THE SECRET FIRE

AND

THE SECRET SPIRIT OF WINE

OF THE ADEPTS

BARON ALEXANDER VON BERNUS
February 6, 1880 - March 6, 1965

Extract from "Alchimie et Médecine"


FRENCH EDITION OF 1948

De ta science, ce qui qu'elle plus
Tell it to the students t is however prohibited.
(GOTHE: Faust I.)
In the learned and beautiful work of FULCANELLI, "The Philosopher's Residences and Hermetic Symbolism in its relationship with Sacred Art and the Esotericism of the Great Work" (Paris, 1930), decorated with 40 illustrations, which strongly inspired the movement French surrealist, we find, pp. 79-81 a very significant and very conclusive passage; it alone suggests that the author knew the secret of the Adepts at least theoretically (which is already a lot). This is why I place this passage at the beginning of this chapter:

The salamander of Lisieux:

“...Here is now the last decorative subject of our door. It is a salamander serving as a capital for the twisted column of the right leg. She seems to us to be, in a way, the protective fairy of this pleasant residence, because we find her sculpted on the corbel of the median pillar, located on the ground floor, and even on the skylight of the attic. It would even seem, given the desired repetition of the symbol, that our alchemist had a marked preference for this heraldic reptile. We do not claim to insinuate, by this, that he was able to attribute to it the erotic and coarse meaning that Francis I valued so much; that would be to insult the craftsman, dishonor science, outrage the truth like the debauchee of high race, but of low intellectuality, to which we regret to owe even the paradoxical name of Renaissance. But a singular trait of human character leads man to cherish more that for which he has suffered and pained most; this reason would undoubtedly allow us to explain the triple employment of the salamander, hieroglyph of the secret fire of the sages. Indeed, among the ancillary products entering into the work as helpers or servants, none is more thankless to seek or more laborious to identify than this one. It is also possible, in accessory preparations, to employ, instead of the required adjuvants, certain substitutes capable of furnishing an analogous result; however, in the elaboration of mercury, nothing can replace the secret fire, this spirit capable of animating it, to exalt it and become one with it, after having extracted it from filthy matter. "I would pity you very much," wrote Limojon de Saint-Didier, "if, like me, after having known the true matter, you spent fifteen years entirely in work, in study and in meditation, without being able to extract from the stone the precious juice that it contains in its bosom, for lack of knowledge of the secret fire of the sages, which causes water to flow from this dry and apparently arid plant, which does not wet the hands. Without it, without this fire hidden under a saline form, the prepared matter could not be exhausted nor fulfill its functions as a mother, and our labor would remain forever chimerical and vain. Every generation asks for the help of its own agent, determined in the realm in which nature has placed it. And everything bears seed. Animals are born from an egg or a fertilized ovum; plants come from a seed made prolific; likewise, minerals and metals have for seed a metallic liquor fertilized by the mineral fire. This, then, is the active agent introduced by art into the mineral seed, and it is this, Philalethes tells us, "which first causes the axle to turn and the wheel to move." From this, it is easy to understand of what use this metallic, invisible, mysterious light is, and with what care we must seek to know it, to distinguish it by its specific, essential and occult qualities. minerals and metals have for seed a metallic liquor fertilized by the mineral fire. This, then, is the active agent introduced by art into the mineral seed, and it is this, Philalethes tells us, "which first causes the axle to turn and the wheel to move." From this, it is easy to understand of what use this metallic, invisible, mysterious light is, and with what care we must seek to know it, to distinguish it by its specific, essential and occult qualities. minerals and metals have for seed a metallic liquor fertilized by the mineral fire. This, then, is the active agent introduced by art into the mineral seed, and it is this, Philalethes tells us, "which first causes the axle to turn and the wheel to move." From this, it is easy to understand of what use this metallic, invisible, mysterious light is, and with what care we must seek to know it, to distinguish it by its specific, essential and occult qualities.

“Salamander, in Latin salamandra, comes from Sal, Salt, and from mandra, which means stable, and also rock hollow, solitude, hermitage. Salamander is therefore the name of stable salt, rock salt or solitary salt. This word takes on another meaning in the Greek language, revealing the action it provokes. - - - - - - - - appears formed of - - - - , agitation, trouble, probably used for - - - or agitated water, storm, fluctuation, and of - - - - which has the same meaning as in Latin . From these etymologies, we can draw the conclusion that salt, spirit or fire, originates in a "stable", a "hollow in the rock", a "cave"... That's enough. Lying on the straw of his crib, in the grotto of Bethlehem, isn't Jesus the new sun bringing light to the world? Isn't he God himself, under its carnal and perishable envelope? Who said:

“I am the Spirit and I am the Life; I came to set things on fire? »

“This spiritual fire, informed and embodied in salt, is the hidden sulphur, because during its operation it never makes itself manifest or perceptible to our eyes. And yet this brimstone, however invisible it may be, is not an ingenious abstraction, an artifice of doctrine. We know how to isolate it, to extract it from the body which conceals it, by an occult means and under the aspect of a dry powder, which, in this state, becomes improper and without effect in the philosophical art. This pure fire, of the same essence as the specific sulfur of gold, but less digested, is, on the other hand, more abundant than that of the precious metal. This is why it easily unites with mercury in minerals and imperfect metals. Philalethes assures us that it is found hidden in the belly of Aries, or Aries, constellation through which the sun travels in the month of April. Finally, to designate it even better, we will add that this Aries "which hides in itself the magic steel" ostensibly bears on its shield the image of the hermetic seal, a star with six rays. It is therefore in this very common matter, which seems simply useful to us, that we must seek the mysterious solar fire, subtle salt and spiritual sulfur, celestial light diffused in the darkness of the body, without which nothing can be done and that nothing cannot replace. » which seems simply useful to us, that we must seek the mysterious solar fire, subtle salt and spiritual sulphur, celestial light diffused in the darkness of the body, without which nothing can be done and which nothing can replace. » which seems simply useful to us, that we must seek the mysterious solar fire, subtle salt and spiritual sulphur, celestial light diffused in the darkness of the body, without which nothing can be done and which nothing can replace. »

As obscure as this passage may appear in isolation, it nevertheless touches on three of the four secrets most strictly guarded by the Adepts: the secret Fire, the Mercury, the Matter prepared for the elaboration of the philosopher's stone. The passage just quoted says nothing of the fourth: the secret Spirit of wine of the Adepts. However, without the key of the four secrets, the process of the preparation of the stone is not realizable, nor any of the so-called "particular" direct transmutation processes. Mention is made of the Secret Wine Spirit of the Adepts in the alchemical writings of many authors, under the most diverse names: circulatum minus et ma jus, aqua solvens, aqua mercurialis, spiritus mercurii universalis, menstruum mineralis, etc., without its preparation being indicated. More precisely, it is given, but intentionally inaccurate, and only from a certain stage, and the preliminary work, so tedious and extremely difficult, is everywhere passed over in silence. However, it is precisely on them that the success of the work and the subsequent operations depend.
JOHANNES SEGER WEIDENFELD, nowhere does he give the key to the preliminary work either, in his almost unobtainable Latin work, which deals with the spirit of secret wine in a very exhaustive way ("De secretis adeptorum, sive de usu spiritus vini Lulliani". London MDCLXXXIV, second edition in Hamburg 1695) and in which he mentions the recipes of one hundred and fifty various alchemical authors intended for the preparation of the spirit of secret wine without it being possible to infer from this certain that he has found this major key. 'WEIDENFELD does promise an explanation in the fifth book, but that book never appeared.

This secret wine spirit, the Spiritus Vini Lulliani, is the alpha and omega of all hermetic art, it is the famous Alkah, sought in vain by so many people, the preparation of which is not found in any alchemy book. There is nothing that the hermetic authors did not keep so hidden as their secret spirit and their secret fire, the knowledge of which is the prerequisite for the preparation of their spirit of wine, also called aqua ardens. When the hermetic masters give indications for the elaboration of the philosopher's stone, they generally start from the stage where their spirit of wine is already acquired: “Recipe Vinum rubeum vel album. Take red wine or white wine”, orders the recipe of RAYMOND LULLE, "and put it to putrefy in horse manure (i.e. even heat for a time), then you will find an oil supernatant on top, while the denser part will remain at the bottom. This hint has time and time again fooled the seekers of the stone, as it suggests that they take ordinary wine, white or red, and put it to digest, leading them to believe that there will sooner or later be a separation. ; but their wait was in vain: you can digest wine as long as you want, the oil will never float above it. The Adepts' secret wine spirit is of quite another origin. This hint has time and time again fooled the seekers of the stone, as it suggests that they take ordinary wine, white or red, and put it to digest, leading them to believe that there will sooner or later be a separation. ; but their wait was in vain: you can digest wine as long as you want, the oil will never float above it. The Adepts' secret wine spirit is of quite another origin. This hint has time and time again fooled the seekers of the stone, as it suggests that they take ordinary wine, white or red, and put it to digest, leading them to believe that there will sooner or later be a separation. ; but their wait was in vain: you can digest wine as long as you want, the oil will never float above it. The Adepts' secret wine spirit is of quite another origin.

To make it easier to understand what it is, let's quote a few recipes taken from the book by WEIDENFELD:

• SPIRITUS VINI PARACELSI. Pour wine into a Pelican and leave the two months uninterrupted in horse manure; you will then find it so purified that a kind of fat will appear on its surface; it is the spirit of wine. Everything under this "fat" is Phlegm and has nothing in common with "wine".

• ESSENTIA VINI GUIDONIS. Take of the best kind of "wine, white or red", distill it, until there remains a matter having the consistency of honey. Divide it into two parts, mix these parts in a double curcurbite with what has been distilled, reunite these parts again, and, after you have left the whole thing circulating for six weeks, the "Oleum viride" will float, which you have to decant.

• SAL HARMONIACUM VEGETABILE LULLII. Take some excellent "white or red wine", distil from it an ardent spirit which burns the cotton, let the phlegm evaporate until the residue is like liquid pitch and pour in fiery spirit as much as it takes to cover it four fingers high. Digest a week in the bath, then distill the spiritus animatus over an ash fire, sprinkle the earth with new fiery spirit and repeat this process until the earth remains dry and powdery.

• SAL HARMONIACUM VEGETABILE LULLII (another recipe). Take some "red or white wine", put it in a bath for twenty days, so as to facilitate the separation of its components. Then draw hot water from it over a very slow fire, by distillation in a bath, and rectify as often as necessary to remove all the phlegm. Then put this phlegm to be distilled in an ash bath until you have left at the bottom of the vase a matter that looks like liquid pitch. Preserves the phlegm that has passed. Then take the material mentioned above and pour over it as much phlegm as it takes to cover it with four fingers, put the vase for two days in the bath first, then one day to cook gently in the ashes. This will result in a strongly colored phlegm which you will empty into another vase. Put back the first vase with new phlegm for two more days in the bath, one day in the bath of ashes, and empty it again into another vase. And repeat this until the phlegm is no longer colored. If your phlegm escapes, remove half or a third of it in the bath, and then proceed with the rest as above. When the phlegm is no longer colored, you will then have a kind of white earth left at the bottom of the vase, and the phlegm will have drawn all the oil to itself. If you want to separate the oil from it, distill it in a bath, which will cause the phlegm alone to rise, while the reddish oil remains at the bottom of the vessel. Then take this earth and pour over it Mercury (vegetabilis or aqua ardens) as much as it takes to cover it with three fingers, put the vase one day in a bath of ashes to cook gently, then draw from it by distillation in the bath of ashes the pure earth, as above, and put the phlegm aside. Pour new aqua ardens on the said earth to the height of two fingers, put it again one day in the bath of ashes and extract the ashes from it as above by distillation.

"And go on like this until no trace of Spirit (spiritus or anima, as it is still called) remains in the earth, but all is ascended with the aqua ardens, which thou canst recognize when the earth remains as a very fine dust and does not smoke, placed on a red-hot blade, which is the sign that it is deprived of all anima or spiritus. Digest this earth on a tripod in the athanor and leave it there ten days and ten nights in constant fire. Then take the aqua ardens containing the spirit or the anima, pour a finger of it on this earth and put the whole thing again for a day on the athanor, then put it in the bath and draw from it by distillation the fiery water without spiritus or soul, for the spirit remained in the earth; then put new fiery water back on it and repeat the process until the earth has drunk all its spirit, which you recognize by putting it on a red-hot blade: then it will go away for the most part in smoke . Digest this earth for six whole days on a tripod and put it in a bath of ashes over a stronger fire until it is deposited by sublimation on the walls of the vessel of vegetable Mercury, and the "damned earth" remains at the bottom. , which does not enter into our work. Quickly collect this "Mercury" and put it in the air from its birth, for two days, so that it mixes and penetrates with its "water" (in mixionem cum sua aqua), then it will be a " water” which will have the strength to dissolve all metals while retaining their essence, a water that we call “vegetable menstruation”. »

I have exposed throughout this process which leads from Vinum rubeum vel album to the acquisition of the "Mercury" so often named and misunderstood, to show how long and painful these alchemical works are; moreover, this forms only a part of the hermetic Great Work. It is usually here that most hermetic masters begin the exposition of the way which leads to the preparation of the philosopher's stone, or else they place the Spiritus vini (Vinum rubeum vel album) at the beginning of their exposition, but without allowing the smallest detail of its preparation to transpire, and then pass directly to the said "rotations", after the "Mercury" has already been prepared and the "Aurean Seed" has already been thrown into the virgin iron to pass through the different "colors".

As we see, the Adepts could deliver without scruple whole fragments of the process of the Universal, provided that they kept in obscurity the preparation of the spiritus vini philosophici, of their spirit of wine and of their secret fire, and this is what they did without exception, over the centuries. If they always mention in a more or less explicit way their secret wine spirit, one finds however almost nowhere in their writings a repeated allusion to their secret salt fire. They do speak here and there of “our” fire and say: “our fire is not elemental fire”, but that is all. The secret saline fire, however, has its place at the beginning of the Great Work and in each of their operations, without it it is not possible to prepare their vinum rubeum vel album, the spiritus vini philosophici.

As we know, there are two paths in alchemy to achieve the goal of hermetic work: the so-called short or dry path and the so-called long or wet path; these qualifications of wet or dry are valid, however, only in a very approximate way, because - as already said - what must be prepared in the first place is the "salt fire", which is not possible to do without the use of water. This preliminary work, very tedious and monotonous, was compared by the alchemists to the manipulations of the manufacturers of saltpeter, at least in the first stage, which they called "woman's work", because of the necessary use of a detergent. At the last stage, however, this work is no longer a woman's work at all, but a very meticulous and often dangerous process.

The so-called short or dry route does not lead to the spirit of secret wine, but directly to the manipulation of minerals and metals by salt fire and, from this point of view, the denomination of the dry route is justified; the long or wet way, much more noble, but also more difficult and tedious, leads to an infinitely more accomplished result and draws its qualification from the innumerable distillations that it requires.

In the little book, moreover very secret, entitled "The true ancient Path of Nature of Hermes Trismegistus, by an authentic Freemason", Leipzig 1782, (Des Hermes Trismegistus wahrer alter Naturweg, von einem àchten Freymaurer
) we find, on the subject of the “wet” and “dry” ways, the following passage:

“Philosophers mention in their writings two ways to obtain the tincture. They call them the dry way and the wet way. Whether we choose one or the other for the elaboration of the dye, there is no difference at the beginning, because in both cases we must operate by the dry and by the wet. Both routes derive their respective names from the fact that the dye prepared by the dry route “opens up” the gold in the crucible in the form of a dry powder and raises the metal to a more than perfect or tinctorial state; on the other hand, in the wet way, the “opening” of gold is done by our resolute philosophical Mercury and by the inversion of the elements, in order to arrive at the tinctorial state. »

The fragmentary process that we have drawn from the work of Weidenfeld, concerned the long and wet way. This path leads from the preparation of the "gum" to that of the famous prima materia which cannot be found anywhere, but which must be painfully prepared and from which the mercury is then distilled. Only then did one manage to acquire the Spiritus vini philosophici or the secret wine spirit of the Adepts. We then have Vinum rubeum vel album, from which the path continues towards the manipulation of gold or silver (or both), by the "rotations", until obtaining the dye with red or white.

The prima materia is also another enigma that has despaired alchemical researchers. Where to get it from? Where to find it? Count Bernard de la Marche Trévisane (1406-1490) who, after sixty years of futile research nevertheless reached the goal and prepared the stone despite his advanced age, wrote, about the prima materia, "that one does not must seek it neither in the mineral kingdom nor in the vegetable, nor in the animal, because it cannot be found in any of the three kingdoms”.
The same warning is still found in other reputable alchemical authors. Where is she then? Where can it be obtained? In the "Hydrolithus Sophicus" (1619), a very good but very difficult alchemical work, we also read: you will then be able to dedicate yourself to manual practice..." and further: "This hidden philosopher's stone is so linked to the need to know the prima materia, alias materia secunda, for those who desire it, that the Philosophers could not to recall it sufficiently nor to warn readers enough on this point, and this matter is however only one thing, of which our stone is made without adding any foreign thing to it, though it is given a thousand names. The philosophers describe its qualities and properties marvelously, and they summarize them approximately thus: namely, that it is composed at the beginning of three, and yet only of one...”.

And further still: “First, you must, above all things, dissolve and resolve the matter already mentioned, or primum ens, which the philosophers have also called the highest good of nature. One can find in other alchemical writings significant and revealing passages about the prima materia because, once one has noticed that matter can also be called materia secunda and that it is made up of three at the beginning and yet is only one, it is clear from this that the prima materia is not to be found anywhere, but must be prepared.

At the time of Count BERNARD DE LA MARCHE TRÉVISANE (often cited under the name of BERNARDUS TREVISANUS), two centuries before the invention of the printing press, there was hardly any analogous indication to be found in alchemical manuscripts. scattered, so that one can conceive that the count could have remained convinced for decades that the prima materia must be found in one of the three kingdoms of nature.

It is pleasant to read the enumeration, done in his candid style, of all the materials he tried before finally learning, after many years and at great expense, that all these efforts had been in vain. :

“The first book I had,” he says, “was Rases; I employed four years of my time, and cost me a good eight hundred escuz in testing it; and then Geber, which cost me a good two thousand and more, and always with people who set me on fire to destroy me. I saw the book of Archelaus by three years; where I found a moyne, he and I labored for three years and the books of Rupescissa, and with brandy rectified thirty times on the lye; so long as, in my God, we made it so strong, that we could not find glass that suffered it to need it, and spent a good three hundred escuz on it. After I had spent twelve or fifteen years like this, and had hung so long and found nothing, and had experienced infinite recipes and in all manners of salt, dissolving and congealing, like common salt, armoniacal salt, buckwheat salt, metallic salt, by dissolving and congealing, and calcining more than a hundred times every two years, in alums of rock, ice, feathers, in all commodities, in blood, in hair, in urine, in dung of man, in sperm, in animals and vegetables, and papers in couperoses, in atramens, in eggs, in separations of the elements, in athanor, and by alembics and pellican, by circulation, by decoction, by reverberation, by ascension and descension, fusion , ignition, elementation, rectification, evaporation, conjunction, elevation, sublimation, and by infinity other sophistical regimes. And I was there in all these operations for twelve years; so much so that I was thirty-eight years old when I was after the extraction of mercury from herbs and animals, as long as I spent about six thousand escuz on it. » by dissolving and congealing, and calcining more than a hundred times every two years, in alums of rock, ice, feathers, in all commodities, in blood, in hair, in urine, in man dung, in sperm, in animals and vegetables, and papers in couperoses, in atramens, in eggs, in separations of the elements, in athanor, and by alembics and pellican, by circulation, by decoction, by reverberation, by ascension and descension, fusion, ignition, elementation, rectification , evaporation, conjunction, elevation, sublimation, and by infinity other sophistical regimes. And I was there in all these operations for twelve years; so much so that I was thirty-eight years old when I was after the extraction of mercury from herbs and animals, as long as I spent about six thousand escuz on it. » by dissolving and congealing, and calcining more than a hundred times every two years, in alums of rock, ice, feathers, in all commodities, in blood, in hair, in urine, in man dung, in sperm, in animals and vegetables, and papers in couperoses, in atramens, in eggs, in separations of the elements, in athanor, and by alembics and pellican, by circulation, by decoction, by reverberation, by ascension and descension, fusion, ignition, elementation, rectification , evaporation, conjunction, elevation, sublimation, and by infinity other sophistical regimes. And I was there in all these operations for twelve years; so much so that I was thirty-eight years old when I was after the extraction of mercury from herbs and animals, as long as I spent about six thousand escuz on it. » and calcining more than a hundred times every two years, in alums of rock, of ice, of feathers, in all commodities, in blood, in hair, in urine, in human dung, in sperm, in animals and vegetables, and papers in couperoses, in atramens, in eggs, in separations of the elements, in athanor, and by alembics and pellican, by circulation, by decoction, by reverberation, by ascension and descension, fusion, ignition, elementation, rectification, evaporation, conjunction, elevation, sublimation, and by infinity other sophistical regimes. And I was there in all these operations for twelve years; so much so that I was thirty-eight years old when I was after the extraction of mercury from herbs and animals, as long as I spent about six thousand escuz on it. » and calcining more than a hundred times every two years, in alums of rock, of ice, of feathers, in all commodities, in blood, in hair, in urine, in human dung, in sperm, in animals and vegetables, and papers in couperoses, in atramens, in eggs, in separations of the elements, in athanor, and by alembics and pellican, by circulation, by decoction, by reverberation, by ascension and descension, fusion, ignition, elementation, rectification, evaporation, conjunction, elevation, sublimation, and by infinity other sophistical regimes. And I was there in all these operations for twelve years; so much so that I was thirty-eight years old when I was after the extraction of mercury from herbs and animals, as long as I spent about six thousand escuz on it. » in hair, in urine, in human droppings, in semen, in animals and vegetables, and papers in couperoses, in atramens, in eggs, in separations of the elements, in athanor, and by alembics and pellican, by circulation, by decoction , by reverberation, by ascension and descension, fusion, ignition, elementation, rectification, evaporation, conjunction, elevation, sublimation, and by infinite other sophistical regimes. And I was there in all these operations for twelve years; so much so that I was thirty-eight years old when I was after the extraction of mercury from herbs and animals, as long as I spent about six thousand escuz on it. » in hair, in urine, in human droppings, in semen, in animals and vegetables, and papers in couperoses, in atramens, in eggs, in separations of the elements, in athanor, and by alembics and pellican, by circulation, by decoction , by reverberation, by ascension and descension, fusion, ignition, elementation, rectification, evaporation, conjunction, elevation, sublimation, and by infinite other sophistical regimes. And I was there in all these operations for twelve years; so much so that I was thirty-eight years old when I was after the extraction of mercury from herbs and animals, as long as I spent about six thousand escuz on it. » by decoction, by reverberation, by ascension and descension, fusion, ignition, elementation, rectification, evaporation, conjunction, elevation, sublimation, and by infinite other sophistical regimes. And I was there in all these operations for twelve years; so much so that I was thirty-eight years old when I was after the extraction of mercury from herbs and animals, as long as I spent about six thousand escuz on it. » by decoction, by reverberation, by ascension and descension, fusion, ignition, elementation, rectification, evaporation, conjunction, elevation, sublimation, and by infinite other sophistical regimes. And I was there in all these operations for twelve years; so much so that I was thirty-eight years old when I was after the extraction of mercury from herbs and animals, as long as I spent about six thousand escuz on it. »

"If you have faith as big as a mustard seed..." His faith finally received its reward.

The Prima Materia: This is a long, truly legendary path to the cavern of the fire-breathing dragon and the abode of the Red Lion.
I quote only the principal stages... The one who is not called will not find any more advanced for that. It is truly not possible to discover it without an illumination or a gift from God.

THE STATIONS

Preparing the secret salt fire.
The preparation of mercury from metals. The preparation of water dries metals.
The preparation of the prima materia or the gum of the sages, from which the spiritus mercurii is distilled.
Preparation of white and red oil (Vinum rubeum vel album).
Dissolution of perfectly pure gold in the spiritus mercurii.
Union of the spiritus mercurii which dissolved gold with white and red oil.
Run this through the colors (rotations), with slowly increasing heat, in a pelican.
Preparation of the elixir.

There are still various ancillary works necessary for the work itself, such as the preparation of the unripe Electra, etc.

To my knowledge, there is no work, ancient or modern, that lays out the process of the Great Alchemical Work in the exact order of operations and as openly as I do here. However, with regard to the preparation of the secret saline fire and the spiritus vini philosophorum, the silence kept for centuries must still be respected today.

Weidenfeld, who answers so many questions, nevertheless denies having revealed the secret: "Each Adept knew it: as long as the secret of the spiritus vini remained a mystery of the magical order, all the rest, the secret even completely given over to the disciplines of the Art, cannot be of the smallest use to the reader. Thus, I fear neither the anger of the Adepts nor the anathema launched against those who betray their secret; I repeat it once more: I said rather less than them and only ordered as much as possible what they scattered here and there. »

Habent sua fata libelli. It is worth noting that Weidenfel's work on the Secret Spirit of Wine of the Adepts, one of the most revealing books in the whole alchemical corpus, saw a new edition in Hamburg in 1685, exactly one year after the publication of the first edition in London, which proves the interest it aroused; however, it was not reprinted until 1768 at Leipzig, and we find no mention of it, even in passing, by any alchemical author of the seventeenth or eighteenth century; I don't know of a single German public library where it can be found (The Parisian researcher is happier (N. du T.)).

It is among the rarest and hardest to find alchemical books. This state of affairs suggests that the three editions were purchased, as soon as they were published, by the Rosicrucian Lodges, which thus prevented a re-edition or a wider distribution of the book. There is no other way to explain the mystery of the almost complete disappearance of this unique book in its genre in alchemical literature. The Rosicrucians and Illuminati, then guardians of the alchemical secret, must have felt that this book brought out too clearly the place where the secret lies, the hiding place where the seeker must slide his lever. It is moreover probable that the same reason explains why the fifth book, where WEIDENFELD promised additional explanations, never appeared. As far as I'm concerned, "chance" - let's call it that - put the first two editions in my hands. Subsequently, the second disappeared from my little bedside library, during my absence, during the occupation of Baden-Baden and the requisition of the residence that I own there. The fact is curious, because this small collection of selected books has remained intact on the whole. Incidentally, that makes one less copy of the small number of those still available, while I still have the London edition. during the occupation of Baden-Baden and the requisition of the residence I own there. The fact is curious, because this small collection of selected books has remained intact on the whole. Incidentally, that makes one less copy of the small number of those still available, while I still have the London edition. during the occupation of Baden-Baden and the requisition of the residence I own there. The fact is curious, because this small collection of selected books has remained intact on the whole. Incidentally, that makes one less copy of the small number of those still available, while I still have the London edition.

I repeat: WEIDENFELD did not deliver the key to the preparation of the secret spirit of wine (and even less that of the secret fire), but he indicated the path to follow. What he writes is true and must be taken at face value, but remains unusable if it comes to practice.

I said above that one does not find among the alchemical authors of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries any allusion to Weidenfeld's book. However, in 1862 appeared in Mülhausen in Thuringia a small book of 62 pages, entitled "The Secret Spirit of Wine of the Adepts - (Spiritus Vini Philosophici s. Lulliani) and its Therapeutic Use for Physicians and Chemists" (Der geheime Weingeist der Adepten (Spiritus vini Lulliani s. philosophici) und seine medizinische Anwendung für Arzte und Chemiker). Its author is the district doctor and health adviser Christian August Becker. It is a very rare and curious little book, although it is not yet a century old. I got it by chance, through Gustave Meyrink. It was during the First World War, when I had just started my first practical tests in alchemy; a relation of Meyrink, in need, sent me a crate full of alchemical books among which was the little work of Dr. CA Becker. The final blank page bore a handwritten note

"In the year 1867, while I was editing the pharmaceutical journal Die Retorte in Berlin, Dr. Becker of Mülhausen had the kindness to send me his remarkable writing on Acetone, the Secret Wine Spirit of the Adepts and its use in medicine. Like so many things of value, this work was stifled by the scholars of the Faculty, for they are good at putting things under a bushel. »

We see that the University has hardly changed its method! For my part, I could not find this book in any public library, nor in any bookstore catalog. But I got acquainted in an original way with a man who knew him and also appreciated him. It was the pharmacist Müller, at that time owner and director of the pharmaceutical factory in Goppingen, who died in the 1930s. He broke into my house in a really unusual way. This happened in the summer of 1921, very shortly after I had opened my pharmaceutical-spagyric laboratory at Stift-Neuburg, near Heidelberg, after seven years of preliminary research work. At an hour which was not precisely that of the usual visits, around eight o'clock in the morning, a medical doctor from Ulm named Lang was called to my house. I received it. He was an imposing man, of fine bearing and who inspired complete confidence. He said that he had heard of the foundation of my spagyric laboratory and, since he already prescribed the remedies of doctor Zimpel from the pharmaceutical factory in GSppingen, he was also interested in the Soluna remedies (at the time, StiftNeuburg remedies) which he wanted to use in his medical practice. Consequently, he wanted to obtain more precise information on their composition and on their method of preparation. I satisfied his first wish, which seemed justified to me, without revealing anything about the method of preparation. During the interview, we also talked about the preparation of Dr. Zimpel's remedies, about which he showed astonishing knowledge. I expressed my surprise to him about this and he replied that he had been friends for many years with the pharmacist Müller who prepared these remedies. I thus learned that the so-called "mysteries" of Doctor Zimpel were purely and simply mixtures which included raw mineral components; a very strange kind of mysteries. My visitor asked me to send him a sample of the remedies from my laboratory to his address: Doctor Lang, Münstergasse, Ulm, and obligingly took his leave without having succeeded in his purpose. I was on my side very satisfied with what he had told me. I expressed my surprise to him about this and he replied that he had been friends for many years with the pharmacist Müller who prepared these remedies. I thus learned that the so-called "mysteries" of Doctor Zimpel were purely and simply mixtures which included raw mineral components; a very strange kind of mysteries. My visitor asked me to send him a sample of the remedies from my laboratory to his address: Doctor Lang, Münstergasse, Ulm, and obligingly took his leave without having succeeded in his purpose. I was on my side very satisfied with what he had told me. I expressed my surprise to him about this and he replied that he had been friends for many years with the pharmacist Müller who prepared these remedies. I thus learned that the so-called "mysteries" of Doctor Zimpel were purely and simply mixtures which included raw mineral components; a very strange kind of mysteries. My visitor asked me to send him a sample of the remedies from my laboratory to his address: Doctor Lang, Münstergasse, Ulm, and obligingly took his leave without having succeeded in his purpose. I was on my side very satisfied with what he had told me. I thus learned that the so-called "mysteries" of Doctor Zimpel were purely and simply mixtures which included raw mineral components; a very strange kind of mysteries. My visitor asked me to send him a sample of the remedies from my laboratory to his address: Doctor Lang, Münstergasse, Ulm, and obligingly took his leave without having succeeded in his purpose. I was on my side very satisfied with what he had told me. I thus learned that the so-called "mysteries" of Doctor Zimpel were purely and simply mixtures which included raw mineral components; a very strange kind of mysteries. My visitor asked me to send him a sample of the remedies from my laboratory to his address: Doctor Lang, Münstergasse, Ulm, and obligingly took his leave without having succeeded in his purpose. I was on my side very satisfied with what he had told me.

A few days later, the package I had sent to Ulm came back to me with the mention: “Recipient unknown in Ulm”. An inquiry at the post office revealed that there had never been a doctor Lang in Ulm. A few weeks later I had a visit from the young assistant of the long-dead healer Gottlieb, author of an excellent skin oil and editor of a very successful periodical. He was the friend of the pharmacist Müller. This assistant (whose name I forget) told me that the pharmacist Müller had recently come one morning to Gottlieb's and had unwittingly witnessed their meeting, since he was working in the next room, the door of which was open. . Müller had told his friend Gottlieb of his remorse for his unforgivable behavior towards me, conduct that contrasted with my kindness towards him; but it was no longer possible to remedy it. Two or three years later a meeting of healers took place in Heidelberg and the pharmacist Müller also took part. A collective visit was organized to Stift-Neuburg on this occasion. During the reception, the pharmacist Müller took me aside and said, “In front of you, I want to go underground. I don't know what demon once urged me to enter your home. Do with me what you want; throw me out, I don't deserve better. I replied that I was delighted to meet him "a second time", in his capacity as pharmacist Müller and that he was welcome at my place. Two or three years later a meeting of healers took place in Heidelberg and the pharmacist Müller also took part. A collective visit was organized to Stift-Neuburg on this occasion. During the reception, the pharmacist Müller took me aside and said, “In front of you, I want to go underground. I don't know what demon once urged me to enter your home. Do with me what you want; throw me out, I don't deserve better. I replied that I was delighted to meet him "a second time", in his capacity as pharmacist Müller and that he was welcome at my place. Two or three years later a meeting of healers took place in Heidelberg and the pharmacist Müller also took part. A collective visit was organized to Stift-Neuburg on this occasion. During the reception, the pharmacist Müller took me aside and said, “In front of you, I want to go underground. I don't know what demon once urged me to enter your home. Do with me what you want; throw me out, I don't deserve better. I replied that I was delighted to meet him "a second time", in his capacity as pharmacist Müller and that he was welcome at my place. the pharmacist Müller took me aside and said, “In front of you, I want to go underground. I don't know what demon once urged me to enter your home. Do with me what you want; throw me out, I don't deserve better. I replied that I was delighted to meet him "a second time", in his capacity as pharmacist Müller and that he was welcome at my place. the pharmacist Müller took me aside and said, “In front of you, I want to go underground. I don't know what demon once urged me to enter your home. Do with me what you want; throw me out, I don't deserve better. I replied that I was delighted to meet him "a second time", in his capacity as pharmacist Müller and that he was welcome at my place.
I do not report this incident to tarnish his memory.

De mortuis nil nisi bene... This little indelicacy aside (and what doesn't one do to discover the secrets of the "competitors"?), he was a man worthy of respect, very sympathetic and experienced, who is acquired great merits at the Goppingen factory, even if its "mysteries" were composed of raw metals. I simply wanted to show with this anecdote all that can happen to someone who has a reputation for dealing with alchemy. I could tell many other similar adventures and even more about the eccentrics who have come to my house over the years, for permission to work in my laboratory and to prepare, of course, the philosopher's stone, while the most of them did not even know how to properly distill an etching. This is how, for example, that I know someone who, for nearly forty years, has wanted to pull the mercurius philosophorum out of the air (probably by catching it with his hat). He will take his mirages with him to the grave.

As I write this, I learn that a so-called spagyric laboratory has just opened in Freiburg im Breisgau which, plagiarizing my Soluna laboratory, is called Solaris. The remedies also have grossly plagiarized names; for example: Cordina instead of Cordiak, Hepatina instead of Hepatik, etc... The owner and founder of this laboratory is (or was) a simple electrician by profession. A few years ago he practiced at the same time the activity of a healer (I cannot say if it was with or without a license) (The practice of medicine is free in Germany, but the healers must obtain a license (N . of the T).

He approached me at the beginning of the Hitler era, to use the Soluna remedies, then returned some time later asking for indications for the preparation of the philosopher's stone. (One cannot believe the number of people who, even today, want to prepare the Great Elixir!) He was convinced that he could obtain mercurius philosophorum from humus digested for a long time under gentle heat and then putrefied... How much havoc does mercurius n has he not committed over time, in the minds of more or less ignorant autodidacts.

I then gave him, to encourage him to follow another path, a process on vitriol which, while not being used for the preparation of the stone, is used in the elaboration of a very effective remedy and belongs at the same time for ancillary works of the Great Work. But he didn't want to indulge in it. No doubt this work seemed to him too arduous and that is why he stuck to his humus, at least for this time. He visited me two or three times altogether, both at Donaumünster Castle and in Baden-baden, before and during the Second World War. Shortly before the debacle, I received another two or three letters from him to ask me about alchemical work, but I did not answer him, having no time to lose.

What does not happen to the researcher in this field “on the margins of Science”. This man is in any case not capable of discoveries, he steals everything. Tempora mutantur, sed non mutamur in illis l Already one hundred and fifty years ago, the Rose-Croix spoke of these plagiarists and alchemical thieves in the "Discourses of Meetings of the Golden Rose-Croix" (Versammlungsreden der Gold und Rosenkreutzer, Amsterdam 1779). Count Bernard de la Marche Trévisane knew how to accommodate this brood in a very gratifying way: "Despite their great ignorance, barely able to pronounce two Latin words, not even knowing how to read their mother tongue correctly, these their "junk" of the most marvelous labels".

But enough about the anecdotal aspect of the question. So I was saying that the pharmacist Müller knew his subject well and also knew Dr. Becker's book which he considered interesting and worth reading. Truly, it is a remarkable book. It is entirely based on Weidenfeld's great work. Doctor Becker tries to discover the Spiritus vini philosophici and, moreover, he is convinced of having penetrated its secret. He also justifies his interpretation in a plausible and scientifically irreproachable way. He comes to the conclusion that it is acetone, which does not fail to surprise at first, but the arguments put forward make you think.
I say it right away: the Secret Wine Spirit is naturally not acetone. However, it cannot be denied that several elements make Dr. Becker's presumption plausible. Pure acetone, CH3COCH3, which is obtained in the chemical industry, is however not identical with the acetone of doctor Becker, because this one considers that the Spiritus uini philosophici is the complete product of the distillation of acetates, including the supernatant oil, i.e. acetate and its derivatives. Doctor Becker called this extract, prepared in his pharmacy from sodium acetate, spiritus aceti oleosus. He used this preparation with success against a large number of diseases which he lists.

His little work is so endearing, it contains such surprising views, that it deserves to be expanded upon more explicitly. After briefly speaking in his preface of the years he devoted to alchemy and the mysteries which he had vainly endeavored to penetrate, Doctor Becker continues:

“I persevered in this way and I arrived at a series of remedies which do not appear in the pharmacopoeia, but which make it possible to obtain certain results in practice. Weidenfeld's writing leads me to hope for greater clarifications, but the essential, the Spiritus vini philosophi, remained hidden for me in his mysterious description, apart from a presentiment. Today, after more than twenty years, I recognized, during a new study, acetone. This discovery sheds new light on Adept medicines and dispels the darkness of their writings. Here

are some of the most important passages, where Dr. Becker analyzes his conclusion regarding the nature and origin of the Spiritus vini Lulliani:
“The foundation of this research lies in the work of Johannes Seger Weidenfeld: “De Secretis Adeptorum, sive usu spiritus vini Lulliani, libri IV, 1685.”
“It is striking that this Spiritus vini philosophici, the preparation of which is described in the well-known work by Weidenfeld, is not cited by later chemists. It is only in Pott (Exerc. Chym. Berolini, 1738, p. 21) that I find it described in these terms: no chemist. It is a limpid, volatile, pure, oily liquid, flammable like the spirit of wine, acid like vinegar, which passes through distillation in the form of snowflakes. This digested liquid cohobed on the metals, especially after they have been calcined, dissolves almost all of them. It draws from gold a very red dye and, when it is removed from above the gold, there remains a resinous matter entirely soluble in the spirit of wine which acquires by this means a beautiful red color. There remains a black residue with which I think you can prepare Sal Auri. This solvent mixes indifferently with aqueous or fatty liquors and converts the corals into a sea-green liquor. It is a fatty liquor saturated with sal ammoniac. It is the true Menstrue of Weidenfeld or the philosophical spirit of wine, since the white and red wines of Raimond Lully are obtained from the same material. Its preparation, although obscure and hidden, is however very easy. » This solvent mixes indifferently with aqueous or fatty liquors and converts the corals into a sea-green liquor. It is a fatty liquor saturated with sal ammoniac. It is the true Menstrue of Weidenfeld or the philosophical spirit of wine, since the white and red wines of Raimond Lully are obtained from the same material. Its preparation, although obscure and hidden, is however very easy. » This solvent mixes indifferently with aqueous or fatty liquors and converts the corals into a sea-green liquor. It is a fatty liquor saturated with sal ammoniac. It is the true Menstrue of Weidenfeld or the philosophical spirit of wine, since the white and red wines of Raimond Lully are obtained from the same material. Its preparation, although obscure and hidden, is however very easy. »

And Pott is also silent.

Doctor Becker arrives at the various recipes for the secret spirit of wine, of which he cites a large number, before drawing his conclusions from them. It begins with Raimond Lulle's original prescription:

“Raimond Lulle gives the first recipe in the book: “De la Quintessence”. Weidenfeld's quotes begin with her:

“We distill the best red or white wine, vinum rubeum vel album, in the usual way to make fiery water. This is three times rectified and well preserved so that the flammable spirit does not evaporate. The infallible sign of success is that if you light the sugar soaked in it, it ignites like brandy. When this water is thus prepared, we have the matter from which we draw the quintessence. This water is put in a circulatory vase and, after having closed it hermetically, it is placed in horse manure where the heat remains equal. The heat must not decrease, otherwise the circulation (digestion) of the water would be hindered and we would not obtain what we are looking for. But when constant heat is applied while continuing digestion, the quintessence floats and stands out clearly from a cloudy lower part. When the digestion has lasted long enough, the vase is opened; if an incomparably sweet fragrance emerges, which exerts an invincible attraction on everyone, it is the sign that the quintessence is ready. In the absence of this sign, the vase must be covered again and put back into digestion as long as the sign does not appear.

“This fiery water, Spiritus vini philosophici, has many analogies with the spirit of ordinary wine, which has prevented its discovery. But contrary to the latter, if one continues the digestion, one obtains an oil which floats. It is the basis, the origin and the end of all Adept removers. In his simplicity he is the weakest of all; but combined with other bodies, it is the most powerful of menses. It appears in a dual form; the first as an ordinary spirit of wine, miscible with water; the second like a floating oil. However, it is still the same body; the difference concerns only its purity and subtlety. Lully's recipe is really, exact, but it only includes part of the process, which can be supplemented by other recipes that I have taken from Weidenfeld. »

To understand the thought of Becker, it is necessary to expose here at least two of the processes which it quotes:

COELUM VINOSUM PARISINI.

After the distillation of the aqua ardens and the phlegm, there remains a heavy black mass like melted pitch; this is washed with the phlegm, mixed with the spiritus vini, digested and distilled, which is repeated with fresh spirit until the residue is dry. The product of the distillation is called spiritus animatus. The latter is gradually poured over the residue, in increasing quantities, and digested until it is saturated and turns white. At this moment, we sublimate. The sublimated is clear and shiny like diamond. It is put in a water bath where it becomes liquid, then the superfluous water is distilled. The distillation is repeated four times, each time adding new quantities of the first spirit. The substance thus obtained will be digested for sixty days. It is recognized that the work has succeeded in the formation of a deposit similar to that of healthy urine. One separates the quintessence, so clear that one doubts that it is present, and one keeps it in a cold place.

Another slightly modified recipe:

COELUM VINOSUM LULLII.

Here the aqua ardens is poured directly on the black residue which is digested, we extract by distillation first the aqua animata and then the oil, by activating the fire. The residue is calcined until it is white. Then it is four times soaked in aqua cmimata and sublimated. The sparkling sublimate is mixed with the aqua animata and distilled once, causing the salt to pass through the beak. The distillate is kept for sixty days in digestion and changes into the fragrant quintessence, clear and shining like a star. A deposit is formed as in the urine of a healthy teenager.

Becker then cites seven other similar processes with variations. He then gives his own version, to explain the nature of the process. He brings another two related methods for the volatilization of salt of tartar and finally leads to the following conclusion:

“Revelation of the Adepts' secret wine spirit. In the second part of the book devoted to mineral solvents, Weidenfeld gives indications on the secret of the Spiritus vini philosophici which shed sufficient light on the latter. From the confrontation of the various prescriptions emerges the following content: “The mysterious body, hidden under multiple names, matter of the philosopher's stone (prima materia lapidis), is calcined in red and dissolved in distilled vinegar. The solution is evaporated to the consistency of a gum. From the latter, a tasteless water is first distilled over low heat and, when white fumes appear, the container is changed and the aqua ardens is thus obtained. This water has a very strong taste and a foul smell, which is why it is called aqua fcetens, menstruum fcetens; by continuing the distillation at higher heat, a red vapor appears and, finally, red drops. Then the fire is allowed to fall little by little and the product of the distillation is kept in a tightly closed vessel, so as not to allow the volatile spirit to dissipate. The residue left in the retort is black as soot; it is spread on a stone and lighted at one end with a hot coal. In the space of half an hour, the incandescence takes over the whole mass which calcines in yellow color. Then it is dissolved in distilled vinegar, it is evaporated until the consistency of a gum which is subjected to distillation. This is repeated until most of the liquor is reduced. This liquor is added to the product of the first distillation, it is digested for fourteen days and then re-distilled. The aqua ardens goes first, topped with a white oil. This distillate is rectified seven times, until a moistened cloth and presented to the flame is consumed. A yellow oil remains which is distilled over high heat.

“The sublimate attached to the neck of the retort is left to resolve in an iron basin placed in a cool place. A little aqua ardens is added to the filtered liquor and the green oil which separates on the surface is collected. Distillation is then resumed; first, it comes from water; then a thick, black oil. As soon as white vapors appear, we change the container. The white product of the distillation is evaporated at moderate heat until an oily mass as thick as molten pitch remains.

“This black mass is further processed until the residue is completely exhausted, an operation which it would be useless to describe in detail.

Ripley explains that three substances are contained in the foul menses prepared from said gum:
1) The fiery water which, when kindled, burns like the spirit of ordinary wine;
2) A thick white water, the virginum lake of the Adepts;
3) A red oil, the blood of the Green Lion of the Adepts. (

I have underlined this passage, because it contains the whole secret of vinum rubeum vel album; this is the True "white or red wine" of the Adepts, and not, as Becker apparently plausibly but erroneously supposes , acetone and its derivatives).

Becker continues:

“Ripley says no one has ever spoken so clearly and therefore fears the wrath of God and the Adepts. Weidenfeld remarks that he revealed there a great secret of the Art. The Adepts have clearly taught in their practical indications the use of philosophical wine, but they have silenced the manner of obtaining it. Ripley the first and only explains that the key to all the secret chemistry is hidden therein, namely that the fetid menstruation with the milk of the Virgin and the blood of the Lion, kept in gentle digestion fourteen days, is vinum rubeum vel album of Lully, and, in confirmation of what he says, he adds that from this fetid menstruation one prepares the aqua vitae rectificata of Raimond Lully.

Becker continues :

“Primordial matter, the prima materia, is clothed with the most diverse names, intended to keep it secret. The Adepts worked partly on metals and partly on salts and metallic ores. The Green Lion is so called because its solution is green; it is first dissolved in sulfuric acid to purify it; it gives saffron crystals in this solution. The raw material thus prepared is then red-calcined, which has the effect of driving out the acid; it is then dissolved in distilled vinegar and thickened to the consistency of gum. This gum, distilled, gives the Spiritus vini philosophici.

“From the following facts:
1) the red-calcined raw material is dissolved in vinegar, which leads to the formation of an acetate;
2) the black residue of the retort allows itself to be ignited and brought to incandescence, which is a property of acetates;
3) distillation gives an ordinary wine spirit and a volatile oil; it is clear that what is involved here is nothing other than the preparation of acetone.

In the continuation of his presentation, Becker provides more detailed justifications for his hypothesis and gives in support some quotes from Weidenfeld on the preparation of the Spiritus vini philosophici . These quotations are already mentioned at the beginning of this chapter.

As we see, Becker's deductions are seductive and even convincing on the surface. I have purposely reported them in (so) detailed fashion,

Becker thinks he is justified in supposing that in speaking of the preparation of their secret spirit of wine, the Adepts mean the production of acetone. It is based on the following three particularities:

1) the red-calcined “raw material” is dissolved in vinegar, which causes the formation of an acetate;
2) the black residue left in the retort allows itself to be ignited and consumed, which is the property of acetates;
3) Distillation produces a spirit of wine similar to ordinary spirit of wine, as well as a volatile oil.
4)
These three particularities on which it is based are observed during the preparation of acetone, which can be carried out, among other things, from the distillation of lead, potassium or sodium acetate. Becker himself used this last product for the preparation of acetone which he employed, with its derivatives, for medicinal purposes, under the name of Spiritus aceti oleosus. However, these salts are not previously calcined red and the process is completely false.

This recipe is valid only for the preparation of acetone from iron vitriol or copper or verdet vitriol. But in these cases there is no residue left which can be ignited after distillation and which would burn without flame... Becker's data are therefore only partly correct. What is meant then by raw material to be red-calcined? As we said at the beginning of this talk, the prima materia is not a “raw material”, but the result of a long and complex process; it is identical to the "eraser" of the hermetic masters. However, from this prima materia of the Adepts, there is finally drawn a "spirit" which is truly the much sought-after Mercury of the Philosophers and which, once prepared, allows itself to be increased at will by the vulgar mercury. The “Virgin's milk” and the “red oil” are distilled from it: vinum album vel rubeum. The Adepts begin to expound the process of the work only from this stage; they leave in obscurity all the preliminary work which leads to the preparation of the raw material. Also: all this only applies to the long and wet route.
To take another sentence from Becker:

“The 'Green Lion' is first dissolved in sulfuric acid, to purify it; it gives saffron yellow crystals in solution; the raw material (2) prepared is then calcined to red, which has the effect of driving out the acid; it is then dissolved in distilled vinegar and thickened to the consistency of a gum, the distillation of which gives Spirilus vini philosophici. »

This single sentence contains a host of erroneous assumptions: first, the Green Lion is a royal product obtained at the end of the operation and it is never dissolved in sulfuric acid for the purpose of purification; secondly, the purified raw material (which does not exist as such) is not calcined red (no doubt, the author is thinking of vitriol) and therefore cannot be dissolved in distilled vinegar, to be thickened gum-like consistency. Even if the author's allusion refers to the preparation of acetone, we do not see how from this combination he comes to the Red Lion, nor what is the role of the gum in its preparation. However, as just said, acetone is distilled from acetates Becker obtained it from sodium acetate. It is true that the distillation of the true gum of the Adepts, that is to say of the prima materia of the Sages, prepared by long and meticulous processes, gives the Spiritus vini philosophici or, more exactly, "the white oil and red and the Mercury of the Sages”. To say more would be to lift the veil too much. We may have already gone too far along the path of revelations.

The misunderstanding which is at the root of Becker's error resides in the fact that he confuses and mixes Weidenfeld's data, which relate exclusively to the Spiritus vini philosophici, with iatrochemist recipes such as Agricole or Zwelfer, which relate to the preparation Spiritus Saturni from the sugar of Saturn (in short, from something analogous to acetone, but pushed further). Indeed, in the continuation of his otherwise remarkable work, Becker gives a series of indications which apply exclusively to the production of the Spirit and of the red oil, from lead acetate, at curative purposes. There is no question of the "Gum of the Sages", in the sense understood by the Adepts, any more than of the vinum rubeum vel album. The great iatrochemist physicians of the late 17th and 18th centuries were not Adepts and, moreover, never claimed this rank. Nevertheless, they had a very extensive knowledge of spagyric pharmacopoeia and they knew how to cure diseases against which our modern therapy remains powerless.

It is thus that the spiritus saturni, prepared spagyrically, is an effectively sovereign remedy against all saturnian affections amenable to treatment with lead derivatives. Doctor Becker gives the summary of a recipe taken from the medical work of Agricola (Part one, page 222)

“Saturn's sugar is digested for four months in a steam bath with a good spirit of wine; then we extract the spirit of wine and a nice thick liquor remains. This is mixed with sand (which must first be reddened in the fire - author's note) and distilled by degrees with a retort; we obtain a beautiful yellow and red oil and a beautiful white spirit. The spirit and the oil must be rectified together in a steam bath in a glass retort; the spirit passes first drop by drop, then comes a yellow oil; one must at this moment change the container, otherwise one would lose the spiritual aroma, more delicate than amber and musk. The yellow oil having passed, the phlegm appears with numerous white lines; we must then change the container again and pass all the phlegm. Finally comes a beautiful red oil whose distillation requires a high heat, because it passes with difficulty. The black residue in the retort is calcined in a violent fire until it is white as snow, then it is dissolved in vinegar, distilled, and then crystallized. The salt is kept in digestion for eight days in a steam bath, with the spirit previously rectified, then it is distilled: the salt then sublimates for the most part. What has passed is poured back over the residue, digested again and distilled, and this is repeated as often as necessary so that all of the volatile salt passes into the form of spiritus. The red oil is then added to it, which has the effect of mixing them indissolubly and giving an extremely precious remedy. » The black residue in the retort is calcined in a violent fire until it is white as snow, then it is dissolved in vinegar, distilled, and then crystallized. The salt is kept in digestion for eight days in a steam bath, with the spirit previously rectified, then it is distilled: the salt then sublimates for the most part. What has passed is poured back over the residue, digested again and distilled, and this is repeated as often as necessary so that all of the volatile salt passes into the form of spiritus. The red oil is then added to it, which has the effect of mixing them indissolubly and giving an extremely precious remedy. » The black residue in the retort is calcined in a violent fire until it is white as snow, then it is dissolved in vinegar, distilled, and then crystallized. The salt is kept in digestion for eight days in a steam bath, with the spirit previously rectified, then it is distilled: the salt then sublimates for the most part. What has passed is poured back over the residue, digested again and distilled, and this is repeated as often as necessary so that all of the volatile salt passes into the form of spiritus. The red oil is then added to it, which has the effect of mixing them indissolubly and giving an extremely precious remedy. » The salt is kept in digestion for eight days in a steam bath, with the spirit previously rectified, then it is distilled: the salt then sublimates for the most part. What has passed is poured back over the residue, digested again and distilled, and this is repeated as often as necessary so that all of the volatile salt passes into the form of spiritus. The red oil is then added to it, which has the effect of mixing them indissolubly and giving an extremely precious remedy. » The salt is kept in digestion for eight days in a steam bath, with the spirit previously rectified, then it is distilled: the salt then sublimates for the most part. What has passed is poured back over the residue, digested again and distilled, and this is repeated as often as necessary so that all of the volatile salt passes into the form of spiritus. The red oil is then added to it, which has the effect of mixing them indissolubly and giving an extremely precious remedy. » which has the effect of mixing them indissolubly and giving an extremely precious remedy. » which has the effect of mixing them indissolubly and giving an extremely precious remedy. »

This is Agricola's recipe for the preparation of spiritus and oleum saturni, intended for medical uses. However, we do not find in Agricola that the spirit and the white and red oil are indissolubly mixed. This is an addition by Becker, taken from the hermetic indications for the preparation of the true vinum rubeum vel album. Apart from that, the process is exact and the spagyric remedy thus prepared is extraordinarily effective. Becker also gives an extract from Agricola's accounts of the cures wrought by this remedy, particularly in cases of lung abscess, nephritis, virulent gonorrhoea, infected bites and paronychia. On this last point, Agricola remarks: "Applied on paronychia, it cures it quickly". The author,

As Agricola's recipe for the preparation of his Spiritus Saturni shows, it is not at all a question of acetone, but of the preparation of a very complex remedy, from lead, whose power of penetration is considerably increased by the spagyric process. Starting from the erroneous assumption that it was above all acetone, even if the ancillary products obtained during its preparation were kept, Becker had his Spiritus aceti oleosus prepared from sodium acetate. He writes about it:

“At my instance, the pharmacist Klauer undertook its preparation in 1840. He reports on this subject: four pounds of acetate of soda gave twenty ounces of distillate. The distillation, carried out in a sand bath, lasted three days. The distillate was rectified in a water bath. What goes first is acetone, with some water (acetone begins to distill at 55°). Further distillation yields water, acetic acid and some oil (metacetone). The residue is a dark brown oil of thick consistency, which dissolves very easily in acetone. To obtain anhydrous acetone, it is necessary to rectify with chloride of lime. Six and a half ounces of aqueous acetone, obtained from four pounds of acetate of soda, gave four and a half ounces of anhydrous acetone. I prescribed acetone, combined with the two oils, under the name of Spiritus aceli oleosus. Since 1840, I have often used this remedy. The product thus prepared is good, but it does not entirely correspond to the description of the old chemists; it notably lacks the famous perfume, which is easily explained by the fact that the process formerly in use matured the remedy in a way, by digestions and distillations repeated for a long time. It is the same for a wine stored in a place warmed by damp straw: the heat thus produced ennobles it in the space of three months just as much as a stay of three whole years in the bottle would do. As appears from the old prescriptions, this is a very delicate operation, whose fundamental condition is: "haste without haste". If it is chemically correct to dehydrate acetone by distillation on calcium chloride, it is no longer the same from a medicinal point of view. Pure acetone, as currently supplied by the chemical industry, does not have the same strength, neither in terms of fragrance and flavor, nor in terms of its therapeutic effectiveness. It does not act on rheumatism, as does spiritus aceti oleosus: the ethereal oil is therefore essential to the composition of this last remedy. » as currently supplied by the chemical industry, does not have the same strength, neither in terms of fragrance and flavor, nor in terms of its therapeutic effectiveness. It does not act on rheumatism, as does spiritus aceti oleosus: the ethereal oil is therefore essential to the composition of this last remedy. » as currently supplied by the chemical industry, does not have the same strength, neither in terms of fragrance and flavor, nor in terms of its therapeutic effectiveness. It does not act on rheumatism, as does spiritus aceti oleosus: the ethereal oil is therefore essential to the composition of this last remedy. »

Doctor Becker then reports ten cases of success in the treatment of various affections, especially rheumatic, but also cerebrospinal meningitis. He remarks, however, that this remedy is not indicated against febrile affections, because it heats up too much. If he had had his remedy prepared from acetate of lead, he would have arrived at a different result, for lead is distinguished by its great coldness.

It is incomprehensible that Becker did not use lead acetate instead of sodium acetate, when all the processes he cites are based on lead and, moreover, he underlines this sentence of Raimond Lulle: “Ex plumbo nigro extrahitur oleum philosophorum aurei colore vel quasi, et scias, quod in mundo nihil secretius eo est. Such a passage should have prompted Becker to choose for the preparation of his spiritus aceti oleosus, not acetate of soda, but acetate of lead, even if he was firmly convinced that it was the acetone when talking about Adept wine spirit. If he had proceeded in this way, Becker would have obtained much greater therapeutic success, even though the spiritus saturni is not the spiritus vini philosophici, as he thought. Moreover, in the quoted phase, Lully does not at all imply ordinary lead, but the Lead of the Sages who frequently referred to their "gum", their prima materia, by the misleading name of plumbum nostrum. As we said, Becker takes his assumptions for facts. In fact, without an inspiration from Above, it is really impossible to come to the authentic knowledge of this secret.

To avoid any misunderstanding, we want to specify once again that throughout this presentation it was only a question of the so-called wet and long way, for the preparation of the prima materia from which the spiritus vini philosophici is distilled. However, the preparation of the “secret fire” of the Adepts is indispensable for this path, just as it is indispensable for the so-called short or dry path. But before moving on to the latter, let us say something more about the spiritus saturni, even though it is not identical with the secret spirit of wine.

The spirit of Saturn, prepared according to the spagyric art, is a remedy of great value, although it is useless for the preparation of the Great Elixir of the Sages. A spagyrico-pharmaceutical laboratory could base its existence on this preparation alone. It is however necessary that the spirit of Saturn be elaborated in scrupulous conformity with the indications of the iatro-chemists, and not according to the abbreviated process employed by Becker for the preparation of his spiritus aceti oleosus, from the acetate of welded. This very long and meticulous work requires for its success all kinds of knacks which require an experienced artist or, as Paracelsus says, "tested in the fire". In addition, the process is expensive, because you have to prepare all the necessary ingredients yourself, starting with Saturn's sugar, since commercial lead acetate is useless. You have to start from litharge, or better still from galena! We use pure wine vinegar and above all a well rectified spirit of wine, which we have drawn ourselves from a good sweet wine, and not commercial denatured alcohol, wood alcohol or potatoes. The preparation of the product takes about four months, because of multiple digestions that last several weeks, and repeated distillations. Furthermore, the product cannot be prepared in large quantities, so that a very large number of containers must be used. With regard to the latter, care must be taken to employ only glass, porcelain or rock crystal retorts. The glass retorts must be well strapped before the distillation of the white or red oil, because they crack, following the expansion of the material, so that they can only be used once. As we can see, the spiritus saturni is not an easy drug to manufacture, but its effectiveness is a great reward for the trouble we have taken. Its field of action encompasses all conditions of the spleen, arteriosclerosis, conjunctivitis, blepharitis, keratitis and ulcers, 1st, 2nd and 3rd degree burns, paronychia, hemorrhoids and, finally, erysipelas. It should be remembered in this regard that as a rule erysipelas should not be treated wet, but here the exception proves the rule. Johannes AGRICOLA writes in his “Chemical Medicine” (Leipzig, 1638) because they crack, as a result of the expansion of the material, so that they can only be used once. As we can see, the spiritus saturni is not an easy drug to manufacture, but its effectiveness is a great reward for the trouble we have taken. Its field of action encompasses all conditions of the spleen, arteriosclerosis, conjunctivitis, blepharitis, keratitis and ulcers, 1st, 2nd and 3rd degree burns, paronychia, hemorrhoids and, finally, erysipelas. It should be remembered in this regard that as a rule erysipelas should not be treated wet, but here the exception proves the rule. Johannes AGRICOLA writes in his “Chemical Medicine” (Leipzig, 1638) because they crack, as a result of the expansion of the material, so that they can only be used once. As we can see, the spiritus saturni is not an easy drug to manufacture, but its effectiveness is a great reward for the trouble we have taken. Its field of action encompasses all conditions of the spleen, arteriosclerosis, conjunctivitis, blepharitis, keratitis and ulcers, 1st, 2nd and 3rd degree burns, paronychia, hemorrhoids and, finally, erysipelas. It should be remembered in this regard that as a rule erysipelas should not be treated wet, but here the exception proves the rule. Johannes AGRICOLA writes in his “Chemical Medicine” (Leipzig, 1638) so they can only be used once. As we can see, the spiritus saturni is not an easy drug to manufacture, but its effectiveness is a great reward for the trouble we have taken. Its field of action encompasses all conditions of the spleen, arteriosclerosis, conjunctivitis, blepharitis, keratitis and ulcers, 1st, 2nd and 3rd degree burns, paronychia, hemorrhoids and, finally, erysipelas. It should be remembered in this regard that as a rule erysipelas should not be treated wet, but here the exception proves the rule. Johannes AGRICOLA writes in his “Chemical Medicine” (Leipzig, 1638) so they can only be used once. As we can see, the spiritus saturni is not an easy drug to manufacture, but its effectiveness is a great reward for the trouble we have taken. Its field of action encompasses all conditions of the spleen, arteriosclerosis, conjunctivitis, blepharitis, keratitis and ulcers, 1st, 2nd and 3rd degree burns, paronychia, hemorrhoids and, finally, erysipelas. It should be remembered in this regard that as a rule erysipelas should not be treated wet, but here the exception proves the rule. Johannes AGRICOLA writes in his “Chemical Medicine” (Leipzig, 1638) Its field of action encompasses all conditions of the spleen, arteriosclerosis, conjunctivitis, blepharitis, keratitis and ulcers, 1st, 2nd and 3rd degree burns, paronychia, hemorrhoids and, finally, erysipelas. It should be remembered in this regard that as a rule erysipelas should not be treated wet, but here the exception proves the rule. Johannes AGRICOLA writes in his “Chemical Medicine” (Leipzig, 1638) Its field of action encompasses all conditions of the spleen, arteriosclerosis, conjunctivitis, blepharitis, keratitis and ulcers, 1st, 2nd and 3rd degree burns, paronychia, hemorrhoids and, finally, erysipelas. It should be remembered in this regard that as a rule erysipelas should not be treated wet, but here the exception proves the rule. Johannes AGRICOLA writes in his “Chemical Medicine” (Leipzig, 1638) but here the exception proves the rule. Johannes AGRICOLA writes in his “Chemical Medicine” (Leipzig, 1638) but here the exception proves the rule. Johannes AGRICOLA writes in his “Chemical Medicine” (Leipzig, 1638)

"I know that it is commonly said that one should not moisten erysipelas, which no doubt has its reason for being, but when one does it with the appropriate specific, the thing is not only devoid of danger, but moreover removes all inflammation and fever from any place whatsoever, head or thigh. If the wound is open, it must often be washed with this water and used in compresses, this three times a day; then the pus escapes from it and it heals completely. In short, it can be used successfully not only against erysipelas, but also against other inflammatory infections, because it overcomes indurated tumors, extracts the accumulated malignant humor from them, through the skin, and l 'one could write a whole book on this single balm. »

One can also, by a related process, prepare from copper vitriol the great antiepileptic of Paracelsus. But, here again, only native vitriol should be used, which is very difficult to obtain.

As we can see, to prepare many authentic spagyric remedies, it is by no means necessary to possess the secret fire of the Adepts, even if the great mysteries are not achievable without it.

The secret fire... What is it? How do we get it? No alchemical work offers anything conclusive on this subject. The Adepts surrounded their secret fire with a still deeper darkness than that which envelops their spirit in secret wine. I wouldn't venture to be the first to say something about it. But Max Retschlag, the healer who died in the 1930s, who had gone a long way into the study of alchemy, expresses himself very clearly in this respect in his little work published in 1926 and printed in only 333 copies: "De the original Matter to the original Elixir-force: the Path of the True Stone” (Von der Urmaterie zum Urkraff -Elixir - Der Weg zum wahren Stein). In the chapter entitled "From the Raw Material to the Preparation of the Elixir", he writes:

“Our knowledge of the constitution of the body, the structure of cells and of the smallest living entities, as well as their functions, makes it perfectly plausible that a certain remedy, consisting of a latent and concentrated energy, can be found which acts in this way. as a universal remedy for all diseases. As the vital force is an electromotive force, this remedy must be made up of bodies capable of releasing a concentrated electric energy, after their dissolution in the humors of the human body, just as there exist in the galvanic batteries certain salts, the dissolution of which produces a more or less constant current between the terminals. Of the innumerable allusions made by the ancient hermetic masters, it appears that it is also certain salts which enter as basic materials in the preparation of the elixir of life. These allusions are also found among the Pythagoreans, among the Essenes and in all the philosophical schools whose masters had acquired the highest degree of Egyptian initiation, such as Pythagoras and Moses.

Salt, as a collective term that encompasses everything that crystallizes, is, according to these ancient masters, the first being, because all matter allows itself to be reduced to a saline form. It is the word of God become matter; in a particular salt, a celestial agent, son of the divine solar fire, unites with a passive earthiness, to give a saline incarnation.

"This salt is composed of a mercurial humidity and a sulphurous fat, and the two essences opposed to each other form, like the alkali and the acid with salt, the trinity, origin of life. . Salt is always similar to itself, its living crystalline soul constantly gives rise to the same forms, it differs only in the place and circumstances of its origin. It reveals its noble provenance in the close kinship of the Latin names Sol and Sal, and the true Alchemy is the Halchi.

mie, the "cooking of salt" (Xvw - I melt, I cook). In antiquity, great honors were given to salt; during the celebration of the great covenants, salt and fire were placed in the middle of the assembly. The salt was always brought to the tables first and won last; he was honored with a curtsey. “During the communion of the young Christian assembly, salt was constantly present, alongside bread and wine, and a pinch of salt was put in the mouths of the baptized. Even today, bread and salt are symbolically offered, as was done in biblical times. There are frequent references to this in the Old Testament. We read in the second chapter of Genesis, v. 10-15, an enigmatic allusion which has given rise to much controversy, for the countries and rivers mentioned there should not be sought by geographers; they cannot be found on any map, even a very old one. “During the communion of the young Christian assembly, salt was constantly present, alongside bread and wine, and a pinch of salt was put in the mouths of the baptized. Even today, bread and salt are symbolically offered, as was done in biblical times. There are frequent references to this in the Old Testament. We read in the second chapter of Genesis, v. 10-15, an enigmatic allusion which has given rise to much controversy, for the countries and rivers mentioned there should not be sought by geographers; they cannot be found on any map, even a very old one. “During the communion of the young Christian assembly, salt was constantly present, alongside bread and wine, and a pinch of salt was put in the mouths of the baptized. Even today, bread and salt are symbolically offered, as was done in biblical times. There are frequent references to this in the Old Testament. We read in the second chapter of Genesis, v. 10-15, an enigmatic allusion which has given rise to much controversy, for the countries and rivers mentioned there should not be sought by geographers; they cannot be found on any map, even a very old one. bread and salt are offered symbolically, as was done in biblical times. There are frequent references to this in the Old Testament. We read in the second chapter of Genesis, v. 10-15, an enigmatic allusion which has given rise to much controversy, for the countries and rivers mentioned there should not be sought by geographers; they cannot be found on any map, even a very old one. bread and salt are offered symbolically, as was done in biblical times. There are frequent references to this in the Old Testament. We read in the second chapter of Genesis, v. 10-15, an enigmatic allusion which has given rise to much controversy, for the countries and rivers mentioned there should not be sought by geographers; they cannot be found on any map, even a very old one. for the countries and rivers there mentioned should not be sought by geographers; they cannot be found on any map, even a very old one. for the countries and rivers there mentioned should not be sought by geographers; they cannot be found on any map, even a very old one.

"It is to metallic salt that the well-known occult adage relates: Visita interiora, term rectificandoque invenies occultum lapidem veram medicinam, and it is by the symbolic sign par excellence that the secret salt of the philosophers is represented: a cruciferous globe surrounded by a horizontal circle in the middle and a semi-circle at its upper part. The deep meaning of this sign is understandable only to initiates.

“Salt, of celestial origin, conceived by an earthly mother, is born in a stable. After having conquered death, he will rise with a new, glorious body, to become the savior of suffering humanity, just as Christ became the Savior of spiritual humanity. »

Read this sentence again and compare it with the passage from Fulcanelli, quoted at the beginning of this chapter: the light in the world of?...” In both quotations it is the same secret knowledge of a deep cosmic mystery and whose meaning is not purely symbolic, as CG Jung would have it; it must be understood in a spirit of truth, valid for all planes, below as well as above.

Sol - Sal - Salamander - Cave salt - Halchimia - cooking salt that leads to Salvation: Salus!

In salt (understood in the broadest sense), light is magically held captive. Delivering her again is alchemy, and this born-again salt,

The light magically imprisoned in the salt and that we want to free from it: this is undoubtedly an aberrant notion for the physicist of today! And yet, it is so.
If the Adepts have surrounded their secret salt with the deepest darkness, there is however a writing from the end of the 18th century which deals with the mystery of salt. This work was published without an author's name (it is presumed that it was FC Cttinger), under the following title: "The Secret of Salt, the noblest Creature produced by the greatest Bounty of God in the reign of Nature, by ELIAS
ARTISTA HERMETICA, 1770. (Das Geheimnis vom Salz, ais dem edelsten Wesen der hôchsten Wohltat Gottes in dem Reich der Natur). This 142-page text has become almost untraceable. A reissue appeared around the 1920s, if I'm not mistaken, with an introduction by H. Wohlbold that misses the point.

The book begins with the sentence: “Salt is a good thing, says Christ, voice of eternal Wisdom. A detailed commentary would exceed the scope of this study and we will content ourselves with reproducing a few passages, by way of development of the quotations from Max Retschlag, already given.

Paragraph 6: “Salt has its essence, its origin and its birth from two extremes or centers, the celestial and the terrestrial, and in the latter acts still a third, which is demonstrated by the constituent parts which give it its being. The first, by its celestial nature, gives it a spiritual quality, invisible and elusive, which is called spirit, active form, mercurial spiritual fire or celestial nitre. The second, terrestrial, although there is nothing terrestrial in it, except that the celestial spirit, like astral seed, has coagulated in its furrow or in its womb, thickened there, congealed and took a body of a stony consistency. The third is the ether or the active element of which HERMES says: "the wind carried it in its belly", that is to say communicated its air force to it, seeded him and imbued him with his sulphurous soul, with his fiery sulphurous spirit, with the igneous spiritual being which is an acid, a being of light and force, a soul and a life, the celestial nitre or seed astral. This seed, the wind led it to the earth, to the nurse, to the mother who must engender it and bring it to its essential nature, which is the Salt of Nature. »

“Paragraph 56: “Salt drawn from the ashes has great power and there are many virtues hidden in it, but Basil Valentin writes that salt is good for nothing if its inside is not put outside and reversed. For it is the spirit alone which gives strength and also life; the body alone has no power here; if you can find it, then you have the salt of the masters and truly incombustible oil. However, you must be careful in choosing this salt, because among all the salts there is only one that is useful to the wise; of a terrestrial, metallic and Saturnian nature, from which it is necessary to bring out not only the salt, but its essential internal force, that is to say its spirit and its soul hidden within it, which is an incombustible oil... In conclusion , we say this,

“RHASES says that in the sublunary world there is nothing so noble as this salt, provided that it is turned over and its interior is put outside. THE BLOOD OF NATURE says that the whole science of this salt consists in knowing how to make its fixed part volatile and its volatile part fixed. »

And finally, paragraph 42: “The ancient Romans, Spartans, Egyptians and other peoples also held salt in high esteem, raising to it – as the chronicle relates – des. Pyramids and columns on which they represented on one side a dragon biting its tail, as if it were going to devour it, without ceasing to maintain its integrity; and, on the other side, two dragons; one with wings and the other without wings, each of which bites the other's tail as if to devour it. This is how they signified the union of the fixed and the volatile, or else the victory of the volatile over the fixed, according to what Nicolas Flamel writes on this subject. »


The symbolism of the two Dragons.

The upper winged dragon and the lower flightless dragon, which devour each other, are the most widespread symbol of the hermetic language. It is the most significant symbol, but also the least understood. To say, indeed, that the upper dragon corresponds to the volatile and the lower dragon to the fixed, is only a poor revelation for the common understanding. However, the presumptuous who devotes himself to the development of the Arcana and especially of the Stone, without knowing which substances symbolize the two dragons, will be on the wrong track from the start. In the first chapter of this book, the chapter which gave its title to the whole work, we gave an explanation of the symbol of the double dragon, as clearly as it was lawful to do. However, to avoid the reader having to refer to it,

The Rosicrucians and the Masters have never made a secret of the nature of the Winged Dragon. This is openly spoken of in the second edition of the “Aurea Catena”, published in 1781 with many comments by the Rosicrucian physician ANTON JOSEPH KIRCHWEGER of Mährisch Kromau. (The first edition, without commentary, known to Goethe, appeared in 1723 in Leipzig). Kirchweger also gives a completely clear indication of the upper dragon in his work published in Berlin in 1790, in the “Microscopium Basilii Valentini”, already quoted in the first chapter:

“We have in our reign a certain lion omnium sublunarium gubernator and actor, very common everywhere. Not only men, but also sheep trample him in their ignorance, for he is helpful to them and the sheep themselves provide him with part of his sustenance. In his glory and authority, this lion is fierce when his anger is unleashed. His power is such that all the gods are subject to him. In the blood of this lion reigns the blood of the Sun and the Moon with a power that those who deal with him daily and only use him for vile purposes cannot suspect. The true white and red juice is, however, hidden within it, as evidenced by its resolution into white milk and red blood. All the Sages sigh after him, but very few are those who know him, as a result of a natural prejudice. We handle it every day and we despise it because of its rustic origin; he is accommodated with very common things, he whom the Ancients discovered at the cost of so much care and trouble. They received into their hearts with great contentment this son of the sun and the moon, after having recognized and found him.

“We do not esteem him, so commonly do we meet him in the dunghill, but despite all the disdain we have for him, we cannot do without him, neither for the smallest works, nor for medicine; he must help them to regulate and accommodate everything; it is the veritable bath of our Saturn in which Diana swoons with love. Apollo receives a beautiful shine from him. He is the true golden rain of Jupiter; Mars and Venus reveal their colors in him; Mercury is his best friend, because he sublimates his body until he gives it a celestial form. When this Lion swallows an eagle, he is so powerful that he can fight with the greatest king and all his subjects and bring them down completely, and then regenerate them to what they were before.

“O blind world, which does not recognize the Ens naturae concentratum, the quinta essentia solis et lune et omnium rerum! you deviate from him as from the devil, out of sheer ignorance and carelessness! O if you knew his splendor and his power, your knees would bend before him more often than before the mightiest lords of the earth.

You are looking for the centrum centri and you do not know what you have in your hands; you seek the spiritus mundi in the whole world, and even in the Nile of Egypt and you do not see it in front of you. You see its strength with your own eyes and let it vanish into thin air without realizing it. Is it not then worthy of your attention, when it is proven and shown visibly, plain as day that, just as everything was made of water, so more than anything in all nature can , changing everything back to water and liquid form? Isn't there food for thought? Do you fear his cruelty and have you not learned that a juice from the reign of Bacchus, insignificant and yet venerable, transforms his harshness and causticity and makes him as sweet as pure sugar? O Alchemists, open your eyes, seize the light of Nature, seek the balm where it is! It is not far, there, in front of your nose, in all things of this world, and all the grocers sell it at a low price. »

Even a layman will recognize in these quotes the allusion to nitric acid, which the alchemists spoke of as the astral fire and which is none other than the upper winged dragon. The alchemists never concealed in their writings the method of preparing nitric acid. Saltpetre pits were widespread at that time and the status of saltpetre refiner was a well-defined profession.

The alchemists knew perfectly well that there was nothing to be gained from the mere knowledge of the superior fire, neither to prepare the Arcana, nor to prepare the Philosopher's Stone. They mentioned their astral fire, their upper winged dragon, with all the more complacency because it diverted the attention of the dragon below, which was thus only better left in the shadows. It is this same artifice that we find in the “Aurea Catena Homeri”. This otherwise admirable work contains no deliberate deception, but all attention is diverted to the upper dragon, while nothing is said of the lower dragon, so that whoever works according to these indications will not obtain any satisfactory result and will not even notice that something essential is omitted. This is also why the seeker without malice will strive in vain to obtain dulcification: for the worthy juice of the reign of Bacchus - as it is said in the quoted passage from Kirchweger - is not enough by itself, whatever its importance. The prerequisite for the success of this operation is the secret double fire, achievable by the intimate union of the upper dragon and the lower dragon. It is the secret double saline fire of the Adepts: the Salamander. The author must leave unanswered the question posed by R. Bernouilli in his essay mentioned in the first chapter of this book: “How do you do that? “For millennia,

The first two lines of BASIL VALENTINE's poem, entitled "De prima materia lapidis philosophici" could perhaps bring the seeker closer to the truth, although this poem does not deal with the preparation of igneous salt, but concerns, like almost all indications of the masters, further processing of the prima materia already prepared. The stone in question with BASILE VALENTIN is already the painfully acquired prima materia. Let us recall this marvelously revealing poem, of which we have already quoted a few verses in the first chapter of this book:

Find a stone, not too expensive,
Bring out a light flame.
The stone is made of this fire,
White and red put together.

(Recipe vinum rubeum vel album), and then

Stone, without being stone yet,
Only nature acts inside.
A clear spring gushes forth
Which drowns the fixed, his father.

(The source: it is the spiritus mercurii, distilled from the prima materia). Satisfied! Let's say it again. It is not a question here of the preparation of the igneous salt, of the secret fire of the Adepts. However, thanks to the multiplicity of meanings that characterizes the writings of Basil Valentine, as of all the Adepts in general, one could perhaps discover there, with a little flair, the hiding place of the lower dragon... Here is the continuation of the poem:

The Sage recognizes without hesitation
The double Mercury, in truth!
He is named ; I stop here.
Happy is he who finds it.

In the Final Dissertation, BASILE VALENTIN comes back to this stone which is however not a stone:

“Thus, the spirilus coagulatus in melallis must be reduced again to quicksilver by art. And this spirit must then become water, its prima materia, namely mercurial water. So it is a stone without being a stone, however, from which a volatile fire is prepared, in the form of a water which drowns, dissolves and washes its fixed father and its volatile mother... Similarly, our gold has a magnet and this magnet is the first matter of our great stone. If you understand my speech, you are rich and happy more than anyone in the world.

Despite his studies in alchemical symbolism, CG Jung has not yet come to this understanding .

Finally, to shed light on the obscure problem of materia remota and materia prima from another angle, let us quote a passage from the little book that MARSILE FICIN devoted to the philosopher's stone (German translation published in Nuremberg in 1667):

“The philosophers claim that their stone is found everywhere, on mountains and in valleys, and even in holes in the earth and in hollow rocks. I am of the opinion that this proposition has been erroneously interpreted by many, and this is the source of all the errors committed by the ancients and by their successors, by all those who, seeking their stone in the blood, in the new ones, in urine and other similarly useless things, have exhausted themselves in vain labors until their last day. But you must understand this proposition thus: Just as the celestial sun is everywhere present with its rays, so our terrestrial sun, gold, is everywhere in the whole vessel, that is to say in the small world, with its furrows; on the mountains,

• They also say that our stone is born on two mountains, in heaven and on earth. Understand well: in the vase. They further declare that stone is found in all things: that is, in all metals. Item. It can be understood as follows: that nature exists in everything, since it has all the names and is the whole world. That is why this stone has all the names and it is said of it that it is found in everything, although it is found more and nearer in one thing than in others, because the philosophers desire and demand only the prolific nature of metals.

“That is why they also say that the rich, i.e. the perfect people, i.e. gold and silver, possess this prolific nature. The poor, that is to say the imperfect and inferior metals do not possess it. For the prolific nature of gold and silver is much more perfect and more refractory to fire than that of other metals.

“Philosophers also look for a fixed and enduring thing that governs the whole world; i.e. the sun and the moon. This is why the sun says: I am the stone or the stone is in me.

“Philosophers say again: this work of stone is a woman's work and a children's game. The woman is sometimes the terrestrial world and sometimes the Mercury,

“Young boys play with stone, that is to say: the three elements with the earth. Or again: the lower bodies play with the stone of gold and silver, when they have increased it at the end.

“They say the same: the boys play with this stone and throw it. This means: the ignorant and inexperienced madmen throw away the black earth, after having removed its elements from it, not sublimation; and they despise it, this earth that has remained at the bottom of the vase. »

The preparation of the secret double fire (there is also a triple fire, stemming from the three kingdoms) is the great indispensable preparatory work that the alchemists call "woman's work", because it resembles laundry work, by analogy with the work of the saltpetre refiners. This is so at least at the beginning, but afterwards this work becomes singularly complicated and can only be carried out if one knows exactly the measure, the number and the weight. This is why the alchemists also spoke of the labor of Hercules. This double or triple secret fire once prepared and “made spiritual”, to speak the hermetic language (but it is also a chemical process), the way is open to the Arcana and the lapis. It is at least open to the experienced researcher:

The preparation of the Arcana is the same as that of Lapis by the so-called dry and short way, or rather it is one of the stages of this way, although it is a stage already advanced; because without the double spiritualized saline fire, the Aikahest, the Arcana are no more realizable.

The double or triple saline fire is also the Aqua solvens, the Major or Minor Circulation of PARACELSUS, according to its degree. The metals, the minerals, as well as the corals which enter into the preparation of the Arcana are treated by the secret saline fire, and finally pass with the latter into the distillation. It should also be observed that only natural metals, that is to say native ones, should be used for this purpose, which is particularly true for antimony.

The so-called wet and long way, passing from the preparation of the Spiritus vini philosophici to that of the Mercury of the Sages, then to the Spirit of secret wine: "Recipe vinum rubeum vel Album", does not target the Arcana. The Stone, the Elixir, or the tincture completed with white or red is however the greatest of the Arcana. As MAX RETSCHLAG rightly says, it is a remedy which, through the latent and concentrated energy it releases in the cells, acts on them like a universal remedy. This representation corresponds perfectly to our present knowledge of the constitution of the body and the structure of the cells. MAX RETSCHLAG, who himself practiced alchemy, had arrived at a saline elixir of great curative power, without however possessing the Stone.

“Tests continued for years, based on accessible ancient hermetic works, resulted in an elixir whose effect resembled in various respects that which is attributed to the Great Elixir. Its preparation requires extremely subtle work, which lasts several months and is only possible on a very small scale. But the success far outweighs the effort, time and expense involved. Carbon and the elements associated with it, especially nitrogen, must enter this elixir in the form of energizing salts. However, these are not "biochemical" salts, nor organic acid salts, but combinations hitherto unknown or neglected. This elixir should be prescribed in relatively small doses, more or less frequent depending on the severity of the disease. It is understood that such an elixir has equally happy effects on animals. The action is also favorable on the growth of plants, but it would certainly be necessary to employ another preparation to obtain in the mineral kingdom an effect comparable to the extraordinary results which the ancient hermetic masters obtained with their secret elixir. »

The author cannot affirm that MAX RETSCHLAG knew the secret of the fire of the Adepts or that he prepared it himself. He did not know RETSCHLAG personally and he never saw his saline elixir. When RETSCHLAG says that his elixir can only be prepared in small quantities, he is certainly telling the truth, but in a large laboratory one can start several operations at the same time. However, it is not possible to prepare this salt fire by whole batches, as in the factories.

One of the main difficulties lies in the equipment which is currently lacking; the alchemists worked in conditions quite different from those of modern chemistry, so that it was necessary to have the necessary instruments specially made, which is not always easy, since the chemical industry is not at all adapted to these requirements.

As surprising as this statement may seem, the alchemists worked in many ways more exactly, more precisely and more carefully than modern chemical industries. The production of spirits of wine or distilled water in copper stills, the transport of spirits in zinc containers instead of glass carboys, or essential oils in tin containers, as has place often today, would have appeared inadmissible to the alchemist, because alcohol or essential oils thus retain traces of metallic fumes. Distillations can only be undertaken in vases or retorts of glass, porcelain or rock crystal; the trouble with these containers is that they mostly crack on the first distillation, under the effect of the expansion of the treated bodies, so that these containers can only be used once, even if they are well strapped and sealed. It is for this reason that KUNCKEL complains: “If it weren't for the breaking of the vases! ".

Thus, whoever walks the difficult path must prepare everything himself, starting with spiritus e vino, distilled from sweet wine, up to natural saltpeter and native vitriol. One can thus have an idea of ​​the accessory difficulties of the alchemical work which is now deprived of the methods of realization adapted to the "chemical industry" of past times.
During this chapter, the author recalled in passing the memory of some eccentric and enlightened that he had the opportunity to meet in his peregrinations in the alchemical labyrinth. We will remember one of them who claims to capture Mercury directly from the air, with the help of certain manipulations. Although this man, almost octogenarian, devoid of any chemical or other knowledge, has been pursuing a chimera for more than fifty years, he is not without a vague intuition of the deepest secret of the Adepts. However, even among those who knew how to prepare the Stone by the "dry" or "wet" method, only a few possessed the key to this ultimate secret. The alchemical writings deal with it only rarely, and always in parables and riddles. One even wonders if all those who have written of it by allusion have really traveled the path, or if they speak of it only by hearsay. This last hypothesis seems more likely. It is not mentioned, to my knowledge, neither in Isaac the Dutchman, nor in Basile Valentin, nor in the Aurea Catena (it is everywhere about the dry way and the wet way). HENRI KHUNRATH seems to have been aware of it, if one refers to his book: a Magnesia Catholica Philosophorum, or how to obtain the Catholic Magnesia hidden from the secret universal Stone of the true Philosophers" ("...Anweisung die verbogene catholische Magnesie des geheimen Universalsteins der chten Philosophen zu erlangen”, 1599). At MONTFAUCON DE VILLARS (1670) we find the passage: have actually traveled the path, or if they only talk about it by hearsay. This last hypothesis seems more likely. It is not mentioned, to my knowledge, neither in Isaac the Dutchman, nor in Basile Valentin, nor in the Aurea Catena (it is everywhere about the dry way and the wet way). HENRI KHUNRATH seems to have been aware of it, if one refers to his book: a Magnesia Catholica Philosophorum, or how to obtain the Catholic Magnesia hidden from the secret universal Stone of the true Philosophers" ("...Anweisung die verbogene catholische Magnesie des geheimen Universalsteins der chten Philosophen zu erlangen”, 1599). At MONTFAUCON DE VILLARS (1670) we find the passage: have actually traveled the path, or if they only talk about it by hearsay. This last hypothesis seems more probable. It is not mentioned, to my knowledge, neither in Isaac the Dutchman, nor in Basile Valentin, nor in the Aurea Catena (it is everywhere about the dry way and the wet way). HENRI KHUNRATH seems to have been aware of it, if one refers to his book: a Magnesia Catholica Philosophorum, or how to obtain the Catholic Magnesia hidden from the secret universal Stone of the true Philosophers" ("...Anweisung die verbogene catholische Magnesie des geheimen Universalsteins der chten Philosophen zu erlangen”, 1599). At MONTFAUCON DE VILLARS (1670) we find the passage: It is not mentioned, to my knowledge, neither in Isaac the Dutchman, nor in Basile Valentin, nor in the Aurea Catena (it is everywhere about the dry way and the wet way). HENRI KHUNRATH seems to have been aware of it, if one refers to his book: a Magnesia Catholica Philosophorum, or how to obtain the Catholic Magnesia hidden from the secret universal Stone of the true Philosophers" ("...Anweisung die verbogene catholische Magnesie des geheimen Universalsteins der chten Philosophen zu erlangen”, 1599). At MONTFAUCON DE VILLARS (1670) we find the passage: It is not mentioned, to my knowledge, neither in Isaac the Dutchman, nor in Basile Valentin, nor in the Aurea Catena (it is everywhere about the dry way and the wet way). HENRI KHUNRATH seems to have been aware of it, if one refers to his book: a Magnesia Catholica Philosophorum, or how to obtain the Catholic Magnesia hidden from the secret universal Stone of the true Philosophers" ("...Anweisung die verbogene catholische Magnesie des geheimen Universalsteins der chten Philosophen zu erlangen”, 1599). At MONTFAUCON DE VILLARS (1670) we find the passage: a Magnesia Catholica Philosophorum, or How to Obtain the Hidden Catholic Magnesia of the Secret Universal Stone of True Philosophers” (“...Anweisung die verbogene catholische Magnesie des geheimen Universalsteins der chten Philosophen zu erlangen”, 1599). At MONTFAUCON DE VILLARS (1670) we find the passage: a Magnesia Catholica Philosophorum, or How to Obtain the Hidden Catholic Magnesia of the Secret Universal Stone of True Philosophers” (“...Anweisung die verbogene catholische Magnesie des geheimen Universalsteins der chten Philosophen zu erlangen”, 1599). At MONTFAUCON DE VILLARS (1670) we find the passage:

“There is only to concentrate the fire of the world by concave mirrors, in a glass globe; this is the artifice which all the Ancients religiously concealed, and which the divine Theophrastus discovered. There is formed in this globe a solar powder, which having been purified of itself, of the mixture of the other Elements; and being prepared according to the art, becomes in a very short time supremely suited to exalt the fire which is in us. Agreeing

with this conception, a theosophist of our time, VAN DER MEULEN wrote in 1922:

“The ether is set in motion by the rays of the sun. Whoever could succeed in concentrating these rays by mirrors or by lenses, would be able to provoke certain waves in the ether (it is a question of the Prana of the Hindus and not of the hypothetical ether, moreover outdated, of the science). Thus, whoever knows how to unite the force of elemental fire with that of the ignis essenfialis, will see appearing, very slowly but regularly, drop by drop, a liquid, an incomparable remedy against many diseases: tuberculosis, dropsy, etc. »

But hints and instructions are incomplete about this ancient and more than secret way. The "solar powder", obtained by means of a fiery mirror, which is significantly called Sal Natures, must be supplemented by "philosopher's water" which is obtained by an analogous method and no less curious; reduced by evaporation, this water leaves a red salt. The preparation of the Grand Elixir requires the union of these two mysterious ingredients.

This way, the most obscure and the most hidden, has nothing in common with the dry way and the wet way, through the intermediary of the "secret fire" and the "spirit of secret wine", followed by most known followers. We mention it, however, in anticipation of possible questions. The author has no practical experience of this and therefore cannot say more. This path must also be impracticable a priori in Germany and in the Nordic countries, where "summer is only a winter painted with green", to quote HENRI HEINE. The heat and the intensity of the sun's rays would in fact be insufficient there; on the other hand, Italy and the southern countries would lend themselves more to this method. It is presumed that it was practiced by the initiates of ancient Egypt.

Even very prolonged concentration of the sun's rays by a concave mirror is hardly sufficient to obtain this pulvis solaris. Any work would be doomed to failure, for lack of possessing the hidden Magnet, essential to this operation. Abbé Montfaucon de Villars discusses in his famous book this concave mirror and the possibility of establishing magical relationships with the “inhabitants of the igneous element” by this means. In this regard, it is not without interest to quote a passage from GEORG VON WELLING's "Opus Magocabbalisticum":

“We are forced to declare that the Count de Gabalis seems to be a very poor philosopher: he heard the bell ringing, of course, but he did not catch the time. Otherwise he would not have wandered about the means of concentrating the red solar powder in a glass globe; something else is needed, in truth, to obtain this red male Sulfur of the Philosophers. He speaks well of the glass globe, but says nothing of the magnetic vehicle. »

I repeat: the whole process seems obscure to me and I do not know the magnet necessary for its realization. Nevertheless, after forty years of familiarity with the alchemical universe, I am forced to intuitively admit its possibility. I thought for a long time that these were again particularly obscure symbols, concerning the preparation of the spiritus vini rubei vel albi and starting from the Red Lion and the Virgin's Milk. For even one who has knowledge of the Work sometimes fails in his attempt to decipher the allegorical descriptions of the Adepts. Today however,

We believe that in this chapter we have reached the limits of the lawful, and even exceeded them. The mode of preparation of one or the other magisterium cannot be described. But we have indicated more clearly and with less reluctance than any other alchemical author the direction in which reflection and research should proceed. The path that leads from the spirit of secret wine to the Mercury of the Philosophers, to white and red wine and, finally, to Lapis, is an extremely painful and long path, but it is also the royal and sovereign path: the stone as well prepared dyes much more than that which is obtained by the dry, so-called short way, only with the help of igneous salts. The first of these paths cannot be found; it is a gift that one receives. As for the second, it can be discovered through hard work and tireless perseverance. This seems to have been the case for MAX RETSCHLAG, but he did not find the Elixir tingling.

As it has already been said, "In salt the light is held captive by magic." It is a question of delivering it, because: “Salt is a good thing”, said the mouth of Him who was the Light of the world”.

APPENDIX

TO LAPIDE PHILOSOPHORUM


Allow me to close this chapter with the barely abbreviated conclusion of the Treatise: Description of various rare and pleasant physical, medicinal, chemical and economic subjects (“, Beschreibung unterschiedlicher rarer und schôner physic., medizinischer , chymischer und oeconomischer Dinge”), posthumous work by JOHANN OTTO VON HELBIG, edited by his brother L. CHRISTOPH VON HELLWIG (sic), doctor in Erfurt (Frankfurt and Leipzig, 1704). These lines, devoted to the Philosopher's Stone, are concise like no other:

“I would like at the end to add this from the Philosopher's Stone so that curious souls can reflect on it more deeply, which is forbidden to me because of my occupations and because of other worries. I have also decided to give up this work from now on and to be satisfied with the knowledge of this beautiful secret, without however possessing it.

"This stone is truly a stone, namely a stumbling block against which some have smashed their heads, fortunes, property and honor, without having accomplished anything, since very few seek wisdom in it, but rather riches, honors temporal and long life... The remote matter (I only describe all this in a few lines) of this Magisterium is Air;
the next matter an extractive saline-fresh water, the nearer matter is a snow-white earth prepared from the water; the closest finally is the Mercury issued from the double salt of this earth.

“You can't buy this material anywhere; it is neither in the sea nor on land; in its gross being it is already capable of opening the finest gold and fermenting it like leaven.

“His strength is great in the medical art.

« With great expense, with strong cogitations and with money, however, one does not achieve anything in this Art, but rather by prayer, reflection and at the cost of a little trouble. For this time I have said enough. »