The Light of the Mercurys

Excerpt from Raymond Lully

This little Treatise was sent by Raymond Lully to the King of Great Britain, to serve as a light for him to hear what was most hidden in his other Books. Take, in the name of God, matter that you know and put it into putrefaction in a water bath for at least twenty days, so that the parts are better separated. Then you will draw from it by distillation in a bain-marie with a very low fire, the fiery water which you will rectify until there is no more phlegm and you will set aside this rectified water and you will remove it again once the phlegm by distillation on the ashes until it appears to you at the bottom of the vessel a matter like melted pitch.

Put aside this phlegm and by another distillation on the ashes you will still remove the phlegm from your water until only matter remains at the bottom of the vessel and on this matter you will pour there the same phlegm as you kept, up to four fingers above. Then put it in circulation for two days in a bain-marie and then one day on the ashes, so that it boils gently. You will find that your phlegm will have taken on a lot of color, which you will pour by inclination into another vessel and you will still put new phlegm which will have remained from the one you have set aside, which you will put back for two days in a bain-marie, and also for a day on the ashes and you will pour again by inclination this phlegm which will be colored with the previous one and continue to put tying phlegm until it is no longer colored. If you lack phlegm you will take the one that is colored and you will separate half or a third of it by distillation in a bain-marie and of this half that you will have drawn, you will use it as the first phlegm Then you will find at the bottom from your vessel the white earth and the phlegm will have drawn all the oil with it. If you want to separate them, you can do it by distillation with bay marie Until all your thirsty phlegm is in your container and the oil remains very red at the bottom of the vessel that you will keep to redden your mercury.

So take this white earth and pour over it the first fiery water that you have reserved, so that there are two fingers of it above the said earth: and put it to boil gently for a day on ashes and after you separate the water and the said earth by distilling it over the ashes, which you will reserve. Cast off still more fiery water two fingers above this earth and put it on the ashes during a natural day and redistill again on the ashes. Put this water with the same that you have just put aside, and continue doing the same until there is no more spirit in your land, and everything has passed away with your water. fiery. What you will know when your powder will be impalpable, and by putting a little of it on a hot iron blade, that it produces no smoke. You will put this powder in digestion in the lamp so that the fire is continuous for ten days, and put on the said powder your water which has drawn everything from the spirit, so that there is a little of this water above , and put in digestion under the lamp during a natural day. And afterwards you will extract by distillation in the bath this water which will have left its spirit in this earth, and put back from this first water in which the spirit is, a finger above this earth, and then separate by distillation in the bath- marry this earth which will remain without spirit. Continue these digestions and distillations until the earth has consumed all its spirit, which you will know by putting this earth on a reddened blade which will cause almost all this earth to dissipate in smoke, which earth you will put in digestion for six days, by the lamp, after which you will increase the fire, so that this earth sublimates and rises alongside the vessel where the vegetal Mercury is: and what will remain at the bottom of the vessel is the damned earth and of no use in your ship. You will promptly pick up this Mercury while it is recent, and you will put it in digestion with the said earth on the ashes for 2 days; and there will be made of it a water which will dissolve all the metals without corrupting their form, and this is what we call vegetable Mercury.

Take an ounce of this menstruation, and put half an ounce of sun leaf or powder, and close the vessel exactly. Put it in digestion in a bain-marie for two days, and your menses will take on the color of the sun; put it again on the ashes during a natural day and you will see that it will color more, and then you will withdraw by inclination this menstruation in another vessel which you will close very exactly; you will menstruate again on the said sun, and put it again for a day in the light of a lamp, and it will be colored. In addition you will remove it by inclination and put it back with the other already colored, continuing to menstruate again. You will do the same thing until it is no longer colored, and you will remain in the background a land of the sun without color, which could be useful to you for the particular Operations, because of the separation of the elements.

Note, that for one part of the Moon, three parts of menstruation are required, and that the time of digestion is longer by an eighth part.

Take then this colored menstruation in which is this sulfur of the Sun, and which contains a large part of the Mercury: put it in circulation for thirty days on the ashes in two vessels of encounter made on purpose, and that there is some in each an equal weight, and because there is a greater part of Mercury than of sulphur, there will be formed at the bottom of each vessel a stone, and the water which rose with the color will rise only all white, and you will gently tilt this menstruation out into one vessel, and gently put the two stones into another long-necked vessel. Take care that they do not take the air, and that this does not harm them, and put it in a bain-marie for three days, these stones will dissolve in a very red water; and you will withdraw the vessel which you will put in digestion during five days with the fire of lamp, and this matter will still be formed in stone: you will then put it back in the bain-marie during one natural day, and it will still dissolve in a very red water and transparent like a ruby, which you will put back for another two days in the light of the lamp, and this matter will dissolve like very melting wax; if you project one part of it on ten parts of Moon, it will convert into a very good Sun, and if you make it still dissolve and coagulate until it can no longer coagulate, one part will convert thirty parts of Moon into Sun.

END