The Hermetic Museum, Restored and Enlarged

earth is dead till it is quickened by the union with water. This is what that ancient Sage, Hermes, means when he says that the dead must be raised to life, and the feeble made strong. It is necessary, then, to unite body and soul, and to change that which is below into that which is above, Ze, body into spirit, and spirit into body. By this expression you are to understand not that the spirit by itself is changed into a body, or that the body by itself is changed into a spirit, but that both are united, and that the spirit, or water, dissolves, or resuscitates the body, or earth, while the body attracts the spirit, or water ; and that they are thus joined into oze substance, the earth being softened by the water, and the water hardened by the earth—as the boys in the street pour water on dry dust, and knead the whole into one mass. For this reason the Sages call our process child's play, in which the death of one is the life of the other, Ze., in which the hardness of the one is softened by the other, and vzce versa, seeing that the two are nothing but body and spirit originally belonging together. When contemplating this union, the Sage, Hermes, bursts forth into the following exclamation: * Oh, how strong, victorious, and precious is this nature that so unspeakably comforts its supplementary nature !

" This nature is water, which stirs up and quickens the nature of the body. Hence it is said that Adam, or the body, would be dead without Eve, the spirit; for when the water has been distilled from our substance, the body lies dead and barren at the bottom of the alembic, and is described by the Sages as being, after the loss of its spirit, black, poisonous, and deadly. Ifthe body is to be resuscitated, it must be rendered fit for generation by being purged of its blackness and fetid smell, and then its sweat or spirit must be restored to it; the spirit cannot conceive unless the body be allowed to:embrace its Eve, or spirit. Senior says that the higher vapour must be brought back to the lower vapour; the Divine water is the King that descends from heaven, and leads the soul back to its body which is thereby quickened from the dead. "Observe that in the body there is hidden fixed sa2//, which slumbers there just as the male seed slumbered in Adam. — This the spirit, or Eve, attracts, and thus becomes pregnant; that is to say: The seed of the body, which we call fixed salt, is extracted from the body by its

own water (which has before been separated from it) and is rendered so subtle and volatile that it ascends with the spirit to heaven. Then we say that the fixed has become volatile, that the dead has been revived, and that the body has received life from its spirit. On this account the water is called by some Sages the living water of the man, since it is extracted from the body, or man ; and Lucas enjoins us to take it, and heat it after the fashion of Nature. Other Sages call the body the * black soil," because in it the fixed salt is concealed from view, like the seed in the ground. Others, again, call it the * black raven;" which has in its maw the * white dove" ; and the water which is distilled from the body they call the *virgin's milk," by which the white dove must be brought forth from the black raven. In short, these things are described by the Sages under a great variety of names ; but the meaning of those names is the same. In this fashion the water is embraced by the body, and the seed of the body, or the fixed salt, makes the water pregnant. For the water dissolves the body, and bears upward with it some particles ofthe fixed salt; and the oftener this process is repeated, the thicker does the water become. Hence the repetition of the process is a most important point.

Hermes says that when he saw the water gradually grow thicker and harder, he rejoiced, for thereby he knew that he should find what he sought. The water, then, must be poured upon the body, and heated with it, till the body is dissolved, and then again extracted till the body is coagulated. Thus the body must be well broken up, and purified by washing. This process of affusion and extraction must be repeated until all the salt, or potency and efficacy, has been extracted from the body. This is the case when the water becomes white and thick, and, in the cold, hard and solid like ice, while in the heat it melts like butter. Now, when nothing more can be extracted from the body, the residuum must be removed ; for it is the superfluous part of the substance. This is what the Sages mean when they say: In the preparation we remove that which is superfluous; but otherwise our whole Magistery is accomplished with one single substance, nothing being added, and nothing taken away, except that which is really superfluous; for it possesses in abundance all that is needed, namely, the water, or * white, flaky earth, which must be injected into "living

mercury," that so the transmutation into good and fixed silver may take place. But something much more noble and precious is concealed in this water (fixed salt) which grows and grows like the infarit in the mother's womb. For as the embryo in the matrix, which is first a mere seed, grows, and is gradually transmuted into flesh and blood, Ze, into a thicker substance, till at length the limbs are formed ; so this water grows from the white colour which distinguishes it at first, till it is changed to another colour. (For the embryo,too, is transmuted from the natural colour of the embryo into flesh and blood.) "The substance at length assuming a red colour, may be compared to the forming of the infant's limbs ; it is then that we first see what is to become ofit. When you perceive this final transmutation—the germ of which lay in the substance all along—you may well rejoice; for you have attained the object of your desire. Thus I have described the union of the man and woman, that is to say, of the body and spirit, by means of which the child is conceived in the water, and the whiteness extracted from the black body. Nor do we need anything else, except, as Morienus says, time and patience. This coagulated water is the * white, flaky earth," in which the Sage bids us sow our gold and silver that they may bear fruit a hundred-thousand-fold.

This is the *clear spring" of the Count of Trevisa, in which the King bathes, though not assisted by any of his ministers, who only watch his clothes until he has dried up the whole spring, when he makes all his ministers lords and kings such as he was at the time of his entering the bath. But now the King's dignity is three times as great as it was before; he wears a three-fold diadem on his head, and is arrayed in garments that shine like carbuncles and amethysts, and beneath them he wears the tunic of purity, and is bound with the girdle of righteousness. He is the most glorious King of life, whose power transcends all human thought. Athis sideis seated his pure and chaste queen, sprung of his own seed ; and of these two are born many royal children. The redness is concealed and preserved in the whiteness, which must not be extracted, but subjected to gentle coction until its full crimson glory flames forth. "This whiteness is thus referred to in *The Crowd" : * If yousee that after the blackness

En LRL I "" AC VTSRUAVG qm X093B. C CURCEZASI CURSOS, LL temporal things derive their origin, their existence, and their essence from the earth, according to the succession of time. "Their specific properties are determined by the outward and inward influences of the stars and planets, (such as the Sun, the Moon, Etc.), and of the four qualities of the elements. From these combined circumstances arisethe peculiar forms,and propersubstances,of all growing, fixed, and generating things,accordingto the natural order appointed by the Most High at the beginning of the world. "The metals, then, derivetheir origin fromthe earth,and are specifically compounded of the four qualities, or the properties of the four elements ; their peculiar metallic character is stamped upon them by the influences of the stars and planets. So we are informed by Aristotle, in the fourth book of his Meteor., where he says that quicksilver is the common substance of all metals. "The first thing in Nature, as we said before, is the substance which represents a particular conglomeration of the four elements, which the Sages call Mercury, or quicksilver. But this quicksilver is as yet imperfect, on account of its gross and earthy sulphureous nature, which renders it too easily combustible, and on account of its superfluous watery elements, which have all been collected together out of the four elements by the action of the heavenly planets. This substance is composed of a hot sulphureous earth, and a watery essence, in such a way that the Sages have called it imperfect sulphur.

Now, since Nature is always striving to attain perfection, and to reach the goal set before her by the Creator of all things, she is continually at work upon the qualities of the four elements of each substance ; and so stirs up and rouses the inward action of the elements by the accidental heat of the Sun, and by natural warmth, that there arises a kind of vapour or steam in the veins of the earth. This vapour cannot make its way out, but is closed in; in penetrating through fat, earthy, oily, and impure sulphureous substances it attracts to itself more or less of these foreign and external impurities. "This is the reason that there areseen in it so great a variety of colours before it attains to purity and its own proper colour. Those mineral and metallic substances which contain the largest proportion of efficacious sulphureous and mercurial vapour are the best ; and each quality of the four elements has its own peculiar operation and transmuting influence in such a conglomeration of various substances—their action being roused by the sulphur of the earth and the outward heat of the Sun. (Through these agencies the Matter is often dissolved and coagulated, till that which is pure, or impure, is borne upward ; and this is the work not of a few years, but of a great length of time. Nature has to purge away the peculiar characteristics of all other metals before she can make gold;

as you may see by the fact that different kinds of metal are found in the same metallic vein. 'This fact may be explained in the following manner. When the sulphureous and mercurial vapours ascend, they are mixed, and united by coction, with the aforesaid substance. If those sulphureous vapours are earthy, thick, and impure, and the heat of the Sun, or their own natural heat, have too sudden and violent an effect, the substance hardens, with all its sulphureous impurities, before it can be purged of its grossness, and it becomes more like metallic sulphur. If the quicksilver is hardened, the whole mass takes the form of some metal, according to the influence of the particular planet with which it is penetrated. For Nature first combines the four elements into some substance or body, which then receives its specific properties through the influence of some planet Such is the origin of copper, tin, lead, iron, and quicksilver. But it is not essential that I should here describe at length the specific

composition and distinctive properties of each of the imperfect metals; they are all mingled in various proportions of impure sulphur and inefficacious quicksilver. Nature, as I said, is ceaselessly at work upon these imperfect metals, purging and separating the pure quicksilver from the impure, and the pure sulphur from the impure, until all their grossness is removed, and they become what God designed that they should be, viz., gold. But if these vapours float upward in their original pure condition, with their inward, pure, and subtle earth, without becoming mixed with gross, earthy, and sulphureous alloy, and if they succeed in breaking forth into the open air, before they become hardened into a sulphureous mass, they remain quicksilver and are not changed into any metal. If, however, this pure quicksilver floats upward in a pure mineral earth, without any gross alloy, it is hardened into the pure and white sulphur of Nature by being subjected to a very moderate degree of gentle heat, and at length assumes the specific form of silver. Like all the other metals it may still be developed into gold, if it remain under the influence of its natural heat. But if the same pure, unalloyed quicksilver be subjected to .a higher degree of natural heat, it is transmuted into the pure reZ sulphur of Nature, and becomes gold without first passing through the stage of silver. In this form it remains, because gold is the highest possible stage of metallic development.

Quicksilver is the mother of all metals, on account of its coldness and moistness ; and if it be once purified and cleansed of all foreign matter it cannot be mixed any more with grossness of any kind, neither can it be changed back into an - imperfect metal. For Nature does not undo her work, and that which has once become perfectly pure can never become impure again. Sulphur, on the other hand, is the father of all metals, on acount of its heat and dryness. In the following chapter we shall refer to this difference, and speak more in detail about quicksilver. : . There is, then, in 4// metals true mercury, and good sulphur, in the imperfect as well as in the perfect metals. But in the imperfect metals it is defiled with impure matter, and stands in need of maturing. Hence you see that all metals may be changed into gold and silver, if the golden and silver properties that are in them be freed from all alloy, and reduced by gentle heat to the form of silver or gold. "Those metals, indeed, which have been torn up by the roots, that is to say, that have been dug up from their own proper soil in the veins of the earth, can no longer proceed in that course of development which they pursued in their native abode ; yet, as much as in them lies, they strive to be perfected.

Now the Spirit of Truth, who imparts all true knowledge, has taught the Sages a Medicine, or Form, by which all the impurities of the imperfect metals may be removed, and the perfect nature, or true mercury, which is in them, transmuted into gold and silver. But we must now proceed to say a few words about the method of preparing this Medicine, by which the imperfection is removed from imperfect metals through the mediation of perfect mercury, and the mode of gold and silver is developed in them. I find that the writings of the Sages are all about gold, silver, and quicksilver, which, it is said, must be reduced to the form which they wore before they became metals; that is to say, the form which they wore, perhaps, some thousands of years ago. But the operation of Nature is progressive, not retrogressive. Hence it is a great mistake to suppose that the work of Nature can be reversed by dissolution in aqua fortis, or by the amalgamation of gold or silver and quicksilver. For if the metal be plunged in a solvent, if water be distilled from it, or if quicksilver be sublimed from it, it still remains the same metal that it was before. "The specific properties of a metal cannot be destroyed so as to obtain the first substance. Yet Aristotle says that metals cannot be changed unless they are reduced to their original substance.

What we said in the last chapter shows that Alchemical Art cannot be concerned with the subjecting of gold, silver, or quick- Ze ETAT TRU GE AUEY UTERE QST silver to chemical processes. Nevertheless, that which you read in the books of the Sages is most true; and we shall see in the following pages in what sense it is to be understood, that our Art is in gold, silver, and quicksilver. But it is clear that our Art can make no use of quicksilver such as may be obtained from the metals by means of any kind of artificial process, such as dissolution in aqua fortis, or amalgamation, or any other method of chemical purification. If then, this is not the right substance, or original mercury, it is clear that it is not to be found in the metals. For even if you melt two, three, or four metals together, yet not one of them can give the others any aid towards attaining perfection, seeing that itself stands in need of external aid. And even though you mix some imperfect metal with gold, the gold will not give up its own perfection for the purpose of succouring the other: for it has nothing to spare which it might impart to the imperfect metal And even if the imperfect metal could assume the virtue and efficacy of the gold, it could only do so at the expense of the gold itself. In vain, then, shall we seek in metals the Medicine which has power to liberate the perfect mercury contained in imperfect metals.

Again, we read in the books of the Sages that quicksilver and mercury are the original substance of all metals. "These words are true in a certain sense. But by many beginners they are supposed to mean ordinary quicksilver. Such an interpretation, however, makes nonsense of the dictum of the Sages. For ordinary quicksilver is an imperfect metal, and itself derived from the original substance of all metals. The Sages, indeed, say little about the o7zgzz of their mercury ; but that is exactly because they use the name of mercury, or sulphur, for the first substance of their perfect metals. If common mercury were not a metal, there would be no metal corresponding to the celestial influence of the planet Mercury, as gold and silver receive their specific properties from the influence of the Sun and Moon. Now, as it is one of the metals, the other metals cannot be derived from it, much less can their properties be derived from it or from themselves, although the real perfect mercury is quite as abundant in mercury as in any other metal Nor can common sulphur be the first substance of the metals, for no metal contains so much impurity as common sulphur ; and if it be mixed with any metal, that metal becomes even more impure than it was before, and is even partially, or wholly, corroded.

Again, the Sages affirm that quicksilver, or mercury, is the spirit of the specific nature of metals, collected out of the four elements by the influence of the Planets, and the operation of Nature in the earth—and that from it is developed either gold, silver, or some other of seven metals, according to the peculiar effects of the predominant planetary influence. Hence ignorant alchemists have supposed that all this is true of the common quicksilver, because it amalgamates with all metals, and is soft and volatile. But why should its volatile properties prove it to be no metal? X According to this definition, we might deny the metallic character of tin, lead, and other metals, because they do not remain fixed ina fierce fire—though one can stand a greater degree of heat than another. If, again, any substance is to be called the first substance of metals because of the facility with which it amalgamates with them, copper would have a better claim to be so regarded, since it enters into a closer union with gold and silver than mercury, and shares both their fusible and malleable nature. But that is no final union, for it admits of separation; and quicksilver may, with the greatest ease, be separated from the metals with which it has amalgamated. A true union of metals can only take place in the original substance which is common to all. We do find amalgams of three, or even more metals;

but then this union was consummated in the first substance, which is oze, and the whole amalgam would have been developed into gold, if its natural growth had not been retarded by gross, sulphureous, arsenical| and earthy impurity, which is found among metals when purified. "The metals which we dig up out of the earth are,as it were, torn up by the roots, and, their growth having come to a standstill, they can undergo no further development into gold, but must always retain their present form, unless some-

2 mRMCT OPm GREAT PRICE. 2/53 thing is done for them by our Art. Hence we must begin at the point where Nature had to leave off: we must purge away all impurity, and the sulphureous alloy, as Nature herself would have done if her operation had not been accidentally, or violently, disturbed. She would have matured the original substance, and brought it to perfection by gentle heat, and, in a longer or shorter period of time, she would have transmuted it into gold. In this work Nature is ceaselessly occupied while the metals are still in the earth; but she takes away from them nothing save their superfluous water, and the impurity which prevents them from attaining to the nature of gold, as we briefly showed in the second chapter. It is clear, then, that the final union of metals, or their perfection, cannot be attained by the mingling of any specific metals; that the metallic substance becomes useless for our purpose, as soon as it assumes a specific form ; but that, at the same time, all metals have a common origin, or Matter, which is one thing, flowing out by the operation of Nature, who ever desires the most perfect form which her own essence and her condition will admit. And this is the form of gold, highest and best of all that belong to the metallic mode. If, then, the purest form of this substance which it is possible for Art to prepare with the help of Nature, be added to the imperfect metals, then it overcomes what is impure in these, for it is not the impure, but the pure matter which is like unto it But you must not suppose that this power belongs to common gold ;

common gold has its own specific form, which it is unable to impart to other metals. The power of gold is sufficient only for preserving its own excellence; but our prepared substance is much better and more honourable than gold, and has power to do that which gold cannot do, viz, to change the common matter of all metals into gold.

CIEDAJPAT ERE VATI: From what I have hitherto said, one ignorant of alchemy might suppose that the teaching of the Sages is altogether false and untrustworthy. Therefore I must now proceed to tell you how it may truly be affirmed that our Art is concerned with quicksilver, silver, and gold, or with quicksilver and sulphur, and in what sense mercury is the spirit of the metals. I will first speak about quicksilver, and at once premise that this word is not here taken to mean that common quicksilver which is one of the metals, but the first substance of all the metals, and itself no specific metal at all. For a metal must have derived its distinctive properties through planetary influences ; nor can any one metal be the first substance of all metals. "This quicksilver is neither too hot, nor too cold, nor too moist, nor too dry ; but it is a well-tempered mingling of all four. When perfectly matured quicksilver is subjected to external heat, operating thereon, it is not burned, but escapes in a volatile essence. Hence it may well be called by the philosophers a spirit, or a swift, and winged, and indestructible soul. So long as it is palpable and visible it is also called body ; when subjected to external cold it is congealed into a fixed body, and then these three, body, soul, and spirit, are one thing, and contain the properties of all the four elements.

That outward part which is moist and cold is called zvazez, or quicksilver; on account of its inward heat it is called azz ; if without it appear hot and dry it is fre or sulphur; and on account of its internal coldness it is also styled ea7ZZ. In this way quicksilver and sulphur are the original substance of all metals ; but, of course, I do not mean that the substance is prepared by mixing common sulphur and quicksilver. The sulphur and quicksilver of the Sages are one and the same thing, which is first of the nature of quicksilver, or moist and watery, and is then, by constant coction, transmuted into the nature of sulphur, which may rnost justly be described as dry and igneous.

But I wish to confine my discourse to the quicksilver and sulphur of the philosophers, from which all metals derive their origin ; and it is, according to the Sages, a heavy, earthy water, mixed with very subtle white earth, and subjected to natural coction until the moist and the dry elements have become united and coagulated into one body—through the perfect mutual adjustment of all the elementary properties, and by the accidental operation of cold. This is the substance which is used for the purposes of our Art, after it has been perfected and purified by gentle coction, and freed from its earthy and sulphureous grossness, and the combustible wateriness ofthe quicksilver. Itis then one clear, pure, and indestructible substance, proceeding from a duplex substance, exhibiting, in their greatest purity and efficacy, the united properties of quicksilver and of sulphur. In Art the operation is similar to Nature. Hence the Sages have justly affirmed that our Art is concerned with quicksilver, gold, and silver. For in its first stage the substance resembles quicksilver, which is sublimed by gentle natural heat, and purified in the veins of the rocks in the form of a pure vapour, as we explained above. To it we now add silver and gold, and that for the following reason, because we cannot find anywhere else in any one thing the metallic power needed for rousing the sulphur of the quicksilver, and coagulating it, except in gold and silver.

For the Sage cannot prepare our quicksilver unless it be first removed from the earth, and separated from the potency of its natural surroundings ; and all these natural influences can be artificially supplied only by the addition of gold and silver. Our Art, then, has to find a substitute for those natural forces in the precious metals. By them alone it is able to fix the volatile properties of our quicksilver, for in them alone do we find the powers and influences which are indispensable to our chemical process.

You should also bear in mind that the silver should be applied to our quicksilver before the gold, because the quicksilver is volatile, and cannot with safety be subjected all at once to great heat. Silver has the power of stirring up the inherent sulphur of the quicksilver, whereby it is coagulated into the form of the Remedy for transmuting metals into silver; and this coagulation is brought about by the gentle heat of the silver. Gold requires a much higher degree of heat, and if gold were added to the quicksilver before the silver, the greater degree of heat would at once change the quicksilver into a red sulphur, which, however, would be of no use for the purpose of making gold, because it would have lost its essential moisture; and our Art requires that the quicksilver should be first coagulated by means of silver into white sulphur, before the greater degree of heat is applied which, through gold, changes it into red sulphur. "There must be whiteness before there is redness. — Redness before whiteness spoils our whole substance. The quicksilver of the Sages has no power to transmute imperfect metals, until it has absorbed the essential qualities of gold and silver; for in itself it is no metal at all, and if it is to impart the spirit, the colour, and the hardness of gold and silver, it must first receive them itself. It is with the first substance of metals as it is with water.

If saffron is dissolved in water, the water is coloured with it, and if mixed with other water, imparts to that water, too, the colour of saffron. Unless the first substance, or quicksilver, is tinged with silver and gold, and coagulated by their efficacy, it cannot impart any colour, or coagulate the (water or) first substance which is latent in the imperfect metals. For it is essentially a spirit, and volatile, and if it be added to imperfect metals, it cannot act upon their water, or undeveloped first-substance, because that is partly fixed by their coagulated sulphur. But if the first-substance has been fixed by means of gold and silver, it has become a fixed and indestructible water; and, if added to imperfect metals, takes up into its own nature their first substance, or water, and mingles with it. By this means all that is combustible and impure in them is driven off by the fire. And herein is the saying true, which was uttered by the Sage Haly: * The spirit (z.e., quicksilver) is not coagulated, unless the body (Ze., gold and silver) be first dissolved." For then gold and silver become spiritual, flowing, capable of being assimilated by the common substance of all metals, and of imparting to it their own metallic strength and potency. And even though this new substance be fusible in the fire, yet, when it cools again, it still remains what it was, nor is it ever again converted into a permanent spiritual substance. It is the quicksilver, then, that constitutes the chief strength and efficacy of our Art; and he that has no quicksilver is without the very seed of gold and silver from which they grow in the earth.

We have sufficiently explained that quicksilver is the first substance of the metals, without which no metal can become perfect, eitherin Nature or in our Art. But we do not yet know where to look for it, and where to find it. This is the great secret of the Sages, which they are always so careful to veil under dark words that scarcely one in many thousands is thought worthy to find the philosophical Mercury. Many things have been written about it; but I will quote the words of one philosopher which I consider as the most helpful: In the beginning, he says, God created the earth plain, simple, rich, and very fertile, without stones, sand, rocks, hills, or valleys ; it is the influences of the planets which have now covered it with stones, rocks, and mountains, and filled it with rare things of various colours, Ze, the ores of the seven metals ; and by these means the earth has entirely lost its original form, and that through the following causes :— First, the earth which was created rich, great, deep, wide, and broad, was, through the daily operation of the Sun's rays, penetrated to her very centre with a fervent, bubbling, vaporous heat. For the earth in herself is cold and saturated with the moisture of water. Atlength the vapours which were formed in this way in the heart of the earth became so strong and powerful as to seek to force a way out into the open air, and thus, instead of effecting their object, threw up hills and hillocks, or,as it were, bubbles on the face of the earth.

And since in those places where mountains were formed the heat of the Sun must have been most powerful, and the earthy moisture rich and most plentiful,it is there that we find the most precious metals. Where the earth remained plain, this steam did not succeed in raising up mountains ; itescaped, and the earth, being deprived of its moisture, was hardened into rocks. Where the earth was poor, soft, and thin, it is now covered with sand and little stones, because it never had much moisture, and, having been deprived of the little it possessed, has now become sandy and dry, and incapable of retaining moisture. No earth was changed into rocks that was not rich, viscous, and well saturated with moisture. For when the heat of the Sun has sucked up

its moisture, the richness of the earth still. makes it cohere, although now it has become hard and dry ; and earth that is not yet perfectly hard is even at the present time undergoing a change into hard stones, through the diligent working of Nature. But the steam and the vapours that do not succeed in escaping, remain enclosed in the mountains, and are day by day subjected to the maturing and transmuting influences of the Sun and the planets. Now, if this vaporous moisture become mixed with a pure, subtle, and earthy substance, it is the quicksilver of the Sages; if it be reduced to a fiery and earthy hardness, it becomes the sulphur of the Sages. "This enquiry opens up the way of finding our quicksilver, or first substance of the metals ; but though it be found in great quantities in all mines, it is known only to very few. It is not silver, or gold, or common quicksilver, or any metal, or sulphur. The Sage says: * It is a vaporous substance out of four elements, watery, and pure, and though it is found with all metals, it is not matured in those which are imperfect. Hence it must be sought in the ore, in which we find gold and silver" And when again he says, * If this quicksilver be hardened, it is the sulphur of the Sages," he means that this can only be done by means of gold and silver, which it takes into itself, and by which it is sublimed and coagulated through its own natural gentle coction, under the influence of the Sun's heat, and in its own proper ore.

O heavenly Father, shew this quicksilver to all whom 'Thou biddest walk in Thy paths! WRITTEN BY AN UNKNOWN GERMAN SAGE, ABOUT 200 YEARS AGO, AND CALLED THE BOOK OF ALZE, BUT NOW PUBLISHED FOR THE FIRST TIME. Da 7 a9 "m E. O not, gentle Reader, find fault with me for speaking first about the Moon, then about the Sun, and the other planets, and only in the third place about our most excellent Medicine, ALZE. In this case that which is last is better and more honourable than thatwhichisfirst. Thesubstance must first become white, and then red ; it cannot become red unless it have first become white. Hence Simon the Sage says: * Know that unless you first make the Stone white, you cannot make it red" For by the red are the rest of the planets united, and the Medicine appears unawares unless this order is observed in the matter of the white and red. So is the Moon first taken and makes, with the white, Elixir, that is, the white of the Moon to the white of Mercury out of bodies comes to the red. Whence our Sages say that the red is hidden in the white, which they do not dare to extract, until the whole substance has become red. When the substance has been subjected to the influence of the Moon, it may then, in the second place, be brought under the influence of the Sun, which will bring the Medicine to perfection without any aid from the other planets.

By which you may understand why the Medicine comes last, even as from the Father proceeds the Son, and the Holy Spirit from both of these. He thathath ears to hear let him hear, and comprehend the brief statement of our Art, which is given in * The Crowd ": * Know that the true Tincture can be prepared only out of our ore" Concerning this ore I therefore propose to give you the only explanation that is required, and I shall be careful to supplement and confirm my own opinion by quotations from other Sages. I shall speak not only about our ore, but also about our union or conjunction of water and mercury. For Eximenus says: * Nothing profitable can arise out of the

elements without conjunction and gentle coction, Our ore Lucas calls the white ore, and it goes by many other names on account of the many colours which it exhibits in the various stages of the chemical process. But though the jealousy of the Sages has described it under various names, it is, and remains only one substance. Pythagoras says: * Many names are given to it; nevertheless, it is nothing else but the one and true Matter, and this is by reason of the development of its nature. 'The envious have described it by the names of all bodies, as, for instance, a coin, lead, copper, etc., according to the variety of its colours. So Lucas tells us that we have no need of many things, but only of one thing. Diamedes and Basan say : * Do not add toit any foreign substance ; for the common substance of metals is one thing, and more excellent than all other things" Hence our whole Art is concerned with water,and a twin substance that ameliorates the water. Synon tells us that sulphur and our ore are derived from one thing, and changed into four. Lucas says: "The white ore is subjected to coction till it generates itself. 'Thus it becomes united in all its four elements, and receives a living soul. It is never more than one thing, but as a man consists of body, soul, and spirit, and yet is no more than one person, so our substance consists of body, soul, and spirit The ore receives its strength, spirit, and growth from the water." The Sages say:

*If the ore be often deadened in its coction, it becomes all the more excellent, and if the body have a soul after the manner of man." The body does not penetrate the soul, but the soul penetrates the body, because it is volatile. The soul, which is hidden in the four parts of the body, is called sulphur. 'These bodies are male and female, and by their mutual operation our substance becomes water. Aristeus says: * Observe the indestructible water which issues from it" Take the humidity which it gives off. Hence other Sages say: * Take water with its twin substances, and let it be dried up by means of the vapour which is like it, and coagulated in its own water." "That water is also called poison ; it is the principle of life, because itis a soul, and extracted from many things. All bodies that this Tincture enters are quickened; all bodies from which it is extracted are destroyed. ts potency is spiritual blood, which, if well mixed with bodies, transmutes them into spirits, and

combines with them into one substance. The body attracts the spirit, and the spirit tinges the body with a spiritual substance like blood. For the Sages say that whatever has a spirit has blood. If the venom penetrate the body, it imparts to it an indestructible colour, and then the soul cannot be separated from the body any more. If in flying it faces round and meets its pursuer, then is theflight at an end. The two belong together, aud Nature always tends to assimilate kindred substances. The final colour is indestructible, because the soul pervades every part of the body, and is inseparably bound up with it. Though the wateris naturally cold, yet we must beware of too fierce a degree of heat; for if the moisture of the substance be dried up, our work must come to nought. That which is called the spirit, is the active, or male principle, and can only be obtained by the dissolution of the body. Accordingly, we must understand this of the humidity which results, namely, that which is produced, as long as two spouses are conjoined after a lawful manner, even unto the white. Would you know when the body has been rendered liquid by coction? Hear what Bonellus answers: * When you see a black substance floating in the water, you may know that the body has been dissolved."

These two, body and spirit, have a third thing which represents their common substance, and is, in its turn, called their body. It is also called a round cloud, death, blackness, darkness, shadow, ashy lead, or a metallic and subtle ore ; or it is described, after that which is obtained from it, as gold that was hidden in the body of Magnesia. Hence it is said: * Extract the shadow thereof from the splendour" This also is the substance of which so many have spoken. Three things constitute the true ore, viz., body, soul, and spirit. Hence it is compared to an egg, because in an egg, too, the chicken is developed out of three things. Thus also Alchemy is produced out of the above-mentioned three things, as many philosophers do testify in * The Crowd." The male principle, or the water, is also called the * nature" 3 fot water is a natural agent which dissolves the elements of bodies, and then again unites them. — Concerning this water, it is said by Fictes, that its nature has the wonderful power of transmuting the body into spirit. Where it is found alone it overcomes all other things, and is an excellent, harsh, and bitter acid, which transmutes gold into pure spirit. — Without this acid we cannot attain either the red, or the black, or the white. When itis combined with bodies, then the body changes into spirit, by a heavenly fire, and immutable, indestructible tincture.

Know also that the union must be brought about by a gentle fire, since the elements cannot stand a fierce fire, until the union has taken place. When the gentle heat is applied, the elements devour and consume each other, and yet again, on the other hand, comfort and strengthen each other, and teach each other to stand the test of fire. Hence the Sages say : * Invert the elements, and you will find what you seek." To invert the elements is to make that which is moist, dry, and that which is volatile, fixed. ^ The husband also enforces conjunction that he may reproduce his own likeness. Many strive to accomplish this separation and conjunction; but few succeed in bringing about an union which can stand the test of fire. "The composition which is prepared out of our precious substance is not even in the slightest degree diminished in volume by fire. Rather, it is nourished by fire, as a mother nourishes her child. "These are the only things that have the power of making red and white, both inwardly and outwardly. Remember that at first they can only bear a gentle fire. When you see that a whiteness begins to appear it must be your next care to extract it from the black substance; then you should develop the redness which is hidden in it. But the latter object you must attain, not by extraction, but by gentle coction.

Do not marvel that the Sages describe our ore under many names, and as consisting of body, soul, and spirit. They are also referred to as brothers, or as husband and wife. But Geber says that sometimes the whole substance is only called body, or spirit ; and unless there be a dissolution into water, our work cannot be brought to a successful issue. Of course, we do not mean the the water of the clouds, as the foolish say, but a permanent water, which, however, cannot be permanent without its body. Thus Hermogenes says that we are to take the hidden spirit, and not to despise it, because it shares its great power with its brother. For only the union of the two can give us the right Tincture. The water is also called a most sharp acid, with which the body must be washed ; this is what Socrates calls * woman's work, and

YE UBOOR. Qf 4LZB. 265 child's play." The secret of our Art is the union of man and woman : the husband receives the tinging spirit from his wife. The union of husband and wife coagulates the female principle ; and if the whole be transmuted into red, we have the treasure of the world, of which Synon says: *If the water be changed into the body, the body is changed, first into earth, then into dust and ashes, and you have what you want." 'Then the work is over, and the Stone contains within itself the Tincture in the body of Magnesia. "Therefore, the Sages say, in conclusion: * My son, extract from the splendour its shadow." Accordingly, we need exertion, and exercise is beneficial to us, seeing that milk is for infants, but that strong men require stronger food. So also is it in this operation of the Stone. Now, it is laid down by Geber that our Art must do more for the substance than Nature has done for it; otherwise we should never obtain the Medicine which has the power of correcting and perfecting the essences of the seven planets, or metals. For this purpose the Art of Alchemy has been delivered to us by the Sages; but the beginner must be on his guard against being misled by their manner of speaking, and the multiplicity of names which they give to our substance, which has been suggested to them by its great variety of (successive) colouring, and by the fact that it is composed of the four elements.

The Stone must be saturated with its water, that it may imbibe it all, and then subjected to the action of fire, until it turns to a kind of dust, like burnt blood, and becomes indestructible by fire. This Stone is sought by Kings, but is found only by those to whom it is given of God. It is publicly sold for money. But if men knew its precious nature, they would cease to think lightly ofit. God, however, has hidden it from the world, and he who would accomplish our work should first lay the right foundation, or his building must come to nought. Let me tell you, then, that our Stone requires a gentle fire; and if, after not many days, it die, and lie in the tomb, yet God restores to it its spirit, and removes its disease and its impurity. When it is burnt to ashes, it must be well sprinkled and saturated with its blood, until it becomes like burnt blood. Hermes remarks that both substances rejoice in being united to each other. To the spiritual substance God gives that which Nature could not give it. For Nature has

nothing so precious as the true Tincture; and if with its bodies it become liquid, it produces a marvellous effect. For the Tincture changes everything itis mixed with into its own nature, and makes it white both within and without. By one operation and way, by one substance, and by one mixing, the whole work is accomplished, while its purity is also one, and it is perfected in two stages, each consisting of a dissolution and a coction, with the repetition of these. ; It must be your first object to elicit the whiteness of the substance by means of gentle and continued coction orheat. I know that the Sages describe this simple process under a great number of misleading names. But this puzzling variety of nomenclature is only intended to veil the fact that nothing is required but simple coction. This process of coction, however, you must patiently keep up, and that with the Divine permission, until the King is crowned, and you receive your great reward. If youask whether the substance of our Stone be dear, I tell you that the poor possess it as well as the rich. Many have been reduced to beggary because they foolishly : despised that which is highly esteemed by the Sages. If kings and princes knew it, none of us would ever be able to obtain it. Only one vessel is required for the whole process, which should be of stone, and should be capable of resisting fire.

A. pound of the body of our ore should be taken, and rendered as pure, refined, and highly rectified, like the virtue of heaven, as the philosophers have it. Then the vessel should be placed in a reverberatory alembic. "This should be set over a gentle fire, the vessel being kept tightly closed, in order that it may be able to retain its companion, and permit the same to enkindle the whiteness thereof, as Lucas says. "The vessel containing the ore must be placed over the fire, since there can be no perfection without heat and intermixture of elements, seeing that it is produced from blood. When the male and the female principle have been together for a space of forty nights, there is an emission of moist warm seed; and to the same God has liberally given much blood to heat it. This seed develops into an embryo which is supported with a little milk over a moderate fire, and grows stronger day by day. Its growth must be aided by warmth ; but the heat of the fire should be temper- ate, like that of the Sun. This may be effected by placing our vessel over an:empty vessel, and that again upon some glowing coals. "The process of coction should be continued until the alembic is well dried and the substance begins to assume a liquid aspect; for water alone is sufficient for the coagulation and fixing of the whole, as we are told by Democritus.

"This water is described under various names, such as sulphur, quicksilver, spirit, and also vapour, for it can scarcely retain its companion. There are in our Art only two substances, and if I speak of two, then I think of four, all which things require one thing, by which. Nature, conquering all Nature, is extracted. For Nature, on account of its nature, rejoices in itself, Nature conquers nature, and in itself contains nature. At the same time one is not opposed to the other, but one comprehends the other, whereby it excels the other, and the philosophers call this water the purifying water.

This dissolution first imparts a black appearance to the body. The substance should then turn white, and finally red. The blackness exhibits an intermediate stage between fixedness and volatility. So long as there is blackness, the female principle prevails, till the substance enters into the white stage. This whiteness is called the first power of our Stone, and the water is referred to as that most excellent acid. You must be very careful not to destroy the potency of this water. Avicenna says that natural heat operating in humid bodies, first causes blackness ; then removes the blackness ; and finally causes whiteness, as may be seen in calx. Hence our substance must become first black, and then white, and be reduced to a kind of powder. 'Then the soul must be restored to the powder by a powerful fire; and both [be] subjected to coction until they become first black, then white, afterwards red, and finally good venom, the whole being accomplished by the separation of waters. And now, the waters being divided, cook the matter and the vapour till coagulation takes place, and there is made a white stone. Then are the waters divided. Another mortification, or exsiccation, follows, and is called clouds, or smoke. The smoke well coagulated with its feces becomes quick white; roast then the white ore that it may bring forth itself. When the blackness vanishes, the spirit is restored ; for the spirit does not die, but rather

quickens body and soul. The more perfectly our ore is purged, and subjected to coction, the better it becomes, till it is at length condensed into a Stone. But it must be dissolved again, and subjected to a powerful fire, until it looks like burnt blood. If this Stone be added to any substance, it tinges it into gold. The Sages speak of it as a kind of root. Take, they say, the whole virtue of the Tincture, and concentrate it in the Root. If a body which has no earthy elements receive this Tincture, it receives more benefit than less excellent bodies. The Stone overcomes everything to which it is applied, and tinges foreign bodies with its own colour. The dry fire tinges bodies, the air strengthens them, the white water washes away their blackness, and their earth receives the Tincture. Concerning the coction needed for the development of our substance, the Sages have expressed themselves in a great variety of ways. Observe Hermes, who says that it must be repeated again and again, until the red colour at length is obtained. Herein is the stability of the whole work. Afterwards it assumes many, many colours, not including the red, which appears at the end. For the white must precede it. Set to work by the regimen of fire, and triturate. The above mentioned water volatilizes all bodies ; even such as are gross it penetrates until it has assimilated them toits own nature.

Know that unless you operate upon bodies until they are destroyed and their soul is extracted, with such you will never tinge any body, for nothing tinges which has not first itself been tinged. If the body be made fluid and burnt, then it bends itself towards its begetter, becoming a subtle Magnesia, and it turns towards the earth, which makes it spiritual and vivifies it. Before the final whiteness of the first stage is attained, the substance turns first of a black, then of an orange, and then of a reddish colour (which, however, is quite different from the final redness of the last stage). "These colours, however, need not trouble you, since they are evanescent and merely transitional.

From what I have said you may gather that our substance is found in the gold which is hidden in Magnesia, and that it is oz thing composed of sulphur from sulphur and mercury from mercury. And as the substance of our Stone is one, so is the method of its preparation. Therefore, do not listen to those ignorant and fraudulent alchemists who speak of many different kinds of sublimation and distillation. Turn a deaf ear to those who say that the substance of our Stone is the powder of the Basilisk. As to the (length of) time required for the preparation, you must begin it in the winter, which is moist, and extract the moisture until the spring, when all things become green, and when our substance, too, should exhibit a variety of colours. In the summer the substance should be reduced to powder by means of a powerful fire. The autumn, the season of ripeness, should witness its maturity,or final redness. About the motions of the stars or planets you need not trouble yourself.: Our substance is a body containing the spirit which makes glass malleable, and turns crystals into carbuncles. One drop of our Elixir, as large as a drop of rain, will suffice to tinge and transmute a body a thousand times as large as itself.

This most noble Remedy was appointed, like all other things, for the use of man, because he is the most glorious of God's creatures, and the lord of the whole earth. It was given to him for the purpose of preserving his youth, expelling disease, preventing suffering, and providing him with all he requires. Our Elixir is better than all the medicinal preparations of Hippocrates, Avicenna, and others. From it may be prepared a potable antidote which has power to cure leprosy. As fire purges and refines metals, so this Remedy restores to the human body its natural heat, expels from it all healthdestroying matter, and fortifes it against every conceivable form of disease. Its virtue is infinitely greater than that of the potable gold dust, which is taken as a preventative among the Gentiles. Great and wonderful is the potency of the gold that slumbers in Magnesia, both for the purifying of the human system, and for the transmuting of metals. What more shall I say? A]I the things that I have here faithfully described I have seen with my own eyes, and performed with my own hands. When I was preparing the substance, after discovering the true method, I was so seriously interfered with by the persons with whom I lived that I was almost on the point of giving up the whole thing in despair At length I communicated my discovery to a friend, who faithfully executed my instructions,

and brought the work to a successful issue. For which Blessed Gift may God be praised, world without end. Amen. THE BOOK OF LAMBSPRING, A Noble Ancient PAilosopher, Doctor of Medicine, & gealous Student of this Art. |I AM CALLED LAMBSPRING, BORN OF A NOBLE FAMILY, understood, The utmost depth of my teachers! knowledge have I sounded. This God graciously granted to me, Giving me a heart to understand wisdom. 'Thus I became the Author of this Book, And I have clearly set forth the whole matter, That Rich and Poor might understand. There is nothing like it upon earth ; Nor (God be praised) have I therein forgotten my humble self. I am acquainted with the only true foundation : Therefore preserve this Book with care, And take heed that you study it again and again. Thus shall you receive and learn the truth, And use this great gift of God for good ends. O God the Father, which art of all the beginning and end, We beseech thee for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ To enlighten our minds and thoughts, That we may praise Thee without ceasing, And accomplish this Book according to Thy will ! Direct Thou everything to a good end, And preserve us through Thy great mercy.— With the help of God I will shew you this Art, And will not hide or veil the truth from you. After that you understand me aright, You will soon be free from the bonds of error. For there is only oze substance, In which all the rest is hidden ; "Therefore, keep a good heart. Coction, time, and patience are what you need ; If you would enjoy the precious reward, You must cheerfully give both time and labour. For you must subject to gentle coction the seeds and the metals,

Dp oem I have read, and thoroughly Day by day, during several weeks ; Thus in this one vile thing You will discover and bring to perfection the whole work of Philosophy, Which to most men appears impossible, Though it is a convenient and easy task. If we were to shew it to the outer world We should be derided by men, women, and children. "Therefore be modest and secret, And you will be left in peace and security. Remember your duty towards your neighbour and your God, Who gives this Art, and would have it concealed. Now we will conclude the Preface, That we may begin to describe the very Art, And truly and plainly set it forth in figures, Rendering thanks to the Creator of every creature. Hereunto follows the First Figure, The Sages will tell you That two fishes are in our sea Without any flesh or bones. Let them be cooked in their own water ; Then they also will become a vast sea, 'The vastness of which no man can describe. Moreover, the Sages say 'That the two fishes are only one, not two ; "They are two, and nevertheless they are one, Body, Spirit, and Soul.

Now, I tell you most truly, Cook these three together, 'That there may be a very large sea. Cook the sulphur well with the sulphur, And hold your tongue about it : Conceal your knowledge to your own advantage, And you shall be free from poverty. Only let your discovery remain a close secret. BE WARNED AND UNDERSTAND TRULY . THAT TWO FISHES ARE SWIMMING IN OUR SEA. The Sea is the Body, the two Fishes are Soul and Spirit. 'That a wild beast is in the forest, Whose skin is of blackest dye. If any man cut off his head, . His blackness will disappear, And give place to a snowy white. Understand well the meaning of this head : 'The blackness is called the head of the Raven ; As soon as it disappears, A white colour is straightway manifested ; It is given this name, despoiled of its head. When the Beast's black hue has vanished in a black smoke, jhedSacessrc]olco From the bottom of their hearts ; But they keep it a close secret, 'Fhat no foolish man may know it. Yet unto their Sons, in kindness of heart, They partly reveal it in their writings ; And therefore let those who receive the gift Enjoy it also in silence,

Since God would have it concealed. HERE YOU STRAIGHTWAY BEHOLD A BLACK BEAST IN THE FOREST. The Sages say truly That two animals are in this forest : One glorious, beautiful, and swift, A great and strong deer ; 'The other an unicorn. "They are concealed in the forest, But happy shall that man be called Who shall snare and capture them. The Masters shew you here clearly That in all places These two animals wander about in forests (But know that the forest is but one). If we apply the parable to our Art, We shall call the forest the Body. That will be rightly and truly said. The unicorn will be the Spirit at all times. The deer desires no other name But that of the Soul; which name no man shall take away from it. He that knows how to tame and master them by Art, To couple them together, Amd to lead them in and out of the forest, May justly be called a Master. For we rightly judge 'That he has attained the golden flesh, And may triumph everywhere ; Nay, he may bear rule over great Augustus. HEAR WITHOUT TERROR THAT IN THE FOREST ARE HIDDEN A DEER AND AN UNICORN.

,; he Body there is Soul and Spirit. 'The Sages do faithfully teach us 'That two strong lions, to wit, male and female, Lurk in a dark and rugged valley. "These the Master must catch, Though they are swift and fierce, And of terrible and savage aspect. He who, by wisdom and cunning, Can snare and bind them, And lead them into the same forest, Of him it may be said with justice and truth 'That he has merited the meed of praise before all others, And that his wisdom transcends that of the worldly wise. HERE YOU BEHOLD A GREAT MARVEL— TWO LIONS ARE JOINED INTO ONE. The Spirit and Soul must be united im their Body. Alexander writes from Persia That a wolf and a dog are in this field, Which, as the Sages say, Are descended from the same stock, But the wolf comes from the east, And the dog from the west. "They are full of jealousy, Fury, rage, and madness : One kills the other, And from them comes a great poison. But when they are restored to life, "They are clearly shewn to be 'The Great and Precious Medicine, 'The most glorious Remedy upon earth, Which refreshes and restores the Sages, Who render thanks to God, and do praise Him.

A WOLF AND A.DOG ARE IN ONE HOUSE, AND ARE AFTERWARDS CHANGED INTO ONE. The Body is mortified and vendered | white, then Jomed to Soul and Spirit by being saturated with them. A savage Dragon lives in the forest, Most venomous he is, yet lacking nothing : When he sees the rays of the Sun and its bright fire, He scatters abroad his poison, And flies upward so fiercely That no living creature can stand before him, Nor is even the Basilisk equal to him. He who hath skill to slay him, wisely Hath escaped from all dangers. Yet all venom, and colours, are multiplied In the hour of his death. His venom becomes the great Medicine. He quickly consumes his venom, For he devours his poisonous tail. A]I this is performed on his own body, From which flows forth glorious Balm, With all its miraculous virtues. Hereat all the Sages do loudly rejoice. The Mercury is precipitated or sublimed, dissolved in its own proper water, aud then once more coagulated. A nest is found in the forest, In which Hermes has his brood ; One fledgling always strives to fly upward, 'The other rejoices to sit quietly in the nest ; Yet neither can get away from the other.

'The one that is below holds the one that is above, And will not let it get away from the nest, Xs a husband in a house with his wife, Bound together in closest bonds of wedlock. So also do we rejoice at all times, That we hold the female eagle fast in this way, And we render thanks to God the Father. WE HEAR OF TWO BIRDS IN THE FOREST, YET WE MUST UNDERSTAND THEM TO BE ONLY ONE. The Mercury having been often sublimed, is at length fixed, and becomes capable of vesisting fire: the sublimation quust be repeated until at length fixation is attained. In India there is a most pleasant wood, In which two birds are bound together. One is of a snowy white ; the other is red. They bite each other, and one is slain And devoured by the other. "Then both are changed into white doves, And of the Dove is born a Phoenix, Which has left behind blackness and foul death, And has regained a more glorious life. 'This power was given it by God Himself, That it might live eternally, and never die. It gives us wealth, it preserves our life,

And with it we may work great miracles, As also the true Philosophers do plainly inform us. HERE ARE TWO BIRDS, GREAT AND STRONG—THE BODY AND SPIRIT; ONE DEVOURS THE OTHER. Let the Body be pe n P. or a warm bath, the Spirit having been extracted from it/— The Body has become «white by the process, the Spirit red by our Avt.. AW that exists tends towards perfection, and thus is Ue Plulosophers Stone prepared. T2 . Now hear of a wonderful deed, For I will teach you great things, How the King rises high above all his race ; And hear also what the noble lord of the forest says : I have overcome and vanquished my foes, I have trodden the venomous Dragon under foot, I am a great and glorious King in the earth. There is none greater than I, Child either of the Artist or of Nature, Among all living creatures. I do all that man can desire, I give power and lasting health, Also gold, silver, gems, and precious stones, And the panacea for great and small diseases. Yet at first I was of ignoble birth, Till I was set in a high place.

'To reach this lofty summit Was given me by God and Nature. 'Thence from the meanest I became the highest, And mounted to the most glorious throne, And to the state of royal sovereignty : Therefore Hermes has called me the Lord of the Forests. THE LORD OF THE FORESTS HAS RECOVERED HIS KINGDOM, AND MOUNTED FROM THE LOWEST TO THE HIGHEST DEGREE. IF FORTUNE SMILE, YOU MAY FROM A RHETOR BECOME A CONSUL ; IF FORTUNE FROWN, THE CONSUL MAY BECOME A RHETOR. Thus you may £now that the Tincture has truly attained the first degree. In all fables we are told That the Salamander is born in the fire ; In the fire it has that food and life Which Nature herself has assigned to it. It dwells in a great mountain Which is encompassed by many flames, And one of these is ever smaller than another— Herein the Salamander bathes. The third is greater, the fourth brighter than the rest— In all these the Salamander washes, and is purified. 'Then he hies him to his cave, But on the way is caught and pierced So that it dies, and yields up its life with its blood: But this, too, happens for its good:

For from its blood it wins immortal life, And then death has no more power over it. Its blood is the most precious Medicine upon earth, 'The same hàs not its like in the world. For this blood drives away all disease In the bodies of metals, Of men, and of beasts. From it the Sages derive their science, And through it they attain the Heavenly Gift, Which is called the Philosopher's Stone, Possessing the power of the whole world. This gift the Sages impart to us with loving hearts, (That we may remember them for ever. A SALAMANDER LIVES IN THE FIRE, WHICH IMPARTS TO IT A MOST GLORIOUS HUE. Tas 2s the reiteration, gradatwn, and amelioration of the Tzncture, or Philosophers Stone ; and the whole is calted its Augmentation. Here is an old father of Israel, Who has an only Son, A Son whom he loves with all his heart. With sorrow he prescribes sorrow to him. He commits him to a guide, Who is to conduct him whithersoever he will. The Guide addresses the Son in these words : Come hither! I will conduct thee everywhere, 'To the summit of the loftiest mountain, That thou mayest understand all wisdom,

'That thou mayest behold the greatness of the earth, and of the sea, And thence derive true pleasure. I will bear thee through the air To the gates of highest heaven. 'The Son hearkened to the words of the Guide, And ascended upward with him ; "There saw he the heavenly throne, "That was beyond measure glorious. When he had beheld these things, He remembered his Father with sighing, Pitied the great sorrow of his Father, And said: I will return to his breast. THE FATHER AND THE SON HAVE LINKED THEIR HANDS WITH THOSE OF THE GUIDE : KNOW THAT THE THREE ARE BODY, SOUL, AND SPIRIT. Says the Son to the Guide : I will go down to my Father, For he cannot live without me. He sighs and calls aloud for me. And the Guide makes answer to the Son : I will not let thee go alone ; From thy Father's bosom I brought thee forth, I will also take thee back again, 'That he may rejoice again and live. This strength will we give unto him. So both arose without delay, And returned to the Father's house. When the Father saw his Son coming, He cried aloud, and said :—

WIIGEE LEBBE- SBIRIT ANJILTEBE SOUL—- THAT IS, THE SON AND THE GUIDE—HAVE CLIMBED. My Son, I was dead without thee, And lived in great danger of my life. I revive at thy return, And it fills my breast with joy. But when the Son entered the Father's house, 'The Father took him to his heart, And swallowed him out of excessive joy, And that with his own mouth. 'The great exertion makes the Father sweat. HERE THE FATHER DEVOURS THE SON ; THE SOUL AND SPIRIT FLOW FORTH FROM THE BODY. - CPU ANE ios Here the Father sweats on account of the Son, And earnestly beseeches God, Who has everything in His hands, Who creates, and has created all things, To bring forth his Son from his body, And to restore him to his former life. God hearkens to his prayers, And bids the Father lie down and sleep. 'Then God sends down rain from heaven To the earth from the shining stars. It was a fertilizing, silver rain, Which bedewed and softened the Father's Body. Succour us, Lord, at the end, That we may obtain Thy gracious Gift ! HERE THE FATHER SWEATS PROFUSELY, WHILE OIL AND THE TRUE TINCTURE OF THE SAGES FLOW FORTH FROM HIM.

z—— — A T EE The sleeping Father is here changed Entirely into limpid water, And by virtue of this water alone 'The good work is accomplished. "There is now a glorified and beautiful Father, And he brings forth a new Son. 'The Son ever remains in the Father, And the Father in the Son. Thus in divers things 'They produce untold, precious fruit. They perish never. more, And laugh at death. By the grace of God they abide for ever, 'The Father and the Son, triumphing gloriously In the splendour of their new Kingdom. Upon one throne they sit, And the face of the Ancient Master Is straightway seen between them : He is arrayed in a crimson robe. HERE FATHER AND SON ARE JOINED IN ONE, SO TO REMAIN FOR EVER. o6 THE HERMETIC MUSEUM. d COST EIBESESISNBVERSITEDSIIE SKIING: OF TESETSIS VA SRSIPEIDE TO (i) That of BASILIUS VALENTINUS, a Monk of the Benedictine Order; called PRACTICA, with twelve Keys and an Appendix. aD mbe CREIDIE MIHI of Ordina of "PEKONAS NORTON, an English Sage. (iii) The TESTAMENT of a certain CREMER, Abbot of WESTMINSTER. - 1 ML k THE MOST LEARNED AND HUMANE OF PHYSICIANS, THE TRUEST, SINCEREST, NOBLEST, AND MOST

JO N UPARTNMUANON OEYJIERA M.D., A RENOWNED PHYSICIAN AND COUNCILLOR OF THE IMPERIAL bY IMEINGOEISAUBUD MCAGY BURG Being placed in the thick of the struggle between the followers of Dogmatic and Hermetic Medicine, I thought it would throw great and unexpected light on the subject of this controversy, if I published in the Latin tongue the three great classical Tracts bearing upon the matter, viz., that of the Benedictine Monk BASILIUS VALENTINUS, and those of the two great English Sages NORTON and CREMER. This Triad of Tracts Quo IHE HERMETIC MUSEUM. I have ventured to call the GOLDEN TRIPOD, and the name suggests to me, as appropriate to our controversy, the answer returned to the enquiring Ionians by the priestess of Delphi : *'l'he feud between the Meropes and the Ionians " "will not cease until the Golden Tripod, which" * Vulcan cast into the sea, be brought into the" *house of the man who knows the things that " * are, that were, and that are to come." Thus I believe our controversy, too, may be determined, if I dedicate zzy golden Tripod to the most learned of modern physicians. For, as Homer says, * A physician is worth many ordinary men," and if I searched through the whole of Germany, nay, Europe, I could not find a fitter person than him who is set upon the lofty tower of world-wide celebrity, and whose skill is admired and courted far and wide by princes and nobles.

Accept, then, this GOLDEN TRIPOD, forged by the hands of the Hermetic Vulcan. Value it as a token of affection and esteem, as well as because of its inward worth. I firmly trust that it will assuage the feud between the adherents of Dogmatic and of Hermetic Medicine, as its namesake of old did that between the Meropes and Ionians ; and that it will establish amity and concord among physicians of both schools. In order that its beneficial influence might be as widely spread as possible, I have set it forth in the common language of European scholars. In conclusion, let me pray you to love me, even as I love you—as I also know that you do.

Written at Francfort-on-the-Main in the month of January, 1618. "A^EILE GREAT STONE Ob IPmE ANCIENT SAGES. STO TRES IAS A OTIO AEN) SEIS P ANS TENTI E * Pactolus contains not such great treasures ; " *nor does gold-bearing Hebrus roll down such " * precious things in its golden sand, as Valentine " *scatters abroad in this one book. Here is" *greater wealth than all the riches of the Inds." * For he bore away the golden fruit from the" * Hesperian garden, and blessed with them fair" "Germany's fields. | He bore away the golden " * fleece from Colchis, and gave it to us by mighty " *toi. | And when at length he sank into the" *tomb, he left us his royal Treasure to enjoy." * Here is something for you to admire and" "imitate. Only seek it at the bottom of the" * vessel,or you will wander astray. All things " * are one, though they be described under various " *names. Let this suffice thee; seek not many " *utensils for thy labour. If thou knowest the" *substance and the method, it is enough, and " *thou knowest all." TUUS (GURIDAT. STONE OP TEE ZUNCUE NA - SIANGUBIS:

/ suffering, I was led to consider the wretchedness n of this world, and the fearful consequences of our first parents' disobedience. Then I saw that there was no hope of repentance for mankind, that they were getting worse day by day, and that for their impenitence God's ever- lasting punishment was hanging over them ; and I made haste to withdraw myself from the evil world, to bid farewell to it, and to devote myself to the service of God. When I had spent some years at the monastery, I found that after I had performed my work and my daily devotions I still had some time on my hands. — This I did not wish to pass in idleness,lest my evil thoughts should lead me into new sins; and so I determined to use it for the study and investigation of those natural secrets by which God has shadowed out eternal things. So I read a great many books in our monastery written in olden times by philosophers who had pursued the same study, and was thereby stimulated to a more ardent desire of knowing that which they also knew. Though I did not make much progress at first, yet at last God granted my earnest prayer, and opened my eyes that I might see what others had seen before me.

In the convent there was a brother, who was afflicted with a severe disease of the kidneys, and to whom none of the many physicians he had consulted had been able to give even momentary relief. So he had committed himself to the hand of God, and despaired of all human aid. As I loved him, I gathered all manner of herbs, extracted their salts, and distilled various medicines. But none of them seemed to do him the slightest good, and after six years I found that I had tried every possible vegetable substance, without any beneficial effect. It last I determined to devote myself to the study of the ' powers and virtues which God has laid into metals and minerals ; and the more I searched the more I found. One discovery led to another, and, after God had permitted unto me many experiments, I understood clearly the nature and properties, and the secret potency, imparted by God to minerals and metals. Among the mineral substances I found one which exhibited many colours, and proved to be of the greatest efficacy in art. "The spiritual essence of this substance I extracted, and therewith restored our sick brother, in a few days, to perfect health. For the strength of this spirit was so great as to quicken the prostrate spirit of my diseased brother, who, from that day to the day of his death, remembered me in his hourly prayers. And his prayers, together with my own diligence, so prevailed with God, that there was revealed to me that great secret which God ever conceals from those who are wise in their own conceits.

Thus have I been wishing to reveal to you in this treatise, as far as may be lawful to me, the Stone of the Ancients, that you, too, might possess the knowledge of this highest of earthly treasures for your health and comfort in this valley of sorrow. I write about it, not for my own good, but for that of posterity ; and though my words be few and simple, that which they import is of immeasurable magnitude. Ponder them well, that you also may find the Rock which is the foundation Stone of truth, the temporal blessing, and the eternal reward. N the preface, gentle Reader, and zealous Student of this Art, I promised to communicate to you a knowledge of our Corner Stone, or Rock, of the process by which it is prepared, and of the substance from which it was already derived by those ancient Sages, to whom the secret of our Art was first revealed by God for the health and happiness of earthly life. Let me assure you that I fully intend to fulfil my promise, and to be as plain with you as the rules of our Art permit, not misleading you by sophistical deceptions, but opening up to you the spring of all blessings even unto the fountain head. I propose to set forth what I have to say in a few simple, straightforward words, for I am no adept in the art of multiplying words; nor do I think that exuberance of language tends to clearness ; on the contrary, I am convinced that it is many words that darken council.

Let me tell you, then, that although many are engaged in the search after this Stone, it is nevertheless found but by very few. For God never intended that it should become generally known. [It is rather to be regarded as a gift which He reserves for those favoured few, who love the truth, and hate falsehood, who study our Art earnestly by day and by night, and whose hearts are set upon God with an unfeigned affection. Hence, if you would prepare our great and ancient Stone, I testify unto you in all truth that you must give diligent heed to my teaching, and before all things implore the gracious blessing of the Creator of all things. You must also truly repent you of all your sins, confessing. the same, and firmly resolve to lead a good and holy life. It is also necessary that you should determine to shew your gratitude to God for His unspeakable Gift, by succouring the poorandthe distressed,and by opening your hand and your heart to the needy. Then God will bless your labour, and reward your search with success, and yourself with a seat in Heaven as the fruit of your faith. Do not despise the truthful writings of those who possessed the Stone beforeus. For, after the enlightening grace of God, it is from them that I received my knowledge. Let your study of them be increased and repeated often, lest you lose the thread of insight, and the lamp of understanding be extinguished.

Give yourself wholly to study, and be not flighty or doubleminded. Let your mind be like a firm Rock,in which all the various sayings of the Sages are reduced to the unity of their common meaning. For a man who is easily influenced in different directions is not likely to find the right path. As our most ancient Stone is not derived from combustible things, you should cease to seek it in substances which cannot stand the test of fire. For this reason it is absurd to suppose that we can make any use of vegetable substances, though the Stone, too, is endowed with a principle of growth. If our Stone were a vegetable substance, it would, like other vegetables, be consumed by fire, leaving only a certain salt. Ancient writers have, indeed, described our Stone as the vegetable Stone. But that name was suggested to them by the fact that it grows and increases in size, like a plant. Know also that animals only multiply after their kind, and within their own species. Hence our Stone can only be prepared out of its own seed, from which it was taken in the beginning ; and hence also you will perceive that the soul of an animal must not be the subject of this investigation. Animals are a class by themselves; nor can anything ever be obtained from them that is not animal in its nature. But our Stone, as it

has been bequeathed to me by the Ancients, is derived from two things, and one thing, in which is concealed a third thing. This is the purest truth, and a most faithful saying. ^ For male and female have from of old been. regarded as one body, not from any external or visible consideration, but on account of the ardour of that mutual love which naturally draws them together into one; and as the male and female seed jointly represent the principle of propagation, so also the sperm of the matter out of which our Stone is made can be sown and increased. There are in our substance two supplementary kinds of seed, from which our Stone may be prepared and multiplied. If you are a true lover of our Art, you will carefully weigh and ponder these words, lest, with other sophisticators, you fall into the dangerous pit prepared by the common enemy of man. But whence are you to obtain this seed? This question you may most easily answer by asking yourself another question. What do you want to develop from this seed, and what use do you wish to make of it? "There can be no doubt, then, that it must be the root, or first substance, of metals, from which all metals derive their origin. It is, therefore, necessary that we should now proceed to speak of the generation of the metals.

In the beginning, when the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters, and as yet all was involved in darkness, Almighty and Eternal God, Whose beginning and wisdom are from everlasting, by His inscrutable counsel created heaven and earth, and all that in them is, both visible and invisible, out of nothing. How theact of creation was accomplished I will not attempt to explain. "This is a matter which is set forth to us in Holy Scripture, and must be apprehended by faith. To each creature God gave its own seed, wherewith to propagate its kind, that in this way there might always be an increase of men and animals, plants and metals. Man was not to be able to produce zew seed : he was only permitted to educe new forms of life out of that which already existed. — The creating of seed God reserved to Himself. For if man could create seed he would be equal to the Creator. Know that our seed is produced in the following way. A celestial influence descends from above, by the decree and ordinance of God, and mingles with the astral properties. When this union has taken place, the two bring forth a third, namely, an earth-like substance, which is the principle of our seed, of its first source, so that it can shew an ancestry, and from which three the elements, such as water, air, and earth, take their origin. These elements work underground in the form of fire, and there produce what Hermes, and all who have preceded me, call the three first principles, viz., the internal soul, the impalpable spirit, and visible bodies, beyond which we can find no earlier beginning of our Magistery.

In the course of time these three unite, and are changed through the action of fire into a palpable substance, viz., quicksilver, sulphur, and salt. If these three substances be mixed, they are hardened and coagulated into a perfect body, which represents the seed chosen and appointed by the Creator. "This is a most important and certain truth. If the metallic soul, the metallic spirit, and the metallic /o777 of body be present, there will also be metallic quicksilver, metallic sulphur, and metallic salt, which together make up the perfect metallic body. If you cannot perceive what you ought to understand herein, you should not devote yourself to the study of philosophy. Moreover, I tell you in few words, that you cannot obtain a metallic body except by perfectly joining these three principles into one. Know, also, that all animals are, like man, composed of flesh and blood, and also possess a vitalizing spirit, but are destitute of the rational soul which the Creator gave to man alone. Therefore, when animals die, they perish for ever. But when man yields up his mortal life into the hands of his Creator, his soul does not die. It returns, and is united to the glorified body, ia which, after the Resurrection, soul and spirit dwell together once more in eternal glory, never to be separated again throughout all eternity.

Hence the rational soul of man makes him an abiding creature, and, though his body may seem to die, yet we know that he will live for ever. For to him death is only a process of purification, by means of which he is freed from his sins, and translated to another and better place. Butthere is no resurrection for the brute beasts, because they have no rational soul, for which alone our Lord and Saviour shed His blood. For though a body may be vitalized by a spirit, yet it need not, therefore, be fixed, unless, indeed, it possess a rational soul, that strong bond between body and spirit, which represents their union, and resists all efforts to separate them. — Where there is no soul, there is no hope:of redemption. Nothing can be perfect or lasting withoutasoul. Thisisa profound and most important truth, which I feel in conscience bound to make known to my readers. Now, the spirits of metals have this property of fixedness in a greater or less degree ; they are more or less volatile in proportion to the mutual fitness of their bodies and souls. A metal that has the three conditions of fixedness is not affected by fire or overcome by any other outward agent. But there is only oze metal that fulfils these conditions, namely, gold. Silver also contains fixed mercury, and is not so quickly volatilised as the imperfect metals, but stands the trial of fire, and yields no food to voracious Saturn.

Amatory Venus is clothed with abundant colour, and her whole body is one pure tincture, not unlike the red colour which is found in the most precious of metals. But though her spirit is of good quality, her body is leprous, and affords no permanent substratum to the fixed tincture. Hence the soul has to share the fate of the imperfect body, and when the body dies the soul has to leave it. For its dwelling has been destroyed by fire, and it is without a house wherein to abide. Fixed salt has imparted to warlike Mars a hard, firm, and durable body, which is evidence of the generosity of his soul ; nor can fire be said to have much power over it. And if its strength be united to the beauty of Venus, I do not say but that a precious and harmonious result may be obtained. For the phlegmatic or humid quality of the Moon may be heated with the ardent blood of Venus, and the blackness of Venus removed with the strong salt of Mars. You need not look for our metallic seed among the elements. It need not be sought so far back. If you can only rectify the Mercury, Sulphur, and Salt (understand, those of the Sages) until the metallic spirit and body are inseparably joined together by means ofthe metallic soul, you thereby firmly rivet the chain of love, and prepare the palace for the coronation.

These things represent a liquid key, comparable to the celestial influence, and a dry water joined to the terrestrial substance : all which are oze thing, derived from three, and two, and one. [f you understand this, you have already attained our Magistery. Then you must join the husband and wife together, that each may feed upon the other's flesh and blood, and that so they may propagate their species a thousandfold. Though I would fain reveal this matter to you more plainly and openly, I am prohibited from doing so by the law of God, and by the fear of His wrath, and of eternal punishment, lest the gift of the Most High should be abused. I: however, you do not understand the theoretical part of my work, perhaps the practical part will serve to enlighten you more fully. I will therefore proceed to shew how, by the help of God, I was enabled to prepare the Stone of the Ancients, and, for your further instruction, I will add twelve keys, in which I give a figurative account of our Art. Take a quantity of the best and. finest gold, and separate it into its component parts by those media which Nature vouchsafes to those who are lovers of Art,as an anatomist dissects the human body. Thus change your gold back into what it was before it became gold ; and thou shalt find the seed, the beginning, the middle, and the end—that from which our go/Z and its female principle are derived, viz, the pure and subtle spirit, the spotless soul, and the astral salt and balsam.

When these three are united, we may call them the mercurial liquid : a water which was examined by Mercury, found by him to be pure and spotless, and therefore espoused by him as his wife. Of the two was born an incombustible oil; for Mercury became so proud that he hardly knew himself. He put forth eagle feathers, and devoured the slippery tail of the Dragon, and challenged Mars to battle.

Then Mars summoned his horsemen, and bade them enclose Mercury in prison under the ward of Vulcan, until he should be liberated by one of the female sex. When this became known, the other Planets assembled and held a deliberation on the question, what would be the best and wisest course to adopt When they were met together, Saturn first came. forward, and delivered himself as follows : * [, Saturn, the greatest of the planets in the firmament, declare here before you all,that I am the meanest and most unprofitable of all that are here present, that my body is weak, corruptible, and of a swarthy hue, but that, nevertheless, it is I that try you all For having nothing that is fixed about me, I carry away with me all that is of a kindred nature. My wretchedness is entirely caused by that fickle and inconstant Mercury, by his careless and neglectful conduct. Therefore, I pray you, let us be avenged on him, shut him up in prison, and keep him there till he dies and is decomposed, nay, until not a drop of his blood is to be seen." Then yellow Jupiter stepped forward, bent his knees, inclined his sceptre, and with great authority bade them carry out the demand of Saturn. He added that he would punish everyone who did not aid the execution of this sentence.

Then Mars presented himself, with sword drawn—a sword that shone with many colours, and gave out a beautiful and unwonted splendour. This sword he gave to the warder Vulcan, and bade him slay Mercury, and burn him, together with his bones, to ashes. "This Vulcan consented to do. While he was executing his office, there appeared a beautiful lady in a long, silver robe, intertissued with many waters, who was immediately recognised as the. Moon, the wife of the Sun. She fell on her knees, and with outspread hands, and flowing tears, besought them to liberate her husband—the Sun—from the prison in which, through the crafty wiles of Mercury, he was being detained by the Planets. But Vulcan refused to listen to her request ; nor was he softened by the moving prayers of Lady Venus, who appeared in a crimson robe, intertissued with threads of green, and charmed all by the beauty of her countenance and the fragrance of the flowers which she bore in her hand. She interceded with Vulcan, the Judge, in the Chaldee tongue, and reminded him that a woman was to effect the deliverance of the prisoner. But even to her pleading he turned a deaf ear.

While they were still speaking the heaven was opened, and there came forth a mighty animal, with many thousands of young ones, which drove the warder before it, and opening its mouth wide, swallowed Venus, its fair helper, at the same time exclaiming with a loud voice: *I am born of woman, woman has propagated my seed, and therewith filled the earth. Her soul is devoted to mine, and therefore I must be nourished with her blood" When the animal had said these words with a loud voice, it hastened into a certain chamber, and shut the door behind it; whither its voracious brood followed, drinking of the aforesaid incombustible oil, which they digested with the greatest ease, and thereby became even more numerous than they had been before. This they continued to do until they filled the whole world. Then the learned. men of that country were gathered together, and strove to discover the true interpretation of all they had seen. But they were unable to agree until there came forward a man of venerable age, with snowy locks and silvery beard, and arrayed in a flowing purple robe. On his head he wore a crown set with brilliant carbuncles. His loins were girded with the girdle of life. His feet were bare, and his words penetrated to the depth of the human soul He mounted the tribune, and bade the assembly listen to him in silence, since he was sent from above to explain to them the significance of what they had seen.

When perfectsilence prevailed,he delivered hrmself as follows : . * Awake, O man, and behold the light,lest the darkness deceive thee! "The Gods revealed to me this matter in a profound sleep. Happy is the man who knows the great works of the Divine power. Blessed is he whose eyes are opened to behold light where before they saw darkness. * ''wo Stars are given by the Gods to man to lead him to great wisdom. —Gaze steadily upon them, follow their lights, and you will find in them the secret of knowledge. ** The bird Phaeenix, from the south, plucks out the heart of the mighty beast from the east. Give the animal from the east wings, that it may be on an equality with the bird from the south. Forthe animal from the east must be deprived of its lion's skin, and lose its wings. Then it must plunge in the salt water of the vast ocean, and emerge thence in renovated beauty. Plunge thy volatile spirits in a deep spring whose waters never fail, that they may become like their mother, who is hidden therein, and born of three. * Hungary is my native land, the sky and the stars are my

habitation, the earth is my spouse. Though I must die and be buried, yet Vulcan causes me to be born anew. Therefore, Hungary is my native land, and my mother encloses the whole world." When all that were present had received these his sayings, he thus continued : * Cause that which is above to be below; that which is visible, to be invisible ; and that which is palpable, to become impalpable. Again, let that which is below become that which is above; let the invisible become visible, and the impalpable, palpable. Here you see the perfection of our Art, without any defect, or diminution. . But that in which death and life, destruction and resurrection dwell, is a round sphere, with which the goddess of fortune drives her chariot, and imparts the gift of wisdom to men of God. Its proper name here upon earth, and for the human understanding, is * All-in- All." * Let him who would know what this *All-in-AII' is, give the earth great wings, and make it fly upward through the air to the heavenly regions. Then singe its wings with fierce heat, and make it fall into the Red Sea, and there be drowned. "Then dry up the water with fire and air till the earth reappears, and you will have * All-in-A1l.'

* [f you cannot find it in this way, look around upon the things that are in the world. "Then you will find the * All-in- All, which is the attracting force of all metals and minerals derived from salt and sulphur, and twice born of Mercury. More I may not say about * All-in-All,' since all is comprehended in all. * My friends, blessed are ye if, by listening tothe wcrds of the wise, ye can find this great Stone, which has power to cure leprous and imperfect metallic bodies and to regenerate them ; to preserve men in health, and procure for them a long life— as it has hitherto kept the vital fire burning within me so long that [ am weary of life, and yearn to die. " For His wisdom and mercy, and for the gracious Gift which He has bestowed upon me so long ago, [ am bound to render God thanks, now and evermore. Amen." When the old man had thus spoken, he vanished from their sight. But all who had heard him went each man to his house, and meditated on his words by day and by night. THE DOORS OF THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE MOST ANCIENT STONE,

Let my friend know that no impure or spotted things are useful for our purpose. For there is nothing in their leprous nature capable of advancing the interests of our Art. "There is much more likelihood of that which is in itself good being spoiled by that which is impure. Everything that is obtained from the mines has its value, unless, indeed, it is adulterated. Adulteration, however, spoils its goodness and its efficacy. As the physician purges and cleanses the inward parts of the body, and removes all unhealthy matter by means of his medicines, so our metallic substances must be purified and refined of all foreign matter, in order to ensure the success of our task. Therefore, our Masters require a pure, immaculate body, that is untainted with any foreign admixture, which admixture is the leprosy of our metals. Let the diadem of the King be of pure gold, and let the Queen that is united to him in wedlock be chaste and immaculate. If you would operate by means of our bodies,take a fierce grey wolf, which, though on account of its name it be subject to the sway of warlike Mars, is by birth the offspring of ancient Saturn, and is found in the valleys and mountains of the world,where he roams about savage with hunger. Cast to him the body of the King, and when he has devoured it, burn him entirely to ashes in a great fire. By this process the King will be liberated ; and when it has been performed thrice the Lion has overcome the wolf, and will nd nothing more to devour in him. "Thus our Body has been rendered fit for the first stage of our work.

Know that this is the only right and legitimate way of purifying our substance : for the Lion purifies himself with the blood of the wolf, and the tincture of its blood agrees most wonderfully with the tincture of the Lion, seeing that the two liquids are closely akin to each other. When the Lion's hunger is appeased, his spirit becomes more powerful than before, and his eyes glitter like the Sun. His internal essence is now of inestimable value for the removing of all defects, and the healing of all diseases. He is pursued by the ten lepers, who desire to drink his blood ; and all that are tormented with any kind of sickness are refreshed with this blood. For whoever drinks of this golden fountain, experiences a renovation of his whole nature, a vanishing of all unhealthy matter, a fresh supply of blood, a strengthening of the heart and of all the vitals, and a permanent bracing of every limb. For it opens all the pores, and through them bears away all that prevents the perfect health of the body, but allows all that is beneficial to remain therein unmolested. But let my friend be scrupulously careful to preserve the fountain of life limpid and clear. If any strange water be mixed with it, it is spoiled, and becomes positively injurious. If it still retain any of the solvent which has been used for its dissolution, you must carefully purge it off. For no corrosive can be of the least use for the prevention of internal diseases.

When a tree is found to bear sour and unwholesome fruit, its branches must be cut off, and scions of better trees grafted uponit. Thenew branches thereupon become organically united to the trunk ; but though nourished with its sap, they thenceforward produce good and pleasant fruit. The King travels through six regions in the heavenly firmament, and in the seventh he fixes his abode. There the royal palace is adorned with golden tapestry. lf you understand my meaning, this Key will open the first lock, and push back the first bolt; but if you do not, no spectacles or natural eyesight will enable you to understand whatfollows. But Lucius Papirius has instructed me not to say any more abóut this Key. In the houses of the great are found various kinds of drink, of which scarcely two are exactly like each other in odour, colour, or taste. For they are prepared in a great variety of different ways. Nevertheless they are all drunk, and each is designed for its own special use. When the Sun gives out his rays, and sheds them abroad upon the clouds, it is commonly said that he is attracting water, and if he do it frequently, and thereby cause rain, it is called a fruitful year.

If it be intended to build a palace, the services of many different craftsmen must be employed, and a great variety of materials is required. Otherwise the palace would not be worthy the name. It is useless to use wood where stone is necessary. 'The daily ebb and flow of the sea, which are caused by the sympathetic influence of heavenly bodies, impart great wealth and blessing to the earth. For whenever the water comes rolling back, it brings a blessing with it. A bride, when she is to be brought forth to be married, is gloriously adorned in a great variety of precious garments, which, by enhancing her beauty, render her pleasant in the eyes of the bridegroom. But the rites of the bridal night she performs without anv clothing but that which she was arrayed withal at the moment of her birth. In the same way our bridal pair, Apollo and Diana, are arrayed in splendid attire, and their heads and bodies are washed with various kinds of water, some strong, some weak, but not one of them exactly like another, and each designed for its own special purpose. Know that when the moisture of the earth ascends in the form of a vapour, it is condensed in the upper regions, and precipitated to the earth by its own weight. Thus the earth regains the moisture of which it had been deprived, and receives strength to put forth buds and herbs. In the same way you must repeatedly distil the water which you have extracted from the earth, and then again restore it to your earth, as the water in the Strait of Euripus frequently leaves the shore, and then covers it again until it arrives at a certain limit.

When thus the palace has been constructed by the hands of many craftsmen, and the sea of glass has absolved its course, and filled the palace with good things, it is ready for the King to enter, and take his seat upon the throne. But you should notice that the King and his spouse must be quite naked when they are joined together They must be stripped of all their glorious apparel, and must lie down together in the same state of nakedness in which they were born, that their seed may not be spoiled by being mixed with any foreign matter. Let me tell you, in conclusion, that the bath in which the bridegroom is placed, must consist of two hostile kinds of matter, that purge and rectify each other by means of a continued struggle. For itis not good for the Eagle to build her nest on the summit of the Alps, because her young ones are thus in great danger of being frozen to death by the intense cold that prevails there. But if you add to the Eagle the icy Dragon that has long had its habitation upon the rocks, and has crawled forth from the caverns of the earth, and place both over the fire, it will elicit from the icy Dragon a fiery spirit, which, by means of its great heat, will consume the wings of the Eagle, and prepare a perspiring bath of so extraordinary a degree of heat that the snow will melt upon the summit of the mountains, and become a water, with which the invigorating mineral bath may be prepared, and fortune, health, life, and strength restored to the King.

(UN VA » i By means of water fire may be extinguished, and utterly quenched. If much water be poured upon a little fire, the fire is overcome, and compelled to yield up the victory to the water. In the same way our fiery sulphur must be overcome by means of our prepared water. But,after the water has vanished, the fiery life of our sulphurous vapour must triumph, and again obtain the victory. But no such triumph can take place unless the King imparts great strength and potency to his water, and tinges it with his own colour, that thereby he may be consumed and become invisible, and then again recover his visible form, with a diminution of his símple essence, and a development of his perfection. A painter can set yellow upon white, and red or crimson upon yellow ; for, though all these colours are present, yet the latter prevails on account of its greater intensity. When you have accomplished the same thing in our Art, you have before your eyes the light of wisdom, which shines in the darkness, although it does not burn. For our sulphur does not burn, but nevertheless its brilliancy is seen far and near. Nor does it colour anything until it has been prepared, and dyed with its own colour, which it then imparts to all weak and imperfect metals. This sulphur, however, cannot impart this colour until it have first by persevering labour been prevailed upon to abjure its original colour.

For the weaker does not overcome the stronger, but has to yield the victory to it. The gist of the whole matter lies in the fact that the small and weak cannot aid that which is itself small and weak, and a combustible substance cannot shield another substance from combustion. "That which isto protect another substance against combustion must itself be safe from danger. The latter must be stronger than the former, that is to say, it must itself be essentially incombustible. He,then, who would prepare the incombustible sulphur of the Sages, must look for our sulphur in a substance in which it is incombustible—which can only be after its body has been absorbed by the salt sea, and again rejected by it. Then it must be so exalted as to shine more brightly than all the stars of heaven, and in its essence it must have an abundance of blood, like the Pelican, which wounds its own breast, and, without any diminution of its strength, nourishes and rears up many young ones with its blood. "This Tincture is the Rose of our Masters, of purple hue, called also the red blood of the Dragon, or the purple cloak many times folded with which the Qucen of Salvation is covered, and by which all metals are regenerated in colour.

Carefully preserve this splendid mantle, together with the astral salt which is joined to this sulphur, and screens it from harm. Add to it a sufficient quantity of the volatility of the bird; then the Cock will swallow the Fox, and, having been drowned in the water, and quickened by the fire, will in its turn be swallowed by the Fox. en e ma | NER AII flesh that is derived from the earth, must be decomposed and again reduced to earth ; then the earthy salt produces a new generation by celestial resuscitation. For where there was not first earth, there can be no resurrection in our Magistery. For in earth is the balm of Nature, and the salt of the Sages. At the end of the world, the world shall be judged by fire, and all those things that God has made of nothing shall by fire be reduced to ashes, from which ashes the Phoenix is to produce her young. For in the ashes slumbers a true and genuine tartaric substance, which, being dissolved, will enable us to open the strongest bolt of the royal chamber. After the conflagration, there shall be formed a new heaven and a new earth, and the new man will be more noble in his glorified state than he was before.

When the sand and ashes have been well matured and ripened with fire, the glass-blower makes out of it glass, which. remains hard and firm in the fire, and in colour resembles a crystal stone. To the uninitiated this is a great mystery, but not to the master whom long experience has familiarized with the process. Out of stones the master also prepares lime by burning, which is very useful for our work. — But before they are prepared with fire, they are mere stones. The stone must be matured and rendered fervent with fire, and then it becomes so potent that few things are to be compared to the fiery spirit of lime. By burning anythiny; to ashes you may gain itssalt. Ifin this dissolution the sulphur and mercury be kept apart, and restored to its salt, you may once more obtain that form which was destroyed by the process of combustion. This assertion the wise of this world denounce as the greatest folly, and count as a rebellion, saying that such a transformation would amount to a new creation, and that God has denied such creative power to sinful man. But the folly is all on their side. For they do not understand that our Artist does not claim to create anything, but only to evolve new things from the seed made ready to his hand by the Creator.

If you do not possess the ashes, you will be unable to obtain our salt ; and without our salt you will not be able to impart to our substance a bodily form ; for the coagulation of all things is produced by salt alone. As salt is the great preserving principle that protects all things from decay, so the Salt of our Magistery preserves metal from decomposition and utter annihilation. If their Balm were to perish, and the Spirit to leave the body, the body would be quite dead, and no longer available for any good purpose. The metallic spirit would have departed, and would have left its habitation empty, bare, and lifeless. Observe also, thou who art a lover of this Art, that the salt that is gained from ashes has great potency, and possesses many concealed virtues. Nevertheless, the salt is unprofitable, until its inward substance has been extracted. For the spirit alone gives strength and life. The body by itself profits nothing. If you know how to find this spirit, you have the Salt of the Sages, and the incombustible oil, concerning which many things have been written before my time. Have sought for me with eagerness, Yet very few succeed at length

In finding out my secret virtue. The quickening power of the earth produces all things that grow forth from it, and he who says tbat the earth has no life makes a statement which is flatly contradicted by the most ordinary facts. For what is dead cannot produce life and growth, seeing that it is devoid of the quickening spirit. "This spirit is the life and soul that dwell in the earth, and are nourished by heavenly and sidereal influences. For all herbs, trees, and roots, and all metals and minerals, receive their growth and nutriment from the spirit of the earth, which is the spirit oflife. Thisspirit is itself fed by the stars, and is thereby rendered capable of imparting nutriment to all things that grow, and of nursing them as a mother does her child whileit is yet in the womb. The minerals are hidden in the womb of the earth, and nourished by her with the spirit which she receives from above. Thus the power of growth that I speak of is imparted not by the earth, but by the life-giving spirit that is in it. If the earth were deserted by this spirit, it would be dead, and no

longer able to afford nourishment to anything. For its sulphur Or richness would lack the quickening spirit without which there can be neither life nor growth. Two contrary spirits can scarcely dwell together, nor do they easily combine. For when a thunderbolt blazes amidst a tempest cf rain, the two spirits, out of which it is formed, fly from one another with a great shock and noise, and circle in the air, so that no one can know or say whither they go, unless the same has been ascertained by experience as to the mode in which these spirits manifest Know then, gentle Reader, that life is the only true spirit, and that that which the ignorant herd look upon as dead may be brought back to permanent, visible, and spiritual life, if but the spirit be restored to the body—the spirit which is supported by heavenly nutriment, and derived from heavenly, elementary, and earthly substances, which are also called formless matter. Moreover, as iron has its magnet which draws it with the invisible bonds of love, so our gold has its magnet, viz., the first Matter of the great Stone. If you understand these my words, you are richer and more blessed than the whole world.

Let me conclude this chapter with one more remark. When a man looks into a mirror, he sees therein reflected an image of himself. If, however, he trv to touch it, he will find that it is not palpable, and that he has laid his hand upon the mirror only. In the same way, the spirit which must be evolved from this Matter is visible, but not palpable. This spirit is the root of the life of our bodies, and the Mercury of the Philosophers, from which is prepared the liquid water of our Art—the water which must once more receive a material form, and be rectified by means of certain purifying agents into the most perfect Medicine. For we begin with a firm and palpable body, which subsequently becomes a volatile spirit, ard a golden water, without any conversion, from which our Sages derive their principle of life. Ultimately we obtain the indestructible medicine of human and metallic bodies, which is fitter to be known to angels than to men, except such as seek it at God's hands in heartfelt prayer, and give genuine proofs of their gratitude by service rendered to Him, and to their needy neighbour. Hereunto I may add, in conclusion, that one work is devel-

oped from another. First, our Matter should be carefully purified, then dissolved, destroyed, decomposed, and reduced to dust and ashes. Thereupon prepare from it a volatile spirit, which is white as snow, and another volatile spirit, which is red as blood. These two spirits contain a third, and are yet but one spirit. Now these are the three spirits which preserve and multiply life. "Therefore unite them, give them the meat and drink that Nature requires, and keep them in a warm chamber until the perfect birth takes place. Then you will see and experience the virtue of the gift bestowed upon you by God and Nature. now, also, that hitherto my lips have not revealed this secret to any one, and that God has endowed natural substances with greater powers than most men are ready to believe. Upon my mouth God has sect a seal, that there might be scope for others after me to write about the wonderful things of Nature, which by the foolish are looked upon as unnatural. For they do not understand that all things are ultimately traceable to supernatural causes, but nevertheless are, in this present state of the world, subject to natural conditions.

VIE Mai is MT | M i 8 The male without the female is looked upon as only half a body, nor can the female without the male be regarded as more complete For neither can bring forth fruit so long as it remains alone. But if the two be conjugally united, there is a perfect body, and their seed is placed in a condition in which it can yield increase. If too much seed be cast into the field, the plants impede each other's growth, and there can be no ripe fruit. But if, on the other hand, too little be sown, weeds spring up and choke it. If a merchant would keep a clear conscience, let him give just measure to his neighbour. If his measure and weight be not short, he will receive praise from the poor. In too much water you may easily be drowned ; too little water, on the other hand, soon evaporates in the heat of the sun. If, then, you would attain the longed-for goal, observe just measure in mixing the liquid substance of the Sages,lest that which is too much overpower that which is too little, and the generation be hindered. For too much rain spoils the fruit, and too much drought stunts its growth. Therefore, when Neptune has prepared his bath, measure out carefully the exact quantity of permanent water needed, and let there be neither too little nor too much.

'The twofold fiery male must be fed with a snowy swan, and then they must mutually slay each other and restore each other to life; and the air of the imprisoned fiery male will occupy three of the four quarters of the world, and make up three parts of the imprisoned fiery male, that the death-song of the swans may be distinctly heard ; then the swan roasted will become food for the King, and the fiery King will be seized with great love towards the Queen, and will take his fill of delight in embracing her, until they both vanish and coalesce into one body. It is commonly said that two can overpower one, especially if they have sufficient room for putting forth their strength. Know also that there must come a twofold wind, and a single wiud, and that they must furiously blow from the east and from thesouth. If, when they cease to rage, the air has become water, you may be confident that the spiritual will also be transmuted ZUR. n QT. PARUPERCHID 89/7 into a bodily form, and that our number shall prevail through the four seasons in the fourth part of the sky (after the seven planets have exercised power), and that its course will be perfected by the test of fire in the lowest chamber of our palace, when the two shall overpower and consume the third.

For this part of our Magistery skill is needed, in order to divide and compound the substances aright, so that the art may result in riches, and the balance may not be falsified by unequal weights. The sky we speak of is the sky of our Art, and there must be justly proportioned parts of our air and earth, our true water and our palpable fire. Natural heat preserves the life of man. If his body lose its natural heat his life has come to an end. A moderate degree of natural heat protects against the cold ; an excess of it destroys life. [It is not necessary that the substance of the Sun should touch the earth. The Sun can heat the earth by shedding thereon its rays, which are intensified by reflection. This intermediate agency is quite sufficient to do the work of the Sun, and to mature everything by coction. The rays of the Sun are tempered with the air by passing through it so as to operate by the medium of the air, as the air operates through the medium of the fire. Earth without water can produce nothing, nor can water quicken anything into growth without earth ; and as earth and water are mutually indispensable in the production of fruit, so fire cannot operate without air, or air without fire. For fire has no life without air ; and without fire air possesses neither heat nor dryness.

When its fruit is about to be matured, the vine stands in greater need of the Sun's warmth than in the spring ; and if the Sun shine brightly in the autumn, the grapes will be better than if they had not felt his autumnal warmth. In the winter the multitude suppose everything to be dead, because the earth is bound in the chains of frost, so that nothing is allowed tosprout forth. Butas soon as the spring comes, and the cold is vanquished by the power of the Sun, everything is restored to life, the trees and herbs put forth buds, leaves, and blossoms, the hibernating animals creep forth from their hiding places, the plants give out a sweet fragrance, and are adorned with a great variety of many coloured flowers ; and the summer carries on the work of the spring, by changing its flowers into fruit. Thus, year by year, the operations of the universe are performed, until at length it shall be destroyed by its Creator, and all the dwellers upon earth shall be restored by resurrection to a " glorified life. "Then the operations of earthly nature shall cease, and the heavenly and eternal dispensation shall take its place.

When the Sun in the winter pursues his course far away from us, he cannot melt the deep snow. But in the summer he approaches nearer to us, the quality of the air becomes more fiery, and the snow melts and is transmuted by warmth into water. Forthat which is weak is always compelled to yield to that which is strong. The same moderate course must be adopted in the fiery regimen of our Magistery. For it is all important that the liquid should not be dried up too quickly, and that the earth of the Sages should not be melted and dissolved too soon, otherwise your fishes would be changed into scorpions. If you would perform our task rightly, take the spiritual water, in which the spirit was from the beginning, and preserve it in a closely shut chamber. For the heavenly city is about to be besieged by earthly foes. You must, therefore, strongly fortify it with three impassable and well-guarded walls, and let the one entrance be well protected. Then light the lamp of wisdom and seek with it the gross thing that was lost, shewing only such light as is needed. For you must know that the worms and reptiles dwell in the cold and humid earth, while man has his proper habitation upon the face of the earth ; the bodies of angels, on the other hand, not being alloyed with sin or impurity, are injured by no extreme either of heat or cold. When man shall have been glorified, his body will become like the angelic body in this respect. lf we carefully cultivate the life of our souls, we shall be sons and heirs of God, and shall be able to do that which now seems impossible. But this can be effected only by the drying up of all water, and the purging of heaven and earth and all men with fire.

Neither human nor animal bodies can be multiplied or propagated without decomposition ; the grain and all vegetable seed, when cast into the ground, must decay before it can spring up again; moreover, putrefaction imparts life to many worms and other animalcule. The process of augmentation and quickening is mostly performed in [the] earth, while it is caused by spiritual seed through the other elements. The farmer's wife knows that she cannot hope to obtain chickens except through the decomposition of the egg. If bread is placed in honey, and suffered to decay, ants are generated ; worms are bred in the putrefying bodies of men, horses, and other animals ; maggots are also developed by the decay of nuts, apples, and pears. The same thing may be observed in regard to vegetable life. Nettles and other weeds spring up where no such sced has ever been sown. "This occurs only by putrefaction. The reason is that the soil in such places is so disposed, and, as it were, impregnated, that it produces these fruits, which is a result of the properties of sidereal influence ; consequently the seed is spiritually produced in the earth, and putrefies in the earth, and by the operation of the elements generates corporeal matter according to the species of Nature. Thus the stars and the elements may generate new spiritual, and, ultimately, new vegetable seed, by means of putrefaction. But man cannot create new seed ;

for it is not in his power to order the operation of the elements and the essential influences of the stars. By natural conditions, however, new plants are generated simply through putrefaction. This fact is not noticed by the farmer, simply because it is a thing that he has always been used to, and for which he is unable to find an explanation. But you who should know more than the vulgar herd, must search into the causes of things, and endeavour to understand how the process of generation and resuscitation is accomplished by means of decomposition, and how all life is produced out of decay.