The Royal Work

of Charles VI, King of France

Charles by the grace of God, King of France, Lord of Lords, Disciple of Philosophy, and Secretary of sovereign divinity, with a watchful heart, as a very true Father, without pretense, will reveal to you my very dear children, who go slandering and misleading through the deserts, the deep secrets of my heart, which the grace of God our Lord has revealed to me, not for my merit, but by his grace: Which secrets have been obscured and sealed, for the Philosophers have always covered them and concealed as their own sins, and which men our Father left to his obscure and tenebrous successors; by strange words, metaphors, and the like diversities; And myself opening and studying in the greatest Philosophy, found all these writings so strange and syncopated,that in no way could they perceive or extract their intention: since none of them had ever spoken words of the perfection of the Grand Magisterium, which are true: Yet they have spoken them so disjointed one from another, one here, another there, and under such nebulous coverings, sometimes carelessly, sometimes obscurely, and deceiving the hearers in various similar ways, that hardly any one can come to hear the secrets of the Philosophers: it is namely secrets of Nature, of the appearance of the Sun and the Moon; For which thing I made by my Clerks, Masters and Philosophers to assemble all the writings, all the sciences, and all the investigations made by various works, in front said Magisterium and investigation; or long, or short, or of great cost, or of little cost,


After all this came a night when I saw a marvelous vision, with which I was many times tormented, for I saw myself near the gate of sovereign Heaven, and a man of high standing appeared to me, who led me straight to a window through which I saw all the things that were in Heaven, and saw among other things, nine orders of Angels, who had a Prince for their Lord, whom they adored, and expected that the Angels, Archangels, Virtues, Principalities, Powers, Dominions, Thrones, Cherubim , and Seraphim and I, who so much desired to know and hear the Magisterium of things known, elected an Angel in each order, and met him, for the purpose that I should have the answer of the things I wanted to inquire.And elected of the first order the first, the second of the second, of the third the last, of the fourth the fifth, of the fifth the fourth, from the sixth the third, from the seventh the eighth, the sixth from the ninth, which is the last of the seventh, and took counsel together: and I asked them the name of the great Prince their Lord, and they answered me in agreement to the order of the aforesaid: Doubt not according to the name of the Prince, if thou hearest a thing ;namely: It was thought to me that it was truffle or phantom: for I knew one thing, namely a lord with his battle, and if knew the Sun and the Moon, with the other things of Heaven: Thus I knew one thing, and if knew many: and not yet I did not know the name of the Prince, and because I did not hear them: wherefore, I as simple, and not knowing, took from the Angels the seventh, the eighth, the sixth, the fifth, and prayed to them humble ment that they fulfill my desire in Latin, French or English language,so that I can know the name of the great Prince above said, and they took with them the second, the first, the three, and the ninth, and the quarter, and made council between them general, and told me by a common voice Numera sic, that is to say, count from one to a hundred: but nothing found of what I desired: and then I considered myself disappointed and betrayed, wanted to go like mad: but the old man held my hand tightly, and called the first Angel, and asked him his name, and he answered I have a name White: then called the second, and he said, I have a name Red: and the third had a name Pailleux: the fifth called Flying Gold, the seventh was called Black: Saturn and the last was called Invincible: that is to say that we cannot defeat him: the fourth said that his name was Celestial;the next said to the ninth that his name was Green: and at the end called the sixth, and he replied that he had a name of many colors: and I, who all this heard the names above said, but the name of the Prince whom I wished to know did not hear it. Then the Old Man said to me: Good friend, know for sure that the chief is Prince of all; and that said I suddenly awoke, and began to think what the Chief could be. One time appeared to the Sun, another to the Moon, another to the Sky, another to the Earth, another to none of the Planets or other substances, and found there nothing certain and truth, of which I was much ir; If I thought of going for the world, to discover and know the secrets and true perfections of the vision and of the marvelous things said above.and I who all this heard the names above said, but the name of the Prince that I wanted to know did not hear it. Then the Old Man said to me: Good friend, know for sure that the chief is Prince of all; and that said I suddenly awoke, and began to think what the Chief could be. One time appeared to the Sun, another to the Moon, another to the Sky, another to the Earth, another to none of the Planets or other substances, and found there nothing certain and truth, of which I was much ir; If I thought of going for the world, to discover and know the secrets and true perfections of the vision and of the marvelous things said above. and I who all this heard the names above said, but the name of the Prince that I wanted to know did not hear it.Then the Old Man said to me: Good friend, know for sure that the chief is Prince of all; and that said I suddenly awoke, and began to think what the Chief could be. One time appeared to the Sun, another to the Moon, another to the Sky, another to the Earth, another to none of the Planets or other substances, and found there nothing certain and truth, of which I was much ir; If I thought of going for the world, to discover and know the secrets and true perfections of the vision and of the marvelous things said above. and began to think what the Chief might be. One time appeared to the Sun, another to the Moon, another to the Sky, another to the Earth, another to none of the Planets or other substances, and found there nothing certain and truth, of which I was much ir;If I thought of going for the world, to discover and know the secrets and true perfections of the vision and of the marvelous things said above. and began to think what the Chief might be. One time appeared to the Sun, another to the Moon, another to the Sky, another to the Earth, another to none of the Planets or other substances, and found there nothing certain and truth, of which I was much ir; If I thought of going for the world, to discover and know the secrets and true perfections of the vision and of the marvelous things said above.

In the end I passed through India the Major, in the Eastern part; and by divine inspiration I saw the rays of the rising Sun, and the resplendent Moon: and I was well advised, but not quite certain for the darkness of the clouds and drizzles that flew through the air. And because I was a lot worked by and coming by studying and running according to the science of natural philosophy, and even the secrets of plants, and principles of nature, and accidents occurring of average works in the composition of transubtanation, doubting and desperate finding a better place more suitable and more certain, where I can mention more perfectly to revise to disadvant the cold winter, and bad and poisonous animals fear and great danger; and it was the first day of January,strong and closed all around in a round house in the mountain and of stone; and that room was right in the middle of the house: there descended into my house thinking how I could keep myself from its venom. I got up at night and went up the mountain and saw that the Dragon and his wife were sleeping: I returned very subtly to the mountain, and found the house large and spacious, covered: I went around the room and entered through it, and was so; and in the end the Dragon's nest emmy the chamber well fitted and made of stone, of which I was greatly amazed and fearful, and went round about, and found through it a small and very narrow entrance, and saw the Dragon lying with his caring wife, who was striving to give birth, and to have deliverance.So I began to think and study how I might subtly enclose them and get out of them, and found a very well-made stone, from which I cut off the mouth of the nest and sigilded firmly, and the chamber, and the chamber also over it with a large stone, and so covered the house as neatly as I could find. After all this, thinking and considering the power of the Dragon, and the virtue of his wife, and doubting if they were out there that he would frighten me, took the sovereign part of the mountain, so that by no means they could get out; so I left and went to my house, and slept quite safely. The next morning it was the third Sunday before Septuagesima I opened a window of my house, and saw a great red serpent, but weak, and was older than the Dragon, for it was his father,and ascended the mountain little by little, and flew around the house of the pen and nest, and could not enter it, for if as before I said, I had quenched, closed and sigilated the doors, and the windows of the chamber and of the nest, and the venom could not come out, for I had well covered the mountain above its lid, if as it is written before. The serpent as wise, discreet and mischievous hearing the enclosures his fugitives of their disobedience punish or put to death or at his mercy, I saw that his venom could not come out of it, for what the mountain was closed, and that his virtue by continuation of perseverance would pierce the cockpit of his rebels, and thinking that the Dragon and his wife who were very strong and proud if he felt venom too sour to pierce would do everything, and go away by force:and by vigor lay and crouched very wisely and in thought in his cave, and continually shed his weak and temperate venom until little by little pierced the house and the room to the enclosure, and so as this thing had lasted three months the Dragon and his wife fled as from a grievous dream. And when the Dragon felt his father's venom approaching, he descended his limbs, thinking as though out of disdain that this little venom could not harm his own: but the Mulier, who very much loved her husband, and doubting very much the venom of the serpent, begged her husband the Dragon that he covered all his limbs, which thing he did willingly: no, however, she smelling and odoring the venom of the serpent birth in great fear, and the child gave soon after he was born, smell s ant and seeing the venom present did not dare to wait:thus opened his wings and flew away, fleeing into the subterranean part of the nest, and when he found the door closed and closed, he began to howl and to complain, and in great boredom he had let himself fall before his father's feet, desiring peace and rest, and trod on in safety.If as he lay in amazement, he came out again the very near venom which wanted to strangle him, and began to speak and flew away fleeing towards the subterranean part of the nest, and fell back to the valley in such a way that he knocked down all his limbs, and he tried to go up and fly again, and always came down again, and this did several times, and he continued, and going up and down until the end could not no longer climb, so lay silent, and I who desired the light of the Sun and the Moon, often looked at the air and the mountain, and saw nothing there of what I desired, so that I was almost desperate ; no, yet I saw endless horrible and marvelous things, which I had never seen;for I saw naked and clouds in divers colors, and the clouds which were at first citrine as the color of resplendent gold, were once vermilion, and not once again citrine, and then red, and then green, blue, or Persian, and not once black, and at last I, as in desperation and madness, arose and went up the mountain, house and chamber, and went around the nest, so believingly, subtly, and peacefully opened the nest, and found as it pleased God, the Dragon, his wife, and their sons, all conjoined and converted into white likeness, of which thing I had very great joy, and not creating death to die, cast one part of it on ten million parts of air, and now the moon appeared resplendent over me with very beautiful splendour ;after all this I, who was very happy, and well pleased, looked at the snake, which helped me with very great anger, and was swollen, and stronger and larger, and hearing in the room deeply persevering, during the awaited end, and seeing that he intended to do: I again diligently smothered all the openings and the entrances to the nest of the room, of the house, and in the mountain, and went to my house, waiting in good hope and in great delict, the adventures which I had long desired, and very early one of the Saturday mornings, namely, the Easter Vigil I arose from my bed, and opened the window: here beheld the serpent at all dead in the cave, and had thus become as ashes. So I hastily climbed the mountain out of great desire,


Amen. Deo gratias.


Remarks on the Royal work

The Mountain, is the oven above said: the front said Book is left in three main parts by life of perchery, and lasts until the fifth. After all this happened one night, and there begins the second part, in which the valiant King demonstrated his dream, and lasts until the third: in the last I passed through India the Major, and there begins the third part, in which he declares his operation by vision of the Dragon and his pregnant and pregnant wife, and of the red serpent their father, and lasts until the end. In the first part does three things. First demonstrates the good affection he has for the children of Philosophy. Secondly, demonstrates the great difficulty of Art.Thirdly, demonstrates the great difficulty he had in correcting various writings, and putting them into practice, and in the end, finding them vain.

The second main part which is very obscure: it seems to me that it teaches to know naturally, both minerals and metals, by way of Naturalist, and names matter and colors. In the third main part, the virtuous King by very gracious fixion declares four things. Firstly the matter where he says he passed through India the Major, is through the Mercury of the Philosophers in the Major work, which is colored India or blue, if well done; and where he says, that by divine inspiration he saw the rays of the rising Sun, and of the resplendent Moon, quia in istis duobus, according to the Philosophers, sunt radij tingentes, and the Majority of the Philosophers agree with very clear King full of great Philosophy;and what troubled the King's sight, that is, clouds and drizzles, was the India liqueur, in which were dissolved: and every liquid thing is moisture, as winter is vaporous, so that the Sun and the Moon which were there, in liquid made, could not show their rays until fine weather, which is when the liquid dries up: for then the colors were demonstrated, as it puts in the text; and that is as to matter.Secondly demonstrates the instruments: for the mountain where entered the Dragon who carried his fat wife, it is the oven which is called Athanor, and the stone which he removed from his sovereign part of the mountain is the lid of the said oven, the house of the Dragon is the upper concavity of the said oven, and the room of the Dragon is the lid of two pieces of glass, which is the nest where the Dragon wanted to wait for the nativity of his son, who was in the womb of his wife the Dragonness: thus the King agreeing with the saying of the Philosophers, who say that Mercury who is Dragon, In triplici vase est covendus in vitro secundo corpulo terreo . d. Camera. and home. d. superiori, in tertio transformat. Athanoricae quae dicitur mons.And the red snake which is put in the cave below is the fire, which had generated and nourished them, which must administer in the cave below the Platinum of Mars, which is the place where the fire is made to nourish the things inside the Athanor. Thirdly, demonstrate how one must work material with the instruments. Where he says, that the Dragon that flew up, when he felt the venom of the red serpent, it is the Sulfur which settles, ascending and descending by the virtue of the venom of the red serpent, it is by the virtue of the fire, by reiteration of mutations on the feet of his father and his mother,which are fixed substances, and the colors show it before the whiteness, and when has become white, a part thrown on a thousand of air, it is Mercury which is the air, converts it into a very fine resplendent Moon, when the red serpent feeling that they are moved, full of ire and very swollen throws stronger venom, it is force of continual fire, makes it turn into vermilion blood. Quartement teaches the time which is not long from the first of January until Easter which is three months, and said time teaches the Liliator and no more, and seems to me that abiding is clear, and quite understandable, as well as in this third part summarizing in brief will have four things, statement of matter, instruments, operation, and time.it is Mercury which is the air, converts it into a very fine resplendent Moon, then the red snake feeling that they are moved, full of ire and very swollen throws out stronger venom, it is force of continual fire, turns it into vermilion blood. Quartement teaches the time which is not long from the first of January until Easter which is three months, and said time teaches the Liliator and no more, and seems to me that abiding is clear, and quite understandable, as well as in this third part summarizing in brief will have four things, statement of matter, instruments, operation, and time.it is Mercury which is the air, converts it into a very fine resplendent Moon, then the red snake feeling that they are moved, full of ire and very swollen throws out stronger venom, it is force of continual fire, turns it into vermilion blood. Quartement teaches the time which is not long from the first of January until Easter which is three months, and said time teaches the Liliator and no more, and seems to me that abiding is clear, and quite understandable, as well as in this third part summarizing in brief will have four things, statement of matter, instruments, operation, and time.

The mountain is Athanor's oven with all its instruments and lids.
The house is the upper part of the Athanor.
The chamber is the lid of the glass.
The nest is the glass vessel where the Dragon and his wife are.
The Dragon is the moisture-resolved Sun, and the Moon is its Sun-provoking wife.
The son is white and red Sulphur.
The red serpent is the fire which is their father, which is weak and strong according to the artist's will.
The cave is his home.
Eastern India is quicksilver, which is the color of India.


END