefore for nothing but the Sun, the Moon and the Mercury prepared by the philosophical industry, which does not wet the hands, but the metal, and which has in itself a sulphurous metallic soul, namely, the light igneous sulfur. And so that you cannot stray from the right path, apply yourself to metals; for the aforementioned sulfur is found in all; but you will find it easily, and even almost like Gold, in the cavern and depths of Mars, which is iron, and Venus, which is copper, almost as much in one as in the other; and even if you pay attention to it, this sulfur has the power to tint the damp and cold Moon, which is fine silver, into good yellow and pure Sun; but this must be done through a spiritual intermediary, namely the key that opens all metals, which I am going to make known to you. Learn then, that among the minerals there is one which is a thief, and devours them all, except the Sun and the Moon, which makes this thief very good; for when it has them in its belly it is good for preparing mercury, as I will now let you know.

8. Therefore do not stray from the right path, but believe my words, and give yourselves to the practice, which I will reveal to you in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.

The practice.

9. Take in the first place the eldest child or first-born of Saturn, not the vulgar one, 9 parts; of the chalybé sword of the God of war, 4 parts. Put the latter in a crucible, and when it comes to a redness of melting, throw into it the 9 parts of Saturn, and immediately it will redden and melt the other. Thoroughly clean the filth that rises to the surface of Saturnia, with saltpetre and tartar, four or five times. The execution will be correctly done when you see on matter an astral sign in the form of a star.

10. Then is made the key and the sword, which opens and cuts through all metals, but principally the Sun, the Moon and Venus, which she eats, devours and keeps in her womb, and by this means your art will be in the right way if you operated correctly. For this Saturnia is the triumphant royal grass, because it is an imperfect little king, whom we raise by philosophical artifice to the greatest degree of glory and honor. It is also the queen, that is to say the Moon and the wife of the Sun: it is therefore both the male and the female, and our hermaphrodite Mercury. This mercury or Saturnia is represented in the first seven pages of the book of Abraham the Jew, by two serpents entwining a golden rod. Take care to prepare a sufficient quantity of it, as a lot is needed, that is, about 12 or 13 pounds, or even more, depending on whether you want to work on a large or small scale.

11. Marry therefore the young god Mercury, that is to say, the Quicksilver with her who is the philosophical mercury, so that by him you sharpen and strengthen the aforesaid Quicksilver flowing, seven or even ten or eleven times with the said agent, which is called the key, or the sword of sharpened steel, because it cuts, reaps and penetrates all the bodies of metals. Thus you will have the double and triple water represented by the rose bush in the book of Abraham the Jew, which comes out of the foot of an oak tree, namely our Saturnia, which is the royal key, and will rush into the abyss. , as the same author says, that is to say, in the receptacle, adapted to the beak of the retort, where the double mercury throws itself by means of an appropriate fire.

12. But you will find thorns and insurmountable difficulties, unless God reveals this secret to you, or a master grants it to you. For Mercury does not marry with Royal Saturnia: it is essential to find a secret mediator to unite them: for unless you know the artifice by which this union and peace is effected between these Quicksilvers aforesaid, you will not nothing good. I wouldn't hide anything from you, my dear nephew; I tell you, therefore, that without the Sun or the Moon this work will profit you nothing. So this old man or ravenous wolf must devour Gold or Silver by weight and measure which I will now reveal to you. Listen therefore to my words, so that you do not err in this work as I have done. I say, therefore, that you must feed the gold to our old dragon. Notice how you should operate. For if you give too little gold to the molten Saturnia, the Gold is indeed opened, but the Mercury will not take it; and here is an incongruity, which is not at all profitable. I worked long and hard in this affliction, before I discovered the means to succeed. If therefore you give him much Gold to devour, the Gold indeed will not be so open nor will he be well disposed, but then he will take the Mercury, and they will both marry. Thus the means is discovered to you. Hide this secret, because it is everything, and neither trust the writings, or anything that can be seen. Because we would become the cause of great misfortunes. I give it to you under the seal of secrecy and of your conscience, for the love that I have for you.

13. Then take ten ounces of the Red Sun, that is to say, very fine, nine or ten times purified by means of the voracious wolf: two ounces of Royal Saturnia; melt it in a crucible, and when it is melted, throw in the ten ounces of fine Gold; melt the two together, and stir them with a lighted charcoal. Then your Gold will be a bit open. Pour it on the marble or in an iron mortar, and grind it into a powder, and grind it with three pounds of Quicksilver. Make it coagulate like cheese, by working it and grinding it back and forth: wash this amalgam with pure common water, until it comes out clear, and the whole mass appears white and clear as the thin moon. When the mass is soft to the touch like butter, the conjunction of Gold with royal golden Saturnia is then made.

14. Take this mass, which you will dry gently and with great care, with a fine, dry cloth or linen: it is our lead, and our mass of the Sun and the Moon, not vulgar, but the philosophical. Put it in a good retort made of crucible earth, or better yet a retort of steel. Place the retort in an oven, and adapt a receptacle to it: give the fire by degrees. Two hours later, increase your fire so that the Mercury can pass into the container, this Mercury is the water of the rosebush in flower; it is also the blood of the innocents massacred in the book of Abraham the Jew. You can now suppose that this Mercury has eaten a little of the body of the king, and that it will have much more force to dissolve the other part of it afterwards, being more penetrated by the body of Saturnia. You have now ascended a degree or step on the ladder of art.

15. Remove the faeces from the retort; melt them in a crucible over a strong fire: put in it four ounces of Saturnia, and nine ounces of Sun. Then the sun is increased in the said residues, and much more open than the first time, for the Mercury has more vigor than before, it will have the strength and the virtue to penetrate the Gold, and to eat more of it, and to fill her belly with it by degrees. Operate then as the first time; marry the aforesaid Mercury, stronger by one degree, with this new mass by grinding everything together; they will coagulate like butter or cheese; wash and rectify them several times, until all the blackness comes out: dry as described above; put the whole in the retort, and operate as you have already done, by giving for two hours, a weak fire, and then strong enough, to drive out, and to cause the mercury to fall into the receptacle; thus you will have the Mercury still sharper, and you will have climbed the second degree of the philosophical scale.

16. Repeat the same work, projecting into Saturnia in due weight, that is, by degrees, and operate as before, until you have reached the 10th degree of the Philosopher's Scale. ; so take it easy. For the said Mercury is fiery, sharpened, completely pregnant and full of the male sulphur, and enriched with the astral juice which was in the deep bowels of the Gold and of our Saturnian dragon. Rest assured that I am now writing to you the things that no philosopher has ever said or written. For this Mercury is the marvelous caduceus, of which so many sages have spoken in their books, and of which they certify that it has in itself the power to accomplish philosophical work, and they speak the truth, as I have made myself by it alone, and as you can make it yourself, if your art disposes you to it: for it and nothing else which is the next matter and the root of all metals.

17. Now is made and accomplished the preparation of Mercury, sharpened and fit to dissolve Gold and Silver in its nature, to naturally and simply work out the philosophical tincture, or powder transmuting all metals into Gold or Silver.

18. Some believe they have the full magisterium, when they have prepared the celestial Mercury; but they were grossly mistaken. And it is because of this that they find thorns before they pluck the rose, for lack of understanding. It is true indeed, that if they understood the weight, the regime of fire, and the proper way, they would not have much to do, and could not fail even if they wanted to. But in this art there is a way of working. Learn then and observe well how to operate, in the manner which I am about to teach you.

19. In the name of God, you will take of this animated Mercury the quantity which pleases you; you will put it alone in a glass vessel; or two or four parts of Mercury with two parts of golden Saturnia; that is to say, one from the Sun and two from Saturnia; the whole finely united like butter, and washed, cleaned and dried; and you will fight the vessel with the lut of sapience. Place it in an oven on hot ashes to the degree of heat of a brooding hen. Let this said mercury thus prepared ascend and descend for the space of 40 or 50 days, until you see forming in the vessel a white or red sulfur, called the philosophical sublimate, which issues from the loins of the said mercury. You will then collect this sulfur with a feather: it is the living Sun and the living Moon, which Mercury engenders out of itself.

20. Take this white or red sulfur, grind it in a glass or marble mortar, and pour on it, in fine drops, the third part of its weight of Mercury from which this sulfur was drawn. Make of these two a paste similar to butter: put this mixture again in an oval glass; place it in an oven over a suitable fire of cinders, gentle, and disposed with philosophical industry. Cook until the said Mercury is changed into sulphur, and during this coction you will see marvelous things in the vessel, that is to say, all the colors that exist in the world, which you cannot see without lifting your heart to God in gratitude for so great a gift.

21. When you have reached crimson red, you must collect it: for then the alchemical powder is made, transmuting all metal into Gold pure and fine and clean, which you can multiply to by sprinkling it as you have already done , grinding it with fresh mercury, cooking it in the same vessel, furnace and fire, and the time will be much shorter, and its virtue ten times stronger.

22. This then is the whole magisterium made with mercury alone, which some do not hold to be true, because they are weak and stupid, and unable to understand this work.

23. Would you like to operate in another way, take fine Sun into fine powder or into very thin sheets: made with a paste with seven parts of Philosophical Mercury, which is our Moon: put both in a vessel of glass well-luted oval; place it in an oven; give a very strong fire, that is to say, as if to keep the lead in fusion, because then you have discovered the true regime of fire; and let your Mercury, which is the philosophical wind, rise and fall on the body of Gold, which it eats by degrees, and carries in its belly. Bake it until Gold and Mercury no longer rise nor fall, but both remain at peace, so peace and union will be made between the two dragons, who are both fire and waters.

24. So when you see in the vessel a great blackness like that of melted pitch, which is the sign of the death and putrefaction of Gold, and the key to the whole magisterium, then bring it to life by cooking it , and do not be tired of cooking it: during this period various changes will take place; that is to say, matter will pass through all colors, black, ash-colored, blue, green, white, orange, and finally red as red as blood or poppy-crimson: search only to this last color; for it is the true sulfur, and the alchemical powder. I do not give precision when at the time; for it depends on the skill of the artist; but you cannot fail, working as I have taught you.

25. If you wish to multiply your powder, take one part of it, and sprinkle it with two parts of your animated mercury; put everything into a soft and creamy paste; put it in a vessel as you have already done, in the same oven and with the same fire, and cook it. This second turn of the philosophical wheel will be done in less time than the first, and your powder will have ten times the strength. If you make this wheel again it will be a thousand times more powerful, and so on as much as you want. Then you will have a priceless treasure, superior to all there is in the world, and you can desire nothing more here below, for you have health and wealth, if you use them rightly.

26. You now have the treasure of all the bliss in the world, which I poor era of the countryside of Pontoise accomplished three times in Paris, in my house, in the rue des Ecrivains, near the chapel of the rue Jacques de la Boucherie, and that I Flamel give you, for the love that I have for you, to the honor of God, for his glory, for the glory of the Father, of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.