Appendix
which consisteth of various Philosophical and Cabalistic Letters,
in which the Author of the foregoing Treatise hath conversed with a learned and most experienced friend concerning the Matter of the Philosopher’s Stone,
and wherein the thus delivered matter of the Philosophers is, for the eager student of the Art, explained and set forth in continuation of the foregoing, as thoroughly and clearly as possible, and laid before the eyes.
1750.
Sendivogius
Air is truly the place of the seed of all things; and in it is the living spirit of all creatures and of the other elements. For without it, water putrefieth, fire is extinguished, but the earth by it is nourished, impregnated, and preserved.
Kind Reader!
I have already mentioned in the preface of the present little treatise, that there hath been a certain correspondence, which I held with a most esteemed, learned, and highly experienced friend, concerning the matter of the Philosopher’s Stone.
This correspondence gave occasion that I, at first, designed the said tract only as a communication to be written down; but in the end, under the title Fontina Bernhardi revelata etc., I caused it to be brought wholly into print.
And since the said correspondence is of such a nature it is, that it ought not wholly and entirely to be omitted, but rather, on the contrary, containeth various, and in part quite noteworthy, matters belonging indeed to this subject. Therefore I have not refrained from sharing such also with thee, in the form of an Appendix.
It consisteth of no more than five letters, wherein not only is the aforesaid little treatise reviewed, but also, in continuation thereof, the matter of the most praised Lapis Physicus is considered, both philosophically and cabalistically, and for greater clarity, set against one another.
If now thou findest therein aught that delighteth thee, then make it thine own for use and benefit, and remain ever kindly disposed.
Dated: the 10th of August, 1749.
Thy Author.
A.
Letter of the Author to his esteemed learned Friend in N… dated the 8th of May, 1747.
With this letter the foregoing treatise was communicated, in order to acquaint him with the same opinion thereupon in writing.
P. P.
According to my last promise, and since I lately had the pleasure of paying my due respects in N…, I have now taken the liberty to impart unto you my sincere thoughts concerning the preparation of the Philosopher’s Stone, set forth in 27 chapters.
This might indeed have been done earlier, had I not been hindered, as so often, by other labors, which detained me, so that until this very hour I was not in a position to fulfill my promise to fulfill my promise of speaking, had not by good fortune there come to hand, a few days ago, one who under my dictation transcribed the treatise cleanly.
I have indeed only gone once through the entire draft; yet with a closer acquaintance I will also more clearly explain the particulars, and especially what concerneth the magnets.
You therefore have nothing more to do than to read through the draft and to communicate unto me your opinion thereon, chapter by chapter, in full concordance.
Should you now find something solid therein, and believe to see such in effect, I also am eager to contribute all thereto. You see that the matter costeth nothing, but the elaboration of the whole process demandeth but little, and that neither gold nor silver is required for it, save what must take place in the fermentation of the Stone.
I love nothing more than the bright-shining light of Nature, which springeth forth from the great wonder-fountain of the Divine Breath; and on the contrary I am a declared enemy of all sophists, laboratory cheats and coal-murderers, as destroyers of the works of God. For all of them, with their deceitful processes and cruel torments which they inflict upon the innocent sublunary subjects, and especially upon the mineral kingdom, in order with Pluto, to whose banner they all have sworn allegiance, they ought to be referred.
In all things I have sought brevity, and for this reason I would not amplify the matter with arguments, knowing that with you it is not needful, since you yourself are herein a Master expert in the Art.
Thus much.
B.
Letter of the aforesaid learned and highly experienced Friend in the Art, to the Author, dated N… 14 June 1747.
Wherein he revealeth not only his opinion upon the aforesaid treatise, chapter by chapter, but also at the same time revieweth the same.
P. P.
Here follow my few thoughts upon the last communication: this might indeed have been set forth in a broader extension; yet you yourself already have a right conception of the matter, and so such would have been wholly superfluous, etc.
To Chapter 1.
The first chapter of the first Book of Moses, where it standeth: In the beginning God created the Schamayim and the Haarez.
Which in the common understanding signifieth heaven and earth; but in the more profound it meaneth water and earth.
Here Moses setteth first the heavens, the spiritual △ Fire, for they are without cause, and this not without cause. For they are the first-created elements of all things. Then followeth the earth, the secondary element ▽, wherein its principle is found, and thus the secondary qualities.
In the sixth and ninth verse Moses further describeth the separation of the two other secondary qualities, namely △ and ▽, the △ from the ▽, or rather the ▽ from the △. And thus the ▽ was of secondary quality.
The △ or aether had its seat, as the most subtle and luminous, in the Sphaera Schamayim.
The grosser and elementary △, however, took its seat in the center ▽; thus was the division or separation of the so-called elements, from the first principle Schamajim, accomplished.
That now all things have their life, being, and preservation from Schamajim, is shown by the eleventh verse of the third day’s work: when, by divine command, through the power of △ toward ▽ (which by the most ancient Philosophers hath been called ☿ universalis), the ▽ brought forth all manner of grass, herb, and fruitful trees, even before sun, moon, and stars were created, for the sustenance and nourishment of all living creatures that were to be made on the fifth and sixth day.
On the second day were sun, moon, and all stars created, as now proper dispensers in this great world-economy, to distribute this divine power and efflux of Schamajim to every creature according to its need.
Then began the sun, with full might, to unite its atoms, which are nothing else but pure △, with the ▽ atoms of the moon, in order to impregnate the △; which further communicated this seed continually to the sea and the soil of the earth, which until this present hour are thereby replenished and not the sea alone, but the whole globe of the earth likewise, as not only the everywhere present 🜔 Salt ▽, as also dew, frost, rain, and snow bear witness.
Now when this seed, by mediation of △, as a tender vaporous ▽, falleth into great and wide fissures, and is by the subterranean △ weathered and dried out, such fissures are by degrees filled up, and thus the Stone 🜔 Salt is generated.
Though it be dug up in many places, yet it soon restoreth itself again out of △, by virtue of its own inward magnet.
But when in such a passage it meeteth with a suitable ▽, then through the central, or subterranean ☿ or ♄, the birth of metals and minerals is accomplished, according as this ☿ or △ hath been purified.
This 🜔 Salt then is △ and ▽, or 🜔 Salt, Sulphur and ☿ or ▽, namely the ☿ universalis, of which so much is spoken, yet of which so little knowledge is had.
On Chapter 2 and 3
Of the Magnet, and how it is to be obtained, much hath been written here and there by the Chymists, as among others by Schröder in his report of gold-making, ch. 4; by Chrysogonus de Puris concerning the mercurial water of the Wise, ch. 2; and by Clauder on the universal tincture, ch. 6. The first of these writeth in the cited place, that he could from whole histories of these operations could be written; but know thou in particular, that by a secret handling, this 🜔 Salt may be precipitated in itself, without the addition of the least thing, out of every pure rain ▽ or dew, and that in great quantity. Sendivogius thus writeth: There is in the air a hidden food of life, which we call the dew of the night, but by day we call it rarefied water, whose invisible spirit, being congealed, is better than the whole earth.
The air is a subtle vapor, or a ▽ converted into vapor, and is a thicker and somewhat grosser vapor than the heaven, which is a subtle ▽ vapor, light, swift, and volatile, full of the most subtle life-spirit. For this cause the △ receiveth, by its thickness, the subtle influx of the heavens, and figurateth it within itself, to turn it into an airy nature and substance; whence it also marketh the lower, denser ▽s and earthly vapors as of its like, ratione originis, and coagulateth them with itself and with the heaven, bringing them, through constant motion and circulation, into a unity. And at last, through continual succeeding vapors, thickening from above and below, it resolveth into dew and rain, and snow and frost produceth, which meteors, by their own weight, are cast down unto us upon the water and the earth, there to be further elaborated.
On Chapters 4, 5, and 6
Glauber, in his Treatise on the Art of Distillation, book 2, maketh mention of almost the very same; and the subject described according to its effects in the said chapters is indeed to be highly esteemed. Yet whereas the Philosophers declare that nothing foreign must be taken thereto, it may therefore be concluded, that without the Magnet the desired Matter might be attained; but how this cometh to pass, thereof they keep silence, leaving to each his own further meditation and labor.
The author of the Wondrous Events of the Unknown Philosopher reporteth on page 126: The Matter is common, yet not known to every man; all carry it with them, and of a hundred thousand scarce one shall recognize it. Thou canst not take a single step but thou findest it on thy way; for it is as well without thee as within thee. And on page 130: This mineral is the hidden fountain; when thou openest it with thy steel, thou wilt find water. This ▽ is the ☿ of the wise Philosophers. This water is the menstruum of the world. This ▽ is pure spirit. I say, not only the body and the matter, but also the soul, is sulphur and the unburning sulphur. It is the bath of the elements, etc.
On Chapters 7 and 8
When God let forth the universal vapor from Himself, He implanted into it, of His own will, a working essence, which we call a spirit. This spirit is from the beginning a restless, never-ceasing being, ever working without intermission, and never ceasing from labor: the cause and originator of all change. This spirit we cannot behold in its primordial, in its vaporous form, and it is so spiritual that in a little heat it passeth into the △.
Putrefaction is the chief key of Nature, as being the origin of all generation and destruction of natural things. Basilus, in his concluding speeches, Sect. II, saith: Whosoever artist hath no ashes, the same can also not nor can he make salt; and whoso hath no metallic salt, the same can also not make the ☿ of the Philosophers.
If now the described matter be set into putrefaction, and thereafter be further proceeded with philosophically, there might and could result a greater profit than that described in Chapter VI.
On Chapters 9 through 21
It seemeth not to me that by such a way a universal medicine should be brought forth; for the Philosophers require but one sole matter, whereby the desired end may be attained. Strong water (*) is not advisable; for thereby the spirit is forthwith driven away.
Brother Bernhard, on the most blessed Stone of the Wise, Part 2, p. 133, writeth out of Geber: I have searched out all things, tried and experienced much, yet have I seen nothing consist in △, but only the viscous humidity, which is the root of all metals. And on p. 134: Concerning the precious Stone of the Wise, there is nothing more
(*) Here this friend hath not hit upon the author’s meaning, since in the foregoing little treatise not a single word of a strong water is spoken or written no more is needful than the one Substantia ☿, purified by art to the highest degree, penetrating, tinging, steadfast in △, and remaining in its mercurial or essential substance, l. 1. p. 3. p. 181.
Therefore make a vaporous △, calm, steady, digesting, not too violent or turbulent, but subtle, airy, enclosed, tempered, encompassing, altering, penetrating, and not burning, etc.
Basilius, in his Treatise on the Repetition of the Great Stone of the Ancients, declareth:
“Bad is our furnace, bad is our △, and bad is our matter; and the glass is to be compared to the circumference of ▽. More discourse concerning △, its government and the furnace, thou needest not at all; for he that hath the matter, shall well enough find a furnace. He that hath meal shall also find the oven, so that he need not trouble himself for the baking of bread.”
On Chapter 22
Six hours for fermentation I hold not sufficient, but rather would, with Basilius instruction, which he noteth in the twelfth Key concerning the Stone of the Ancient Wise, is to be followed, and thus might the work be carried out in a surer and more advantageous manner.
On Chapter 23
This conjunction of the Sun ☉ with the Spirit might be useless; for since the Spirit is too penetrating and passing through, it cannot by such repeated distillations be arrested, nor less be bound, but rather goeth forth, and a dead substance remaineth; thus must another modus be considered, in order to attain the final purpose.
On Chapter 24
In the ☉ mines one findeth a red ▽, like unto a Terra sigillata; it is heavy, and appeareth also as a ☿ ore. Likewise, in the ☉ pits, a yellow or greenish ▽. When this is ground small as meal, and distilled ▽ VP is poured upon it, boiled for three hours, then more distilled ▽ being poured thereon, afterward gently decanted, filtered, and half thereof distilled off; then set in a cold place, it shooteth into crystals, which have a taste like unto tartar of wine; and from these a useful spirit may be prepared.
Item: In the earth, near the Luna mines, there is found a peculiar brown ▽ between the veins, when the Sun entereth into Cancer, and indeed at the full Moon, at its entrance, which happeneth almost every year in the midst of June. Then it appeareth as yellow as if it were overlaid with the finest gold: yet it lasteth not above three hours, and then it vanisheth again, and the ☉ passeth away, as it were, in a moment. Therefore must one diligently await it, and not be guided only by the common calendar, but must also be skilled in astronomy, to know at what time the rupture in the heavens over the mining places occurreth, lest the moment be missed; whether by day or by night, it is all one.
This earth is to be gathered, and forthwith beaten into brazen vessels, that the spirit evaporate not. From this earth there may be produced such a spirit as hath scarce its equal.
On Chapter 25
Its contents are not to be held as of little worth, and from it, by a philosophical treatment, something greater might be attained.
Chapters 26 and 27
As concerning the particulars, I am straightway such an opinion, therefore, that unless something be added from the fons universalis, no special profit shall here be found, after deduction of labor and expense, unless perchance the employed mineral already contain ☉ or ☽; therefore it is far better to remain in the Via regia and there seek to obtain the salvation.
C.
Answer of the Author to the foregoing Letter, dated K., 4 July 1747.
I have but lately had the honor, Most Esteemed …, humbly to acknowledge the right reception of your most agreeable letter, cum Adjuncto; whereby we have together completed the letter A of the secret Apollinian art, and have clearly enough shown to one another that upon which the delivered Materia Sophica consisteth. And since it appeareth also needful to combine the same in a magical and cabalistic manner, that we may thereby be the more firmly convinced that our ideas cleave not to any contrariis naturae; for it is above all a settled matter, that whosoever will become a priest of Nature must also understand the language of Nature, and rightly reconcile all her most useful parts one with another, so that he may not fall into Daedalus’ inextricable labyrinth with his operations, and entangle himself in sheer absurdities.
I must confess, Most Esteemed …, you have grasped a fundamental notion of the true hermetic-philosophical science, and with respect to Chapter I have sufficiently shown where the Mercurius universalis Sophorum is to be obtained. And verily it is so and not otherwise; for when Almighty God in the beginning created the heavens as the principium principiorum, or elementum elementorum, namely the fiery waters, he also created the Veeth-haarez, or the earths, as the second quality, secundariam, that the Schamajim might find a firm body wherein to accomplish their operation.
[Margin: The first beginning of all creatures.]
Now the general World-Spirit, or the fiery waters, retained their seat in the lightest circles, or in the sphaera Schamajim; but the grosser and elementary fire was placed in the center of the earth, and thus was accomplished the separation of the so-called elements from the primum principium of the Schamajim.
Thus may we first of all see and understand what indeed is meant by the The spirit of God described in Genesis 1, 2, which moved upon the waters, is called by the most ancient Rabbins: RUACH ÆLOHIM, ARuCH (רוּחַ אֱלֹהִים), smoke, breath, fragrance, Aruch, ἐφόδιον, the daily bread, הַבְרָה, the ascent and influx, to warm, to move, to lift up and to lay down, or the Br Od-em upon the eyes of understanding.
For even as God is an eternal, single, simple ONE, or AIN, without distinction in Himself, yet not enclosed, outside all created nature and being, so also is the power of God, as the true Ruach Elohim: a proceeding, working mind, will, word, spirit, understanding, and life, distinguished yet not excluded, which power manifesteth itself gloriously through the great threefold work of creation, redemption, and sanctification in all visible and invisible things, most wisely, orderly, distinctly, and essentially uttered, breathed, and poured forth. And thus its most noble essence is expressed, both in the outward forms and inward properties, or inwrought operations of living beings, according to their…
[Margin: I-DeA Ars signata characteristica]
…of innumerable likeness and unlikeness, yet not without a special and enlightening light of the divine fruit and wisdom, truly and essentially to be seen and recognized.
The Oracles of Zoroaster, in Francisco Patrizius and Otto Heurnius, declare this yet more clearly with the words: God is a Spirit, and the Spirit is the Lord, and where the Spirit is, there is freedom, truth, and life; therefore did this same Spirit, RUACH ELOHIM, the true celestial RAOUCH, hover in natural manner, whether in the appearance, or in the aspects, of the natural and supernatural, or spiritual waters, that is, as the Chaldaeans declare: He brooded and spread Himself thereon, like a bird with its warming brooding over the eggs. This is assuredly no unfit expression of such a similitude; but thereby they intended to signify precisely that which we in these days affirm of the universal World-Spirit, as the ever-enduring mover and sustainer of all natural things.
The Chaldaeans in Persia, in the days of Daniel, have called this same power of God, Ruach Elohim, the one Spirit of the threefold or triune God, in the Ternarius Sanctus, the Spirit of the holy Gods, and not the angels named,
999
סבב
666
to signify thereby the three divine substances.
The Apollinian Oracle saith: this is indeed the nechte אֶבֶן צוּר (Aben-Zur), or the Stone AIN of the striking 999, and characterizeth the same with the cabalistic numbers here set forth; the Seal of the living God:
RVACHELOHIM
7 9 8 10 11 5 6 1 2 3 4
6 9 8 10 7 2 3 11 5 4
5 2 10 9 6 7 4 11 1 3
2 10 1 3 4 9 8 7 6 5 11
8 7 5 3 1 10 11 2 9 4
6 9 8 10 11 2 3 7 4 5
3 1 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
Caption: MYSTERIORUM.
רוּחַ אֱלֹהִים – RUACH ELOHIM, wherein dwelleth the great and mighty Spirit of the Lord, נִשְׁמַת יְהוָה – Nischmah IeHoVaH, as though in a sealed fountain and enclosed garden He abideth most secretly.
This Power of God, or Ruach Elohim, as the true Mysterium Mysteriorum, is shown to us yet more clearly through this present mago-cabalistic figure: indeed, it might have been represented through letters; yet the numbers express the very same; and even as this Spirit in:
Genesis 6, v. 7, 8, 10, 12.
I. The Raven = Nature. Z
II. The Spirit. E
III. The Gospel. I
IV. Mortality. T
At the beginning of Creation, when He hovered upon the waters, so likewise did afterwards the Raven together with the three Doves hover upon the waters of the Flood, not without the mysterious secret of the Threefold and Unified Spirit, revealed at the end of the first World.
Now that we have sufficiently beheld wherein the Ruach Elohim, or the Spirit of God, which hovered upon the waters, truly consisted, we shall also regard the Matter of the Wise (Materia Sophia), which issueth perpetually from the very same Ruach, or Spirit of God, and wherein the inextinguishable Tincture of Light, as a virtuous water, or fountain of the divine νεφέλη (cloud), together with the wholesome balsam of hidden life, is contained; and out of which, as the visible Mother, or middle-nature, there were afterwards created Heaven and Earth, with all creatures.
Prima Materiah
△ ▽ △
N. 2. Superior matter
מ2. Medium tr.
W. 3. Inferior ix.
Here are the Upper, Middle, and Lower set forth with the Sign of Salvation ✡, Fire and Water, and what is most remarkable the Matrix is characterized with the Sign of Air, and thus is verified that which the Philosophers have said: Ventus portavit (sempe materiam) in ventre “The Wind hath carried the matter in its womb.”
✡
That now this most-blessed Materia is naught else than Fire and Water, such is sufficiently declared unto us by the adjacent magical figure, as its true Character. For if one separateth these, there is found:
△ Fire,
▽ Water,
☉ Salt,
☉ Gold, and
☽ Silver; namely:
The divine Fire, making alive all things, and bringing them unto their perfection.
The Mercurial Water, salino-sulphureous, which visiteth all, and purgeth them from their corruption.
The Salt, the acuminum naturae.
and 5) The spiritual Gold and Silver, the true virgin Earth, the red and white Sulphur, the dust Aphar, as the very Quintum esse omnium rerum, whereof Almighty God hath formed Adam, or his spiritual Body in the Earth, Adam min haadamah.
OUR Wisdom is not of the vulgar.
The Philosophers have therefore not spoken amiss, when they have said: Our Water is a heavenly Water, a blessed Water, which all spirits do love. It is created out of the Centre ☉, which every man seeketh, seeth, and loveth; yet among a thousand, scarce one doth recognize it. Yet it cometh from a single Fountain upon the Earth, lying in a hidden place, and hath such a mighty outflow, that its Water overfloweth the whole World, and is known unto all men.
In the depth Truth.
In the world Vanity.
Sour. △☿ sulphur
Heavy. ☉☿ mercury
Bitter. ☉ salt
Yet no man knoweth the ground, how he might attain thereto, and draw this Water; save only the Magi, and the Children of the Spirit of Hermes. For it is a sour and weighty Water, of Nature bitter enough, yet containing within it the Treasures of all the four Elements.
It dissolveth ☉
It preserveth ☐
It uniteth △
And it dissolveth Nature, and again composeth Nature, which no other thing upon Earth is able to perform.
ἄτομοι impalpable of fire.
The Cone, unto the Centre. △
It melteth the ☉ as ice in warm water, by reason of the subtlety of this penetrating spiritual Water; for the point of the △-formed Triangle pierceth all things, even unto the inmost centre of the Spirit.
NAtans UR.
נֵתֶר Néther.
Nitrum.
The Brightness of SALt.
It is in truth a blessing from God, spoken into the upper Nature, and planted into the lower, to which…
Νιτρων, i.e. creeping Spirit, likewise A. Lumen, Lixivium.
Arboris BenEditae, VIRIDITAS.
Hiob. 4. v. 9. ♀ Ossium.
Esdræ. 66. v. 14.
Ezech. 31. v. 14.
From God-born Artists, through artificial, natural, and supernatural means revealed, the fiery air and living water, vapor, breath, and spirit of the tempered stars, poured into a well-proportioned or equally qualified element of the body and ordered, for preservation and restoration of the verdant and burning earthly and balsamic life, until the goal of God’s secret counsel is naturally accomplished in its end.
V Heyl
OAH Hyie, Vita
I Uliga, Ulua, Aqua,
Voluva, prima Mater: IAH
C. ADM – I.
The Philosophers have called this blessed water by no proper name, except Hyle, which is an Arabic word, and signifies as much as Vita (Life). Others have also called it Lux (Light), as Theophrastus Paracelsus, in his Aurora, cap. 4, in the mystical verse:
LVX.
At the bottom is written “Hyle – genannt Vita” (“Hyle – called Life”) (▽).
L V X
Sum of fifty, Sum of fifteen called:
I 9
E 5
H 8
O 14
V 20
A 1
H 8
LVX = 65
Yet this name does not properly belong to it, for LVX, taken cabalistically, signifieth as much as IeHoVaH. Improperly, however, it may well be called LVX, since it draweth its origin from the Light.
They say further: There are three Stones, from which their Art is prepared.
The first is the Stone of corruption (Lapis foetorum), and it is black and stinking.
The second is the Stone of pearls (Lapis margaritarum), and it is white, like unto a pearl.
The third is the Stone of gold (Lapis Auri), and it is red and shineth like a ruby.
THE WILL OF GOD
I. Living Spirit: ☉ Sun.
T. Vegetative Soul: △ Sulphur.
A. Mineral Body: ☐ Salt.
Namely, in the paradisiacal river Pison.
Now whosoever doth not recognize these three Stones shall nevermore come to this blessed Art. And these three Stones are found in one river; and he who knoweth the power of that river may rejoice, and give thanks unto God the Almighty.
But how this blessed Water is actually to be drawn forth, that they, as they allege, have kept in silence, because of the unworthy; enough that they have said this:
When the Matter is brought into one’s hands, it must be hermetically sealed, or preserved with the Sigillum Sapientiae, which, taken cabalistically, meaneth as much as Silentium (Silence); for Silentium is truly SILE(NTIUM), or the Seal of Wisdom (Sapi-ENTIAE Sigillum). And with this, we may for this time also remain content.
This now, having been premised in the greatest brevity, we proceed further, namely to Cap. II and III.
Therein, Your Excellency hath mentioned a certain process: namely, how by a secret manipulation this Salt in itself, without any admixture of the least thing, may be precipitated from every rainwater or dew, in great quantity.
If this operation, according to its full content, be rightly done, it is highly to be esteemed.
This indeed is properly that Sal acumon niveum naturae (the snowy Salt of Nature), which transformeth Gold in an open crucible and free fire into an Elixir performeth, and which could be called the Philosophers’ Via Sicca (Dry Way).
I have already, in my first Communication, Cap. II, spoken of this very Art, namely, of separating such a Salt from the heavenly Schamajim. In the words there written:
They brought it so far therein, that by very simple instruments they drew forth the Schamajim, watery fire, or fiery water, in great quantity, and by a peculiar handling separated it from all impurity, and made this wonderful Salt visibly appear, etc.
And with such further operations to be accomplished, this was in the recent Chapter plainly enough demonstrated.
Ad Cap. IV. V. et VI.
I can rightly assure Your Excellency, that the magnetic, under-mineral special subject described by me in these same Chapters of my first Communication is by no means to be compared with the Glauberic earths, such as are found near Almenroda, close by Cassel, under the name Minera Martis Solaris Hassica.
For when I go through the whole mineral kingdom, I find none like unto it; and when I combine all magical, cabalistic, and philosophical books, still I find none always, that it agrees with such things; neither doth it draw anything foreign unto itself, since it remaineth ever in its own form and weight. Yet I will not contradict, that there be not several ways to obtain the Mercurius Universalis.
But that the most blessed Matter could be attained without a Magnet this I cannot possibly comprehend; and this all creatures of our entire sublunary world do also contradict. For there is none such, be it never so base, but it hath within itself its secret Spiraculum, from the Nischmat-Chajim, or its hidden magical or magnetic essence, whereby it draweth life continually unto itself from the higher spheres.
For if this were not so, they could not, for even a moment, preserve themselves from destruction, nor could they in any wise partake of the general World-Spirit.
We will, to prove this, begin only with ourselves: when we behold Adam before the Fall, so was power given him to rule over the fishes of the sea, the birds of the heaven, and the beasts upon the earth; that is, over the watery, airy, and earthly fiery spirits. And this he was able to do through the power of the נשמת חיים (Nischmat Chajim, the Breath of Life), the Spiraculum Vitarum, so that through נִשְׁמַת (Nischmat), the implanted HAVCHEN (breath) from יהוה אלהים (IeHoVaH Ælohim) was in him. Then not only was the outward form of him comely, but also the voice and the word were pure and gentle, penetrating and ruling, born within him.
IAH, in his spirit, was as it were a magical or magnetic power, and a force drawing unto itself, also a sustaining might, over all the creatures subjected unto him, as their living and corporeal image.
So also, in the natural and supernatural suns, namely in the Son of Man, Christ, the second Adam, who is exalted to a far higher degree, this is to be seen; for the first was a type of the future, and this one, in the state of innocence, was the true expression of the former.
This magical or magnetic Spiraculum Vitae is still within all men, as also within all other sublunary creatures, although since the Fall it is no longer manifest, but turned inward.
And that even this heavenly Universal Spirit by no means can make itself visible, without a magical or magnetic subject upon which it may rest and lay hold, is clearly shown by creation itself.
For this very reason hath God Almighty our world-sphere, as a firm body, which consisteth of nothing else but particulis Sallis et Sulphureis, created, in order that the Schamajim might have a subject upon which to pour forth their powers.
All the secrets of Nature are not yet known unto me; and if ever the possibility were given me that they might be made clear, I should gladly suffer myself to be taught therein. Yet so long as this doth not happen, I cannot but believe, that the Mercurius universalis Sophicus, absque medio, that is: without a magnetic Vehiculum, cannot be produced out of itself, nor derived and made visible out of the Sphaera Schamajim.
If Your Excellency should consider the matter otherwise, I shall assuredly not withhold my assent, nor deny my agreement.
Ad Cap. VII. & VIII. Your Excellency hath most rightly characterized this blessed Spirit, and I can assure you that I have not found this expression in any other book.
For it is indeed true, that God hath implanted into it a working essence, which we call a Spirit, and which from the beginning hath been a restless, unceasingly acting, and without any pause laboring being, and thus is also the cause and author of all changes.
Ew.
Your Excellency … have here opened a vast field, and if we were to enter thereinto, we might well write whole folios; yet I will also herein disclose my opinion as briefly as ever may be, and indeed in the following manner:
The ancient Magi and adept Philosophers have not in vain written and affirmed of their most blessed Matter, that it is nought else but Lime and Rosin. Now it is known, that lime and rosin being set together do instantly enkindle each other, and cease not to burn until they have fully wrought their effect. And thus their whole art is but a children’s work, seeing that their Matter, from beginning unto end, doth work itself out and perfect itself.
And that they had but one vessel, one single furnace, one only fire, and one only regimen; and that all this was simple and one; yea, that their fire, their furnace, their vessel, and their regimen, were nothing else but their Matter itself, which burned inwardly and not outwardly, and accomplished the whole work alone.
Herein all becometh clear; for if it be possible, that the Matter, without a Magnet, may be obtained, then is it likewise natural, that it accomplisheth all this, which otherwise it performeth when drawn by the Magnet. And in this case must we derive the Process of Elaboration as much from Creation itself, as from the Matter. My opinion thereof is the following:
Magical Elaboration of the Philosophical Matter according to Nature.
If now one had the Matter quite pure, and as it is in itself, employed through a magical Vehiculum, according to the sense of the ancient Adepti, and had it well preserved in a vessel, then would the Spirit of eternal Nature, hidden in its Center ☉, stir up a motion, and begin to move, to rub, to strive and to press, to torment and to vex, and within and with itself to warm itself unto a temperate heat.
This warmth would of itself bring forth a great inwardly generated heat, from which a subtle vapour or spiritual Smoke and MIST (LIFE) would ascend, wherein all the physical phenomena of the Peacock’s Tail (Cauda Pavonis) would be displayed and presented; for the Matter embraceth the threefold Mean of Nature Aphar, that is, the earthly dust, the spiritual lead-dust, or…
The heavenly, paradisiacal Gold-ash of the Heuila is herein contained, which Aphar consisteth of many-coloured dust, as is plainly to be demonstrated from the combination of the four Elements.
4. Elementorum combinationes
c. u. 2 . . – 12
c. u. m. 3 . . – 24
c. u. m. 4 . . – 24
–––––––
60
Upon this there followed the SMELL and the Ignition, so that it is nothing else but a supernatural divine FIRE, out of which, as from its innermost Mother, ariseth LIFE, or the blessed Phoenix, or the indestructible Salamander, and would manifest itself in its glittering Ruby-colour. And thus were the Process, from beginning to end, wrought out by the Matter itself, according to Nature, without the addition of the least foreign thing.
The Putrefaction is verily the chief Key of all Nature: hence hath Basilius not unjustly spoken of the Ashes, the metallic Salt, and the Mercury of the Philosophers: I believe also, that one may.
Cap. IV. V. & VI.
In my first communication, the subject described therein, being treated in such a manner, and frequently isolated, filtered, and crystallized which the philosophers call "child’s pap" would finally yield, from the metallic salt hidden within, after one has carefully extracted the Subjectum physicum, the beautiful virgin in her shining garment, as the highest purified subject of the art, obtained in its brilliance and heavenly and spiritual beauty, and could be introduced into the philosophical bath. From this one would then receive a heavenly spirit, who, without any manual operation, would complete everything in this art by himself, once he is well preserved and enclosed.
De Cap. IX. usque XXIII.
As for chapters IX through XXIII, inclusive, I myself agree entirely with Your ... opinion; yet as for Expertus Rubertus, I cannot speak, for I do not know him, so I leave it to his own worth and unworthiness.
But regarding that which was mentioned in Cap. XXIV., concerning a red earth such is known to me. From those crystals, which have a wine-acid taste, a magnificent Spirit of Mercury can be distilled, which transforms the properly calcined gold into a blood-red essence, dissolving in every fluid, and can be applied to human bodies with astonishing benefit.
The gray earth between these passages is remarkable, yet I have never read anything of it, except what Theophrastus Paracelsus writes of a similar matter: that at Gastein, in the Salzburg region, at precisely this time, from the walls of an abandoned old mine, such drops should fall. His words run thus:
In the mountains, 13 miles from Salzburg, near Gastein, at old Saalfelden, where the ruined gold mine and its cave or shafts, called the Red Wall, are found, our Matter shall be discovered mostly in the balsamic months of May, June, and July in the form of a resinous material, like pitch or tar, or also, like a gum from the trees. It appears red, like a ruby, and hangs above on the rocks. This ruby-colored Matter is scraped off with a silver instrument, or spoon; in scraping it becomes gilded and smells like a violet. The drops which fall down to the ground are green, and just as good as the upper red ones; and if one can obtain from such only 1 lb., there is enough for the Work. This tender slime gilds a silver vessel through and through, and dissolves it likewise.
How this Matter is further to be treated, and how it should be worked into a Tincture, of that I cannot communicate to you the entire genuine process. And so that one may not miss the place where the said Matter is to be obtained, Theophrastus Paracelsus himself inscribed the following old verses into the wall:
Verses of Paracelsus:
The mine yields a red clay,
Who knows it well, gains great pay.
When it is rightly well prepared,
A white Spirit from it is bared; ☿ Philosopher.
Moreover, a fine blood-red Gold ☉ Phil.
Bestows the artist richest hold:
When he can join it to the Spirit,
The Spirit with him shall inherit.
More I say not; there is no more,
Save that it gladdens at this store;
It yields good nourishment and healthy day,
In truth, I tell thee, it is this way.
Verses (continuation of Paracelsus):
If thou perceivest this, then thank me,
That I have revealed it unto thee.
Give God His being, aid the poor,
So shalt thou well employ this store.
D.
Answer of the aforementioned learned friend, to the above letter, written N. … the 7th of July, 1747.
P. P.
That which is just now received is indeed well elaborated, and lies upon the right way quoad materiam; yet as to how the working out may proceed, since there are still many rocks and obstacles in the execution, that must be declared in due time.
For greater elucidation one may communicate to the same various little treatises of such men who were likewise upright Cabalists; and he who is well-versed in the Cabala shall find delight therein.
Yet I cannot agree with those who claim that the Matter, even without a Magnet, might be obtained. For I hold rather that it may indeed be already present in a Subject, and that nothing is lacking save the proper philosophical elaboration. This I have learned from a connoisseur of the art has been reported, and I also agree. Nature is unfathomable, and one often finds in a thing of little esteem so much, that previously seemed unbelievable.
E.
Answer of the Author, to the foregoing Letter, written by K… on the 1st of July.
P. P.
Your very pleasant letter of the 7th of this month I have rightly received through my servant, and I am infinitely obliged for your most gracious remembrance.
It is indeed true, that in the working out there are still many rocks of difficulty to overcome, and still many Monstra chymica, both external and internal, to be removed, before one comes to behold the highly desired treasure of Nature. The external are all hindrances of wicked people and accidents of the world; but the internal monsters are the superfluities in the physical egg (Ovo physico), which a skilled artist and philosopher must, above all things, remove.
Nevertheless, I am also of the complete opinion that if a man earnestly strives to pursue the Arcana Naturae, and if he has beforehand formed a proper theoretical concept of his intended sophic operations, he may confidently set himself to the matter itself.
It is indeed true that a theoretician without practice will never enter into the wondrous airy gardens of the Hesperides; for practice alone is the chief key thereto. Yet where a true earnestness is found, there also completion does not fail to follow; for Christ himself saith:
Seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.
Therefore, such a man, who would become a true priest of Nature, needs nothing more than to lift his mind out of the captivity of the mortal body; by faith to raise himself to the most radiant throne of God, which is hidden in its innermost center; to draw near thereto, and there to converse with God, and to receive from Him ineffable things.
Such a man will truly be taught of God; and all that he asks of Him in the name of Jesus Christ, as of eternal and heavenly Wisdom, will he easily receive.
The temporal must be banished, and the more a man imagines according to the principles of darkness, the farther he removes himself from the light of God. And since this light is the fountain of all powers, one must therefore also seek thereby to attain the ultimate goal; for whoever does not do this will never be able to bring anything in true philosophy to perfection, because he lives so far removed from the center, and imagines a true heterogeneity into which the light can never again approach.
The senses have in their center enclosed the light of the mind; but the man who can bring the sensualities from their wide-ranging circle back to the center, and who in turn is able to spread forth what proceeds from the midpoint, he is a true cabalist and a scholar of God.
Now, how one may so elevate his spirit, that he may come into converse with God, thereto Christ himself has shown us, in the Holy Scriptures, ways in abundance.
Therefore, one need only hold fast to the teaching of Christ, then shall one apprehend God in the Light, and be illumined by Him in such wise, that one’s mind may be steadfastly united with God, and become, as it were, divine.
If now one has attained this perfection, then one will not regard the world, but will alone have one’s delight in the company of holy and pious people.
But the doctrine of Christ requires twofold: the denial of the world, and a new life. The denial of the world includes in itself the forsaking of the lower; but the new life, the grasping of the higher; therefore must one constantly ascend and not descend, cling most intimately to the highest light-being, and from the lower, as from the abyss of darkness, remove oneself as far as possible.
Whoever has attained this far, he will, in the school of the Holy Spirit, out of the revealed Word of God, be able to attain everything from God; for to such a believer all is possible. Such a man has desire for the divine revelations, and takes day by day from the divine wisdom.
In the mortal man is hidden a divine spark; when this, through the Word of God, is nourished to a light, it will grow up into a perfect sun of divine power, and thus change us, so that we no longer live ourselves, but God alone; hence arises then the so mighty...
…the loving and powerful drive of the Spirit of God with the soul of man, that namely through the uplifting of the mind a spirit becomes one with God, from which then is revealed what noble streams of wisdom spring forth from this source, since this doctrine is the only ground of the uncorrupted Scientia mystica, of which the traces are to be found among all the most enlightened writers and philosophers.
Upon this wisdom have now all Magi and Philosophers looked, when they have wished to attain mastery of Nature; without this they most certainly would not have been able to reach their aim.
I therefore say again, that a man, who wishes to attain to this secret knowledge, must first of all banish from himself all heterogeneities that resist the light, and must in all things adhere to the doctrine of the Spirit of God; and when he then has a true theoretical understanding of the matter, in a firm and magical faith and trust in the eternal and heavenly wisdom, and is to proceed to the purpose itself, he will surely attain to the most desired end; for it remains forever thus: Non est volentis nec currentis, sed solius Dei miserentis.
God must one above all seek, before one in this secret science to practice proceeds; for he who with unwashed hands approaches thereto, to him also the veiled Virgin (NATURE) will turn her back, since she on the contrary runs with open arms toward those who, with the Light, as their true source, stand in kinship.
A constant exaltation of his mind and continual reflection is the nearest way thereto. I can myself certainly testify of it; for to me much has already in this way become clear, which before had appeared incomprehensible.
I have until now that which you, in your last letter written to me, have steadfastly considered, namely: That the philosophical matter indeed in a certain subject is already to be found.
It becomes to me wholly and completely understandable, when we take the philosophical saying: Sal metallorum est Lapis Philosophorum! as basis, and will accept the philosophical matter, as a true water, if the hands do not deny it, in the form of a salt.
This wondrous subject has been called by some Terra physica and Virgin Earth; and Count Bernhardus Trevisanus has entitled it his Golden Booklet, from which the Fontina, as the noble fountain, arises and the golden booklet is to be consumed.
But what is meant with this Terra physica, as that subject in which the philosophical matter is truly to be found, is another question. Either it must be the root of gold itself, or such a subject in the mineral kingdom, wherein the Schamaïm have poured in great quantity the wondrous salt of nature.
If it is the latter, then my thoughts still always adhere to that wondrous subject described in my first Communicato Cap. IV, V, and VI, which is the most excellent, to be recognized in the mineral kingdom.
I have already come to the idea whether it would not be better that, instead of preparing it into a magnet, one lets it be impregnated by the stars for so long until it would dissolve into a greasy pulp, and then takes it, dissolves it often with warm water, filters it, and lets it crystallize in a cold cellar.
If one were to continue this often, until the blessed and foliated earths of the Wise would show themselves, from which then finally the pure Azoth for tincture, in sealed glass and gentle warmth, could be extracted, then afterwards it would be proper to proceed, through putrefaction, as with the main key of Nature.
The entire power of this wondrous subject lies in its salt, which Sulphur and ☿ Mercury that is Spirit and Soul encloses within itself; and therein, then, would the matter of the great work be found, namely in △ and ▽, that is: in the impregnated mineral water, which, however, is not a moist water that wets the hands, but rather a moist △ hidden in 🜔 Salt.
This water cannot exist without salt, since it holds △ and △, through the movement of the Spirit from the Creator, within itself; therefore, it has not been wrongly written of the Salt of Nature, that it is the sole mystery, from which the origin of all creatures of the three kingdoms in nature arises, because all salt could be resolved into it, which salt in the high work of natural philosophy could be brought so far, that it would yield seeds thousandfold and infinitely more precious than the former, multiplying and vegetating, in sealed glasses, in operation, produced, etc.
I could, my art-desirous reader, communicate and share with you yet various letters of this kind; but since they almost contain the very same in themselves, of which above enough has already been spoken, they are here omitted, and instead of them others have been set down.
End.