10. The Counsel of Marriage of an Anonymous Ancient Philosopher, or Concerning the Mass of Sun and Moon, in Three Books.

CONSILIUM CONIUGII, SEU DE MASSA SOLIS & LUNA

Truly golden and incomparable.

Translated from the Arabic into the Latin tongue.

Here beginneth the First Book of the Counsel of Marriage, concerning the Mass of Sun and Moon, with its Compendiums.




Translated to English by Mitko Janeski from the book: Theatrum chemicum Tom 5.

No greater gift of wisdom is read to have flowed forth from the divine bounty. Wherefore, Hamuel, commend it to memory, adorn the conscience, magnify knowledge. For he that despiseth knowledge, God most high and glorious despiseth him. But the wise and chosen servants of God, each one after another, inherited this wisdom unto themselves by the grace and gift of God, whose name be everywhere blessed. They would make perpetual remembrance for posterity, and of this wrote their books, veiled in typical and tropic expressions. For unless they had described this wisdom to succeeding ages, it had been given over to forgetfulness and perished, even as their masters died. For books are vessels of memory, and the perpetual fame of the wise.

Yet, lest this wisdom and gift of the most high God, graciously bestowed upon the microcosm, should tend unto destruction, the philosophers and prophets, masters of the sciences, willed, with God’s ordinance, that the series of this wisdom should be deposited in writings, but veiled, for many causes.

The first is in the Elder Hamuel: that they might attribute it to the glorious Lord, that He should reveal it unto whom He would, and withhold it from whom He would. For, as Morienus said unto King Calid: O good king, thou oughtest to know, that this magistery is nothing else but the secret of secrets, and the mystery of the most high and great God. For He Himself committed this magistery to His prophets, whose souls He hath placed in His paradise. And if the wise men who were after them had not found their dispositions concerning the quality of the vessel wherein they wrought, never could they have attained unto the perfection of this magistery. And in the same book it is afterwards said elsewhere: Know thou, that the intent of every man who inquireth into this pure and divine science ought to reckon it nothing else but the gift of the most high and great God, who commendeth it to His servants, whose name be blessed.

The second cause is in the Book of Lights of Rasis: after he had taught many things concerning the disposition of the art, he saith: Although all things have been clearly set forth, yet I judge it meet that the lights be wrapped under the guise of enigma. For if I should unfold all things as they are, there would remain no place for prudence; the foolish would be made equal with the wise; nor under the circle of the Sun or Moon would any mortal, straitened by poverty, abandon his middle labours.

The third cause of this revelation is read: lest occasion be given unto the wicked and perverse. Therefore this science is hidden in obscure words, though it ought not to be concealed from the worthy. A certain one of the philosophers, fearing the Lord, said continually: Not so sublime nor so precious did we esteem this magistery. Nay rather, they were minded to write their work plain and manifest. But they trembled to do so, lest it should destroy the world, and the work of tilling and sowing plants should perish. Therefore not without cause wrote they their books veiled, nor compiled them confusedly.

The fourth cause of obscurity is read at the end of the Turba Philosophorum, where it is said: Unless the names were multiplied in this art of ours, boys would deride our wisdom.

The fifth cause is that of the Philosopher of the World in the Turba: For if the vulgar sellers knew this mine, they would not sell it at a cheap price. And if kings knew it, they would not suffer it to come unto the poor.

The First Part of this Book

The Sun, as Algazel saith, is the eye of the world, the splendour of the firmament, the beauty of heaven, the traveller of the spheres, the fountain of all heat, the ruler of the planets, the divider of the hours, the grace and honour of God. The Moon, as Aridem, is the purple of heaven, the follower of the Sun, the solace of navigation, the bountiful nurse of dew, the sign of storms, the mistress of moisture. The Sun is so called, as shining above all; the Moon, as shining with borrowed light, for she shineth not of herself, but all her brightness she borroweth from the Sun.

Hermes saith, the Sun is also the lord of bodies and of stones, and is more noble than they, for he is their king and their abundance. The earth corrupteth him not, nor water, nor fire; he is not diminished in the fire, but the fire rectifieth him and moisteneth him; nor do corrupting sulphurs consume him, for his nature is equal, clear, and rightly tempered. For this cause the wise have exalted him and magnified him, and in him have placed the composition of the great Elixir of the Stone, for he is a substance equal, permanent, and fixed in the length of eternity.

This Elixir indeed is of the complexion of the substance of gold, for it is hot and moist; and this Elixir is in bodies as the Sun in the stars. Wherefore the Sun is king of the stars and their light; and by him are fulfilled the things of the earth, of plants, fruits, and minerals. For he retaineth every body, and is retained of them; he is the ferment of the two Elixirs, the white and the red; and they are not rectified save by him, nor completed by any other, as dough is not perfected save by leaven. And this leaven is in the Elixir as the rennet in milk, and as musk in a sweet odour.

The Moon, truly, the bride of the Sun, is of a heavenly colour, near to the complexion of the Sun, and is the mistress of moisture, from whom all things are generated by the help of the Sun.

Mercury again is the lord of metals, who discovereth gold and silver and gems, wishing to lie hidden in the clay for the merchants. Mercury is the part of the matter of all metals, and is of a nature earthy, subtle, moist, airy, inconstant, vehement, and most excellently mixed universally, only inclining toward watery humidity; whence, by reason of its moistening humour, it floweth in cold, seeking a strange path, and flieth in fire. By reason of its airy humidity and vehement complexion, it is not burnt, but wholly sublimed.

For the airy humidity, moved by the fire, carrieth with it its subtle dryness entirely, so that it leaveth behind it no dregs. And by reason of its dryness it floweth in globes, and doth not moisten what it toucheth, nor cleaveth thereto, by reason of its most vehement complexion. And by the solidity of its dense parts, being deprived of rarity, it is weighty; and upon it swim stones and all metals, save gold, which seeketh the bottom. From this thou mayest draw the greatest secret, namely, a nature, symbol, and great similitude.

And it is to be known, that the Sun and Moon and Mercury are digested by a temperate heat; but Mars and Venus by a fiery heat, exceeding temperance unto burning, and this heat is called contrary. But by the heat molendesi the defective resteth, and in part thereof are Jupiter and Saturn digested.

Know also that pure Mercury, that is, most excellently tempered, is found in the Sun and Moon, and is seen to dissolve itself, although it be matter, or rather a part of the matter, of all others. And when it is brought by nature’s benefit unto its own species, by reason of its most excellent complexion, it can no more be corrupted, but other corruptible metals must be generated from it. And it abideth in process, so long as it is in becoming, not in being, namely in digestion, optessi and molendesi. By these, and through these, the wise prepared their Stone from the best ore they could find.

Whence Geber, who was ignorant of the first principles of nature, is far removed from our art, because he hath not the true root on which to found his intention. But he that hath known the principles of nature, and the causes and essences, yet hath not attained the true end and perfection of this most hidden art, he hath nevertheless an easier access, and is little removed from the entrance of the art. He who hath known all the principles and causes of minerals and their manner of generation, which consist in the intention of nature, is scarcely far from the complement of the work, without which our science cannot be perfected.

The Stone of the Philosophers is a king descending from heaven, whose mountains are of silver, and whose streams are golden, and the land of the Stone, and precious gems. Behold, all the kinds of the art are now enumerated.

The Constant One saith: Know, my son, that the work of the philosophers and of the prophets is in nothing but quicksilver. For they, pondering on all things, and arriving at the knowledge of quicksilver, determined that they should take quicksilver, whereby they work. Therefore, in natures and in accidents, which alter all things, they have repeated their thought and their mixture. When therefore their intention rested upon their Stone, and they knew that from this Stone proceedeth quicksilver, which some of them desired exceedingly to hide, they named it by all names, and likened it unto every work and thing.

Some indeed by only one name, which is the Stone. The water, truly, that is drawn from it, or from her, or from him, they called quicksilver. And this they divided into two parts, which it was needful they should call by two names. Some called them heaven and earth; some male and female; some stone and water; some spirit and body; some egg and cock; some man and magnesia; some vile and precious; and so forth, even unto dung, which scarcely may be attained, which men and boys tread underfoot in the streets and ways, that is, the moist thing—whose exposition shall appear in what followeth.

Whence Rasis in the Light of Lights: some wise men said it consisteth in one thing only, namely in the moist; some in two, male and female; some in three, spirit, soul, and body—that is, water, earth, and tincture; some in four, namely the elements.

The Wise, nevertheless, do say that the five elements spring forth from one root, namely the philosophical air: to wit, the four elements—hot, cold, moist, and dry—and the fifth essence, which is neither hot, nor cold, nor moist, nor dry, without admixture of any other kind. For it dissolveth itself and coagulath itself, it maketh itself white and is adorned with redness, it maketh itself yellow and black. Moreover, it disposeth itself, that is, it becometh as the pledge of wine, for nature rejoiceth in nature because of likeness, that is, the nearness of nature between them. And from itself it conceiveth, for one is the kind of all those species, namely male and female, and the spirit of the Moon. And nature overcometh nature, and nature containeth nature, until it hasten the end of the work.

Adomati, know ye, that there is but one thing, which hath father and mother, and its father and mother are found therein and agree, nor can it differ in aught from its father and mother. Hermes: Its father is the Sun, its mother truly the Moon. And the Constant One: Its mother is a virgin, and the father knew her not carnally, therefore is the generation chaste. And Hermes again saith: It behoveth the thing to be of near kin by nature. And forthwith he addeth: But moisture is of the dominion of the Sun.

And Dantinus saith: That every thing of this art is not, save by God and with Him: for every tincture proceedeth from its like. And Arctotienes likewise maketh mention, that three substances suffice for the whole magistery, namely, the white smoke, that is, the quinta vis, that is, the heavenly water; and the green lion, that is, the brass of Hermes; and the fetid water, which is the mother of all things, from which, and by which, and with which, they prepare it in the beginning and in the end.

These three species therefore, and their preparations, reveal thou to no man. But fools are wont to seek this magistery in every other thing, and in seeking they go astray, for they come not to its perfection, until Sun and Moon be reduced into one body; which never shall be, save God willeth it.

And Aristotle, in his Epistle to Alexander, saith: That there are two principal stones of this art, the white and the red, of marvellous nature. The white, at the setting of the Sun, beginneth to appear upon the face of the waters, hiding itself until midnight, and afterwards sinketh into the deep. But the red, contrariwise, worketh: for it beginneth to ascend upon the waters at the rising of the Sun until midday, and afterwards descendeth into the deep. And in another Epistle he saith: The instrumental water in the art is understood to be twofold, whereof the one is appointed to the Sun, the other to the Moon. And now hath he laid open the celestial secret. And Kalid: In these two stones which I have designated is the perfection unfolded of the four natures: the one is the man, that is, the Sun; the other is the woman, that is, the Moon. And Hamuel commenteth: This is the noble magnesia, commended of all the philosophers, which under many names is one thing, and they are two divine waters, the lunar and the solar, neither of which worketh without the other.

And Hermes saith: That the Stone is the whole secret, and the life of every thing, and every man hath need thereof.

And this is the water which is in the seed of wheat, and in the olive oil, and in the gum of peaches, and in the fruits of all trees diverse; and the beginning of man’s generation is of it; and it is the living thing which dieth not so long as the world endureth, for it is the head of the world, that is, the humour. Rasis, in the Book of Lights, deemeth it superfluous to name and designate it, for it never departeth from thee; for if thou diest, it dieth with thee; and if thou perish, with it thou goest down to death.

And in the same book, of the art of minerals, he thus speaketh, though with much diffuseness: Oil receiving colour, that is, solar splendour, is sulphur itself: even so likewise is brass. Therefore Plato saith: Every quicksilver is sulphur, but not conversely; and every gold is brass, but not every brass is gold. Text: But every oil is likened unto the Sun and unto gold. Therefore Hermes: Fatness is of the dominion of the Sun, and moisture of the dominion of the Moon; for all cold oil is moisture, and all hot oil is fatness. Text: And in respect of death in the second degree, from it is oil pressed, but by reason of the dryness of the earth, after all the vapour of the air is drawn forth into water like unto itself. It is also called the work of death because of rust.

Whence Theophilus: I tell you, iron becometh not rusty save by that water, and it is that which tinctured the plates. And Donellus: But I say unto you, take iron, make plates thereof, afterwards sprinkle them with venom, and set them in a vessel whose mouth is well closed, &c.

And by reason of the ingress appearing in the first and second work it is called Mars. Whence Florius: Know that the first blackness is of the nature of Mars, and from that blackness is born the redness which overflooded the blackness, and ordained peace fleeing and not fleeing; for Mars is the god of war. Text: That which is six, that is, blackness and tincture, is emitted; it is called the perpetual and incorruptible water; the dregs themselves, when they blacken, take unto themselves the name of magnesia.

Gloss in the Turba: Wash until the blackness go forth, which some have called coins. And Gradinon saith: When the things of our art are once ground and cooked, ye shall find blackness; and that is the lead of the wise, of which they said: our coins are black. Text: The white dregs are called white lead, that is, tin. This is ascribed to Mercury, and is the oil, which, being prepared with more worthy administration, they call viscous gold and atrament, and red gum, and red orpiment hath taken to itself the name, because it is the fatness of gold and its whole tincture.

Text. Nature itself, the Fifth, is that of Venus among the Philosophers, which is neither hot nor cold, neither moist nor dry, but a mean. The same is also called the yellow auripigment, and Iris, for its manifold colours. For it is the Stone from which proceedeth every colour; it is the perpetual water, white indeed when first it appeareth in candour, then also the white of an egg, and vinegar, sea-water, almidzari, and other such names attributed unto it.

From this water, and from this body, quicksilver is transformed: and it is dried, turning itself to red. Thus this oil of the hidden and secret is in the white of quicksilver, which, as hath been said, confirmeth the beginning and root of the whole work. And when it shall be perfected, being set upon tin, or lead, or brass, it converteth them into the best species of silver. The same moreover may afterwards be brought forth from the tincture of gold. And finally, becoming red, the oil, namely sulphur, with the quicksilver, which hath its being from the white body, must be espoused; from the water of brass cometh the brightness and clarity of quicksilver, which maketh white, and the same is red, for after whiteness it becometh red.

This oil therefore and quicksilver, brought into one, constitute one thing, whence the ancient and common proverb ariseth, and it is a saying of the wise: The ruddy servant taketh a white wife, and by the conception of the woman being with child, she bringeth forth a son, who surpasseth all his progenitors, that is, the Sun and the Moon. When therefore quicksilver proceedeth from the white body, it is joined to the oil, that is, sulphur.

Gloss. Quicksilver is joined with oil, that is, the solar fatness, which is the male, and that is the female.

Text. Moreover, quicksilver must by another name be designated. For those bodies white and red, which are joined or mingled, we call altogether the four bodies.

Thus then, from quicksilver in the body of the magnesia, being dissolved by the body of the white and the red, they know it to be congealed. Hermes also, in the Book of the Dukedom, which is one of the Seven, saith: Confidence consisteth in two things, unto which a third is added; and this is the same saying as before. And in another place he saith: I have seen three faces, that is, spirits, born of one father, that is, of one lineage, for of them is one kind; one of which is in fire, another in air, the third in water.

Wherefore Hamuel, the commentator of the Elder, saith: It is the threefold water of life, for it is one, in which are air, fire, and water, in which is the soul arisen, which they call gold, and call it divine water.

Text. These faces, which their father joined, the father, that is, the one genus, because they are homogeneous; therefore they are symbols: and one seeth the three natures joined, because they rejoice in one another. Then with one mouth they spake, namely, those three natures joined in water, saying: They seek the four natures of the elements, namely in the earth; for in the dead body are four, hot, moist, cold, and dry; and these are united by that water which worketh all things, namely, it quickeneth, it killeth by calcining, it dissolveth the rest, and coagulath itself with the earth.

Text. These four natures the ants, that is, the blackness in the womb of the earth of the philosophers’ brass, first brought forth into water, which is neither hot, nor moist, nor cold, nor dry, but a mean of all, incorruptible, joining fixed tinctures.

And Lucas the Philosopher: Burn them, that is, burn the silver, and burn the gold. For it is nothing else but light that is burned, because to burn is to make white, that is, by the first and second whitening. And to make red is to give life, which is the last of the work.

And he further added: The definition of this art is the liquefaction of the body, that is, the dissolving into water, and the division of the soul from the body: and again the reuniting of the soul unto its pure body. For our brass hath a soul and a body, like unto a man.

It behoveth therefore that the body be divided, and the soul separated from it, so that it be not the body that penetrateth, but the soul, that is, the tincture, in water, which is subtle and tinging the body itself, that is, it penetrateth the dead earth, and thus body and soul are in nature.

And he added a fair and obscure riddle: That the splendour of Saturn, that is, the blackness solar, which is his Spirit and tincture, when it ascendeth into the air, that is, when it is resolved into aerial vapour in its water whence it came, appeareth not at first save darksome; and then is born the offspring of the Philosophers.

Text. Mercury, that is, distilling as though dropping the good, meeteth with the solar ray, that is, the splendour of the Sun, that light may be joined to light, and whiteness come forth after the utmost blackness.

Text. And quicksilver, that is, the living water, by virtue of its fiery power, that is, solar, which is more potent than fire, quickeneth the dead body, that is, it maketh it red and perfect, that is, it fixeth it. Moreover, concerning this Stone unequal, Catis in the Turba saith: If thou wilt prove our coin unto perfection, that is, brass, see whether it be brass impalpable, that is, clean and purged from blackness, namely oil, which thou shalt behold floating idly above, and gathered, and turned into white water. If such it be found, it is apt; otherwise it tincteth not.

Rasis: The spirit hath entrance into bodies when they lie clean and purged beneath. And this is the chief root of this work.

It followeth: And know thou, if thou shalt take aught else besides our brass and our water, and water it in our water, it profiteth nothing. But if thou shalt water our brass with our water, ye shall find the truth. And he addeth: By our brass and our permanent water the Philosophers signified this Stone, which also they commanded to be cooked with gentle fire. And verily two things are our coined Stone, namely brass and water; and they are that of which the wise have said that nature rejoiceth in nature, for the nearness of nature in those two, namely the male and the female, and our water, which is of the same nature, namely the water of those two, the Sun and the Moon. Between them is the greatest affinity, which, unless it were, they would not so soon be converted into one.

And Catis in the Turba: That nothing proceedeth from man save man, nor from bird save bird. And nature is amended only by nature. From it, and not from another, is the art cultivated. Unless thou take it, and water it, thou doest not well. Join therefore the male, that is, the Sun, the son of his sister, that is, the fragrant Moon, that is, by odour or fumous evaporation, and they shall beget unto you the art. And join not unto them alien powder, nor aught else beside their own water.

And he addeth: O how precious and marvellous is the nature of this red servant, that is, of Mercury made red, for without him the regimen of the work cannot stand.

And Lasan saith: That nature is both male and female, and the Indians have called it magnesia, for therein lieth the greatest secret.

And Asfaracus: He who will attain the truth, let him take the humour of the Sun and the spirit of the Moon, for sulphur is contained by sulphur, and moisture by moisture.

And Arsilebres: Sulphur by sulphur, that is, quicksilver with brass. For all quicksilver is sulphur, but both the sulphurs are incorruptible; and moisture by moisture, that is, Mercury by the moisture of brass.

And Constans saith: Mind nothing else save this, how there are two quicksilvers, namely, the fixed in brass, and the volatile fleeing in Mercury.

And the Envious One saith: This sulphur, that is, quicksilver, is wont to flee, and is sublimed as vapour. It must be held therefore by another quicksilver of its own kind, namely of brass, and its flight restrained. For if it be not mingled with white or red sulphur of its kind, that is, with gold or silver, it will the more readily flee. Join therefore quicksilver to quicksilver of its own kind, and having done so, ye possess the greatest secret.

And Parmenides: Leave aside waters and broths, bodies and stones, but mind the coins. Take brass for the beginning, and tin for liquefaction; that is, make tablets, that is, leaves of gold; and for beginning, take it, that is, blacken it with mercury and mingle it; and take tin for liquefaction, that is, when ye see it all white, then is it liquefied, that is, turned into water. The same Parmenides addeth: Leave aside superfluous discourses, and take quicksilver, that is, compounded water, and congeal it in the body of magnesia, that is, in the earth of the divine water, and it shall become white and red, that is, gold and silver.

And it is called the Stone of Magnesia, because, according to Pythagoras, it is a thing that followeth its companion, as the magnet doth iron. For as is the affinity of the magnet with iron, so is the confirmation of water with earth. And as the soul rejoiceth with the body, so doth nature rejoice with nature like unto itself.

And Eximius saith: I tell you truly, there is no tincture of Venus in our brass. Waste not therefore your money in vain, bringing sorrow to your hearts and souls.

And Hermes saith: That Azoth, that is, quicksilver, and the fire of putrefaction, the fire of the wise, do wash and cleanse Laton, that is, brass, and utterly take away its darkness from it. Which if thou rightly orderest the fire, Azoth and fire in this disposition suffice thee.

Wherefore the Destroyer saith: Whiten Laton, that is, brass, which cannot be whitened save it be dissolved in Azoth; and rend your books lest your hearts be rent.

And Dantinus saith: Though Laton at the first be red, yet is it unprofitable; but if after redness it be changed into white, it availeth nothing. And Hermes: First is blackness, and afterwards with salt and anaton, that is, fire and mercury, followeth whiteness. And first it was red, and at last white. The superadded blackness shall altogether be taken away, and then it is turned into red, most bright and beautiful.

And Marion said: When our Laton, that is, our brass, is burned with Acidbrie, that is, with our moist, white, incombustible sulphur, and the moisture of Azoth is poured upon it, so that its fervour, that is, its hot fatness, be taken away, then all darkness and blackness shall be removed from it. For moisture in the fire bringeth forth blackness, which moisture being digested, whiteness followeth; so it is in this matter. And when it is converted into most pure gold, that is, into golden colour in effect, not in appearance—for gold is viscous and white in sight—therefore not in vain have I added testimonies concerning the ore of the art from divers places.

For Morienus saith: I tell thee, in species and in weight expend thou nothing, and chiefly in the making of gold. For whoso in this magistery shall seek aught else than this Stone, is like a man striving to ascend by ladders and steps, who, when he cannot, falleth prone upon his face to the earth.

And afterwards he saith: That in this Stone are the four elements, and it is likened unto the world and the composition of the world. Nor in the world is any other Stone found that may be likened unto it in effect or in nature. Whosoever therefore shall seek another stone beside this in the magistery, all his works shall be in vain.

Hamuel: Already the wise have shown unto thee plainly the manner by the philosophy of vain things, whereby thou hast gained much and redeemed thy money, that it be not spent in vain. And this is a great profit if thou understandest it.

Therefore, that this chapter may be more fully manifest, the figures of the ores and their compositions, with the distinction of the double work, which the Elder in his house in his image described, a fairer knowledge, though delivered more obscurely, I will briefly expound.

The Elder saith: I entered into a certain subterranean house, which is the house of treasures. And I beheld set in order nine images of eagles, having their wings outstretched as though they would fly, their feet extended and opened; and in the foot of one eagle was the likeness of a great bow, such as is oftentimes bent for shooting arrows.

And on the right and left sides of the house there were images of men, as perfect as might be, standing clothed in divers kinds and colours, their hands stretched toward the inner chamber, inclining toward a certain statue within the house. And in the innermost part of the chamber there was the image of a wise man, who held in his hands upon his knees a tablet of marble, of the length of one arm and the breadth of one palm. And the fingers of his hands were bent over it, and his forefingers, as if he signified one should look upon it, even as in an open book it seemed to every beholder. And that tablet had columns like unto a book, and was divided down the midst; and on the side where the Wise Man sat were images of divers things and barbarous letters.

And in the first half of the tablet were five in the lower part thereof. The first sphere of two birds, their breasts bowed toward one another: one of them with wings cut off, namely the male; the other above it, winged, namely the female. And each held with its beak the tail of the other, as though flying one would fain fly with the other, and the other would hold back the flyer. These two birds were of one kind, in one sphere.

Then another sphere, the third: the full Moon. Above, in the first tablet, were two beside the head of the flyer: the image of the crescent Moon; and on the other side the Moon in a sphere. In the other half of the said tablet, the second, there were likewise three above and two beneath. Above, the Sun with two rays, which is the double Sun, and the image of two in one; and on the other side, the image of the Sun with one ray, which is the simple Sun, as an image of glass in wine. And the rays descended compassing a black earth, parted below into three. The third part thereof had the crescent Moon, the inner part white without blackness, and a black sphere encircled it. And these are two, namely the earth of two natures, the black sphere and the Moon which it compassed. And above were three, namely the Sun with two rays, and the Sun simple with one ray. And these are in all ten, according to the number of the nine eagles and the black earth.*

Gloss. This house of treasures is the vessel of the art, hanging in the clay of the dunghill, of which more shall be said at large. The nine eagles are the nine parts of vinegar, or of our sea, for as the feathers of the eagle receive gold when it is gilded, so no other thing can dissolve the Sun, save our eagle; nor is there any other water but this golden. Whereof Marion saith: Nothing can take from Laton his darkness or his odour, save Azoth, which is as it were his regimen; first, when it is boiled, for it tincteth him and maketh him white; and again Laton ruleth Azoth, for he maketh him red. Another Philosopher also saith: And Azoth cannot substantially take away from Laton his colour, nor change it, save only as to appearance; but Laton from Azoth taketh away his whiteness substantially, for ashes have a marvellous virtue that appeareth above all colours. Laton indeed ruleth Azoth, and maketh him red with the nine eagles, that is, nine parts of water, the volatile tincture of our brass; and subliming it in its vessel it is altogether whitened.

Wherefore Rasis: The substance of all things is equal to the tenth part, but if thou wouldst signify the whole, nine parts must needs be made of the substance of water.

And Moses in the Turba: Join first nine parts of vinegar; for these are the eagles that have their bows outstretched, mortifying the body and drawing forth its soul, which is the tincture of brass.

Parmenides: This Red Sea turneth gold into red fire, for nature rejoiceth with nature. Boil therefore in the humour, until the hidden nature appear, that is, until it be deprived of the blackness that was Ethel from Ethel, that is, from silver of Rosin. If ye dissolve, that is, if ye resolve into our water, the white body, that is, our brass, there shall be drawn forth from it flowers, that is, its tincture.

And Aristaeus in the Turba: Take the body which the Master bade, making thereof thin plates; then put them into the water of our sea, which, when they are covered, is called permanent water. Boil it with gentle fire until the body be dissolved and made water; and cast in Ethel, that is, quicksilver; and roast them together with gentle fire until it become a broth marked with solar fatness, and be converted into its own Ethel, namely from which it was, and the nature is composed, until it become a good coin, that is, blackness, which we call the flower of the Sun. Boil it also until it be deprived of blackness and whiteness appear; and this is burnt brass and the flower of gold.

Pythagoras in the Turba saith: There is a most sharp vinegar which maketh pure gold to be spirit; which having, neither whiteness, nor blackness, nor rust abideth. And when that vinegar is mingled with the body, it turneth it into spirit, and tincteth it with a spiritual tincture which never can be blotted out.

And the son of Azir: This vinegar burneth the body and turneth it into ashes, and also maketh it white; and if it be boiled until it be well deprived of blackness, it becometh a Stone and a most white coin.

Afterwards he addeth: Now by this disposition is shown unto you a nature stronger than all natures, more powerful and more noble, which I know to be the pure vinegar, by the mercy of God alone. And the more I read books, the more I perceived. But men, as perfect as they might be, clothed in divers kinds and colours, are the Philosophers and Prophets, the servants of God, who beckon to the reading and understanding of the wisdom of the Most High, that they may perceive that to the servant of God his treasure shall never fail. But the barbarous letters and the infinite kinds are the riddles and dark sophisms of the wise, that they might hide them from the wicked. Wherefore in the Turba: Though they have infinite names, yet by one name are they named, wherein is no deceit nor diversity. And where it profiteth not, it is magnified with great names; and where it profiteth, there it is hidden. For it is a stone and not a stone; and because it is spirit, soul, and body, it is white volatile, white volatile hollow, as touching the porosity of the earth. And because it drinketh up all its earth, it is salt, hairless, which no one over-subtilised may touch without great offence. If thou makest it fly, it flieth; and if thou sayest it is water, thou sayest true; and if thou sayest it is not water, thou sayest false.

Be not therefore deceived by the multitude of names, but hold it certain, that each thing is that which it is, to which no alien thing is joined. Seek therefore its companion, that is, brass, and join nothing else thereto. And suffer men to multiply names; for if they did not multiply them, children would deride our wisdom. All these things are written in the Turba, at the end, concerning the riddles of the wise.

Two birds are homogeneous, that is, of one nature, and they are the Stone of the Wise. The male is without wings, that is, he cannot fly, because fire of itself cannot corrupt him, nor can he exhale in the fire; nor can any salts or spirits or alums (save our eagle so called). But the winged bird is the female, which with corrupting bodies is consumed. Hence they said: Set the female upon the male, and the male ascendeth upon the female; for by the help of the female and of her water he flieth, and becometh a moist spirit, and quicksilver is drawn forth by men—that is, by reason and great understanding.

Whence Theophilus: And whatsoever the envious have obscurely related in their books, they meant to signify quicksilver— which some have called the water of sulphur, others white lead, others brass—sometimes it is named the compounded coin. And they joined the male with the female in his proper humour, because without male and female no offspring is generated.

Morienus described five parts or orders of the Stone: first, the coitus; second, conception; third, impregnation; fourth, birth; fifth, nourishment. For if there be not coitus, there will not be conception; and if there be not conception, there will not be impregnation; and if there be not impregnation, there will not be birth. This is the ordering of the operation, for it is likened to the creation of man. Whence Morienus said afore: O good king, I confess the truth unto thee, that this standeth most of all by divine nod in its creation. For every creation is of God, and cannot subsist without this water, to wit, the humour or water.

And afterwards he addeth: Why should I rehearse many things? For this thing is drawn from a thing. Its ore hath never existed with thee; yet they found it; and, to confess more truly, they take it from the thing itself, and thou hast demanded it of no ore. Understand, as to the creation of man, of male and female; and of lust, as to the moist.

For if there were not moisture in the womb, as Bonellus saith in the Turba, the seed would not be preserved until it bring forth the foetus.

And the Constant One calleth his Stone a watery moist thing, for a sophism. And know, my son, that this Stone, from which this secret is drawn, God hath not set to be bought with a price; for it is found cast forth in the ways, that it may be had of poor and rich, that by reason and knowledge a man may lightly come unto it. And the moist is everywhere; and our Stone is moist with a watery and metallic moisture; whence they said it is both the vilest and the most precious thing in the world.

For the common humour, of which all things are generated, is beyond price. Hamuel expoundeth this vilest, saying: The most precious thing in the world, of garments, is silk—and it is of worms; and honey, wherein is the health of man, is of bees; and pearls are drawn from shells. And man, who is more worthy than aught that is in the world, is of seed. But the brass of the art, and the ore, only the opinion of men maketh precious, as is nobly said in the book Consolation of Philosophy.

For the beauty which they have is not theirs but of the light; for every colour is light terminated by an opaque in a perspicuous body. For gold and silver and gems of their nature will to lie hidden in the mire and in the dark earth. Whence Morienus would signify this, saying: If thou findest that which thou seekest in the dunghill, take it; but if thou findest it not in the dunghill, withdraw thy hand from the purse. And likewise Gratianus: And if in the dung thou findest that which pleaseth or profiteth thee, nevertheless take it—signifying that thou must take of the fresh ore which hath not been in the work. And what Morienus addeth: For every thing that is bought at a great price, in the craft of this work, is found lying and unprofitable, signifieth the forbidding of vain things—as pearls, quicksilver, sulphur, arsenic, sal ammoniac—which flee the fire. How then shall good be expected from that which is not permanent? For a tincture drawn from a bodily and combustible root is annulled like its root. For things are not changed, as they go out from their root, in minerals; nor is it seen so in the seeds of vegetables and the seeds of animals: as from an egg a chick ariseth by divers transmutations from that whence it hath its root; and likewise from seed a man is made, nothing else supervening save the menstrual blood, from which the seed is made—of blood equal and like unto itself—by which thereafter it is nourished.

But the excretion of dung and urine, blood, hair, eggs, and the like, have no neighbourhood with metallic things, so that of their root gold and silver could be made, as certain ignorant ones suppose: for naught goeth forth from man save man; nor from a like thing save a like unto itself.

Therefore gold and silver go not forth save from a like species. Whence the Elder, son of Hamuel: Every animal is not generated of itself, save with that which is of itself, with its own species, which is homogeneous unto it. Likewise Adam and Eve and all the race of men. Therefore every thing agreeth with its like, and is near according to species. Begin in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and know its nature: for it is of the root of its matter; that which is in the same and of the same; nor doth any other enter upon it which is not also of it; and it is its root. Likewise Mercury is of it; and this is that from which it is extracted; and it is in it and of it.

For the Stone of the Philosophers is water congealed, as in gold and in silver; and it withstandeth the fire and is resolved into its own water, of which it is composed, of its own kind. Whence Hermes: Naught befitteth a thing save that which is nearest unto it by its nature; and it will beget an offspring like unto it. And straightway it is subjoined: Moisture is gold, under the dominion of the Moon; and fatness is under the dominion of the Sun. Whence these two—Sun and Moon—are one, and the curd, and the seed. And King Aros saith: Water is not glued save with the like of its sulphur; nor is there found in a thing aught like unto itself, save that which is of it. And Calid, son of Iesid: Neither those past nor those present can tinct gold, save with gold; and the rest thou shalt find in the Senior. And these things said concerning the two birds and the eagles may suffice.

It followeth: Why did he set many Suns and Moons? It is answered: Because the spirit and the soul go not forth together in one act, but little by little, part after part, successively. These are clearly declared in the Senior; but I will expound that which he omitted. Two full Moons and halves are five, to be reckoned from the lesser: to wit, the half Moon, and four half Moons are in two full [Moons]; and the two Suns are all seven. Hence it is that he saith afterwards: Seven are the orders of the weight; five of them are without obscurity, namely the Moons; the beauty of the two shining ones, that is, of the two parts of the Sun. And because there is nought but the image of the Sun and Moon upon the tablet, and number—the weight followeth the number of the figures upon it. And he presently subjoined: Know that of one root there be not less than three and the third half-part—that is, the weight that is set with it (to wit, with the Sun) unto that third, namely nine. For, as Hermes saith, the Sun and Moon are the roots of this art. And Rasis biddeth receive three parts of fire and seven of earth, and part answereth to part, as he saith, by equality of proportion. And, according to the opinion of Obede, Rasis: of Light four parts, and of Air one part, and of Fire one part. In the Book of the Three Words four weights are set: first, of earth eleven parts, and of fire one part; and add unto them of unguent, and set to dissolve until they be made together. And this dissolution is taken from that colour. Some say three parts of earth and one of fire; the regimen is one and the same, and either is right, yet the first speaketh better.

And Zenoa in the Turba saith: One part of the sincere body, that is, of the Sun, and three of the other brass; then mingle with vinegar, and straightway cook until it be earth.

And Dardaris in the Turba saith: And four coins dye the vulgar; but they dye brass, that is, Mercury; and brass being dyed, they dye the coins of the vulgar. And he saith that quicksilver is of four bodies, which are souls hidden in four bodies. Others say, Not so; but there are seven parts of earth and one of fire—and this also is good, yet the first is better.

Some do say, Not so, but that there be eleven parts of earth and one of fire; and the regimen is the same, yet the first is better. And he addeth: Work therefore as thou wilt, for the regimen is the same, and the space of time also the same. And, as one saith in the Book of Lights: They will three parts of earth and one of fire, which yet pleaseth not Rasis. For he saith: The inequality of price ought not to be changed.

Note: The leaves with two parts of ointment must be amalgamated by wind and fire, and afterwards the whole ointment cooled with its true weight, so that it be nine parts of neighbours and one part of brass. And in the Turba, Pandulphus: Behold, in the egg are four things—earth, water, air, and fire—and in the midst a red point of the Sun, which is the chick.

And Morienus saith: That the first proposition is almost nothing. And a certain one experienced in this art said: A little of the Sun, as a drachm, that it be the seed of fire. And the Constant One, searching all, saith: I found two substances, namely the agent and the patient; and lo, the agent is now everywhere, but the patient in many things. Whence it is known that in this work, of one taken two are made, namely male and female. Moreover, the male is everywhere singular, but the female in many.

And note: the weight of the art is double. One is the common, wherein is no diversity, namely nine and a tenth part; the other is the singular or plural, and it is double: the first of the first work, and that is in the first composition of brass, and it differeth from the second diversely. Note of the weight of imbibition, how much, namely, the blood can imbibe of the parts, which nature knoweth better than the artificer. For nature doth the imbibition, not hand nor handling, but fire and Azoth, as the Constant One said.

Now there is another weight, spiritual, of the second work; and that likewise is diverse according to divers masters. Athomus in the Turba willeth the third part of fire and two of earth to be mingled. For he saith: If there be twenty-four ounces, quench the heat with a third part, that is, eight ounces of vinegar.

And Bonellus in the Turba warneth, saying: Beware lest ye multiply the humour, nor set it dry, but make it as a mass firm; knowing that if ye multiply the mass of water, it will not contain it, nor will it burn well in the furnace, that is, it will not dry well; nor if ye dry it too much, will they be joined or cooked.

And Arsuberes likewise in the Turba: Join it with snow-water, as with a man it may be thought sufficient, and boil until the rust be consumed.

But Morienus willeth a fourth part of fire and three of earth. For he saith: When thou shalt have led the foul body, afterwards put of the ferment, that is, of aqua vitae, the fourth part thereof. For the ferment of gold is gold, as the ferment of bread is bread. And when thou shalt have put it, set it in the Sun to cook, until these two be reduced into one.

And Hermes, to whom none was like, teacheth to add a fourth part, and that not at once, but from fourth to fourth, that is, in four days, each day a fourth. And grind in a mortar until it become like fatness or ointment, and afterwards roast unto dryness, and again grind to moisture in many days. And this nine times dissolve and coagulate; for in every solution and coagulation its effect is increased.

Rasis in the Book of Lights teacheth to add an equal part of water unto the earth, as in his work appeareth; yet Helmer’s method is better than theirs.

And know: the Philosophers oftentimes set the end before the beginning in their treatises, and the beginning in the end, interchanging. Whence sometimes they depressed the first work and spake of the second; sometimes they recalled the first work and left the second; sometimes with roots of knowledge, sometimes without ores.

Wherefore Hermes, in the Book of Roots, which is the second of the seven, saith: The wisdom of the author is greater than his book. For he may take away the beginning or the end, with the root or without the root, as the first inventor. And in the fifth of the seven, after he had spoken enough concerning the conjunction of water and earth, and of the weight of the second work, namely of the fourth part and of the fifth part, and of another set two ways to be swallowed, then he speaketh of the first weight at the end, saying: That according to the sentence of the heavens, and according to the sentence of particulars, and according to the sentence of good materials, it is a secret. And I will say unto thee but singly. And it is this: one part fire and three of earth. And now by God be blessed, for natures are four and no more.

Whence their weights are multiplied: either by the four natures of the elements; or by the four natures and the second water; or by the plurality of things, to wit, three, which is the perfect number; or by the seven planets; or by the twelve signs whereby the work is ruled. They set their weights accordingly: the first set a fourth part of the Sun, the second a fifth, the third a third or a little more, the fourth a seventh, as Rasis put seven parts of earth and three of fire; the fifth a twelfth. And by divers reasons they set divers weights. And sometimes, speaking of one work, they set the weights of another. Whence the Elder: And they perchance spake a word in one sense, and under it is another.

Furthermore, the first five: namely two of the upper— the waxing Moon and the full Moon— and three others subtle, namely the two birds and the full Moon, signify the first work, which is the extraction of tinctures from the body, until nothing remain in the body that ascendeth not with the moist spirit, whereby the body is modified and turned into clear water. Yet first appeareth blackness, from the dominion of the moist in the hot, which lasteth so long until the moisture be consumed; then the water is whitened. And of this water Morienus saith: That with it thou shalt do nothing, save it be fermentative itself.

And the Elder saith: Before thou descendest, thou hast made these three parts of water, namely water, air, and fire, being in the water above their white and foliated earth. That is, in the second work, the first in the first work is wholly dissolved, namely the moist body, and becometh earth, that is, the Stone. Whence their first preparation is necessary, as is the custom; and this is the putrefaction of the body, each beastly subtle, one hundred and fifty days; and some say one hundred and twenty natural days; and perchance whiteness first shall appear in one hundred and seventy days. But this is not approved among the philosophers, because it signifieth the intent of the fire.

And therefore the first in humour is with him better than the second or the third, because it signifieth the temperance of the fire, until whiteness be given and redness returned. Note, albeit these refer back to the first dissolution of things, yet the Elder meaneth the second whiteness, which in one hundred and fifty days is resolved, with certain colours of days; or in twenty-one days it is resolved into water; or in one hundred and fifty days is resolved the second whiteness, which is the first work and the whole coagulation of the whole. This is more true and proved.

Of this putrefaction Pandulphus in the Turba: Most hidden, most honourable, this is the white magnesia, which being mixed and ground in wine, take not unless it be clean and pure; and set it in its vessel, and pray unto God that He make thee to see the right Stone; and cook it gently; and when thou hast drawn it forth, see if it be black; and if so, thou hast ruled well. But if not, rule it white, which is the great secret, until it be covered with blackness; and afterwards blackness cometh, which lasteth forty days only, and it is whitened and coagulated.

And this water is the flower of brass, the Indian gold, the water of saffron, and fixed alum. And as Asuarus in the Turba, by authority of Hermes, saith: Hermes commanded that a part of the coins be taken, that is, moist white, and of the brass of the philosophers a part, and mingle it with the coins, and set it in a vessel well shut, and boil it seven days of one name; then shall brass be turned into coins, that is, into moist white, and again coagulated seven days, and let not the decoction cease. Afterwards the vessel shall appear, and blackness shall be found. Again repeat the decoction, until the blackness be consumed, which being consumed, a most noble whiteness shall appear; and so it shall take the humour of the Sun and the spirit of the Moon. And this is the first work, which no other goeth before.

Now the two homogeneous birds are male and female, but the number of two set into one in the figures, namely seven. But the full Moon sudden, signifieth the humour of the Sun and the spirit of the Moon, of the moist Stone of the philosophers, drawn in its water.

Above is the crescent Moon likewise; for little by little, and not at once, but part after part, the tincture ascendeth, until all the humour, congealed in brass, be turned into a moist spirit of its kind. This is signified by the second full Moon, which is Abarahanas perfect, and of that divine water, which is the Stone of the Philosophers, is the whole book of the Elder.

The second half of the figures signifieth likewise the second work, that is, of congelation, namely of the parts of their water, that is, of the colours of water in the white and clean earth, that is, of the fixation thereof therein. The Sun with two rays is the image of the divine water, in which are three, namely fire, air, and water; and it is water compounded of two natures, male and female. And yet it is threefold water, because of the third thing added to the two. And this water is not all imbibed at once, that is, ground, but singly, with divers rays it is imbibed, ground, coagulated, and incinerated. The Sun with one ray is, that the threefold water is one natural and homogeneous in one water. And albeit the works be two, white and red, yet is it one work, beginning in the same and ending in the same, and not otherwise; and it is the figure of one in one.

The Earth is the lower body of two bodies, unto which a third of its kind is mingled; which is first coagulated, like unto a mirror or a bared sword; and afterwards by greater heat is incinerated; and again ground with the moist spirit until it no more appeareth, but is mingled with it, and becometh as ointment; and again is coagulated; then incinerated. And thus this first must be brought again to its end, until it be fully whitened with fixed whiteness. And this is the second and third of the art, of which Morienus saith: O king, if thou hadst sold thy kingdom, thou wouldst not recompense this work.

Then again it is imbibed, until it be mingled, and congealed, and incinerated. For in the Turba Pandulphus saith: Know ye, as oft as ye unite ashes, so oft must ye dry and moisten it, until its colour be turned into that which is sought, and the whole be coagulated. And in the imbibition it putteth forth infinite colours, until the perfect and last, crimson and fixed, be brought forth by continual fire, without handling of the hands.

Whence the Philosopher Mundus: Afterwards in forty days finish, until the spirit penetrate the body. For this is the regimen whereby spirits are incorporated, and bodies turned into spirits. And I warn you, let not the compound fume; which done, ye have the greatest secret, which the Philosophers have hidden in their books.

The Earth which the black sphere compassed is the second blackness, which cometh by the moisture of the water cast upon the earth. But that it is divided by its third, that is, by three thirds, signifieth the three saltations, or three earths: namely the earth of pearls, and the earth of leaves, and the earth of gold. The earth of pearls is the first earth, from which tinctures are drawn in its water, whence proceedeth the pearl. The second is the earth of leaves, that is, of colours: for it bringeth forth variable colours, until it be perfectly whitened. And when it is perfectly whitened, that is the third.

Or it may be said, the first is the earth of leaves, because the leaves of brass being changed pass into water and earth; the second the earth of pearls, when it is fully whitened; and the third earth is the solar tincture, and itself the earth after denigration. The second whitened is called the gold of the Philosophers. And the water is their gold, for it is the matter of gold which begetteth gold, according to the Elders. And those three earths are one nature of one sphere and one kind.

And in like manner it is to be understood of the three saltations, and saltings, that is, imbibitions with the three smallest earths. The first third is congealed and incinerated, and becometh male; and there are two males, of the Sun and of Mercury, and one female of Lunar nature. Then by the rest of the water, which are six parts of colour, is made another female; and there shall be two males and two females.

The second third is the saltation, which is nothing else but this: calcine, dissolve, distil, coagulate, and incinerate, and again calcine, until the whole be coagulated. And by figure is signified the last third and the end of the work. Of these three earths the Turba, in the chapter of enigmas, speaketh throughout; dividing its work into three: first, into the dead body, and the extraction of the soul from the body, which is the first work; second, into the whitening of the body, and its cleansing by its own water, imbibing and roasting, until it be whitened like unto snow or white salt; third, into the clean soul joined to the clean and white body.

Wherefore the first enigma of the Turba: Take a man, beat him upon a stone or plate, dragging until his body die, and his spirit be drawn forth: this is the first. Then of the second it saith: thereafter the body shall live again, until it be spiritual, and its thickness perish. And be thou sure, when it hath lost its grossness, it shall be made spiritual. Of the third it followeth straightway: Restore to it afterwards its soul, that is, the lively and vivid colour; then set it in the bath for forty days, as the seed abideth in the womb: and this is the beginning of our regeneration. And thus ariseth creation, and the proposition is fulfilled.

Lo, he setteth three earths: the dead earth; the white earth, which is the inner Moon of whiteness; and in the whiteness, redness—that is, the living earth, which is the third earth.

Whence Florinus in the Turba: When ye shall see that whiteness excelling, be ye certain that redness is hidden therein. Then must ye draw it forth, and so long boil it, until it be wholly made red.

And that which is said, “for forty days,” signifieth one name. Athomus likewise saith, “for forty-two days,” and addeth the measure: even as seed tarrieth in the womb, which is forty weeks. And because this may be done sooner or later, Athomus addeth, that this second work, from the tenth day of the month September, which is the first month among the Egyptians by reason of fruitfulness, unto the tenth of Libra, is perfected—that is, within the year is its perfection; for by diversity of fire it may be finished sooner or later.

And after the soul is joined unto the body, the fire must not go out, namely by three terms and three degrees of fire, and the alteration must be gradative, until in the third degree it be finished, as Gratianus saith. Concerning the determinations and degrees of fire, consult the Book of the Three Words, where I have expounded it.

Note concerning the house of treasures, of which the author spake in the first: The Constant One speaketh thus: Therefore, my sons, I will show you the place of this Stone. Let not the unskilled presume to read it, nor despair of coming unto knowledge. For this is in a place which is in very truth the place of the four elements; and there are four gates. If thou wouldst know them, I say: first, they are four stations, four corners, four bounds, and four walls. These four I will expound by four keys at the end of this poem.

It followeth: This house is a treasury, in which are treasured all sublime things of sciences and wisdoms, or of the most glorious matters that may be had. And this house of treasures is shut with four gates, which are opened with four keys. To each gate is one key. None can enter into this house, nor draw aught from it, nor know the secret that is therein shut, unless first he know the key and bear it with him, or at least be of the household of the house.

Know then, my son, and heed well, that he who knoweth one key and knoweth not the rest, shall open the gate of the house with his key, yet shall not behold the things that are in the house; for the house hath a surface tending inward unto the sight. Therefore must each gate be opened with its several key, that the whole house may be filled with light. Then let whoso will enter and take of the treasure. Know, my son, that unto thee the treasures are not hidden, but are kept in that house before thine eyes, when thou enterest into the house.

Yet will I show or bestow upon thee one key, which by its signs thou shalt find; by which, if thou hast reason, thou shalt find the other three from it. And this one key is the access of water through the neck of the vessel, at whose head is the likeness of a human creature; and it is the basilisk of wisdom, without a horn, which draweth forth water with the horn of the stag, and the bud of the chief water, and the brightness of the most fair river, whose stones are most renowned—precious stones, gems, and corals.

From the vapour of their fatness is made one key. And if thou wouldst have perfection, thou must draw forth the other three, and know the glory. Of the four bounds, the first key is the extraction of humour and fatness, that is, of water and oil. And the humour is of the Moon, and the fatness of the Sun. Whose signs are these: an exceeding blackness; which, when consumed, the soul is purified in water by distillation.

Vietimerus saith: Thou shalt wait for the water to be sublimed of vapour. For when thou shalt see nature make water of the heat of fire, and the whole body of magnesia as melted into water, then are all the vapours made, and by right the vapour draweth and holdeth its mate, for the fixed holdeth the volatile. For natures cast themselves unto natures.

And Rasis in the Book of Lights: When thou makest the inhumation, until it be turned into soft water, then thou shalt have thy desire: and this is after the first whiteness.

The second key is the attenuation of the earthy body; for there abideth in it rigidity and pliancy and foulness, which cannot be stripped away save by laborious and subtle wit, as is said in the Turba. For the body cannot be made thin so long as pliancy and rigidity and hardness remain in it. Let the body therefore be taken, as the Turba saith, and washed; and at a slow and tepid heat of the fire let it be rubbed; and, even as they who with ashes and water of the stronger lime make things white, let it be very white. Then let it for one night be left in a moist place; afterwards, being washed with sea-water, let it be sprinkled little by little until it be most fully whitened, until from all defilement it be cleansed and be seen most white. But let this whiteness not be without great blackness first, in whose belly is this whiteness of our most white salt; and this is the second key.

The third key is the imbibition of all the water, that is, of the remaining humidity— which now hath the name of oil— with long grinding; for roasting and congelation, incineration and waxing, must be made with the same oil, until the whole water be brought together into one.

The fourth key is fixation in three terms and three degrees of fire, until it be fixed and tinging.

And the Constant One addeth in another chapter: Then, after the coagulation, make it fly, for certain months— that is, for forty days of one name— in warm dung, that is, in the moist fire of the fleece, until the water grow red and thicken and become equal. And I understand that the Constant One will have three parts of earth and one of fire; for he saith: From the vapour of their fatness is one key; and fatness is fixed under the dominion of the Sun. And if thou seekest perfection, thou must draw forth the other three parts of earth. But the first gloss is the better, and this deceiveth not.

And note that all philosophers expert had one vessel; the inexpert, two— at least one for the register wherein they perceived the remainder. Whence Gratianus saith, And note, if all things be prepared together by the experienced, it is good; yet greater experience is for searchers when the single things are prepared singly and examined, one by the remainder. For thou canst not otherwise prepare singly; for one water sufficeth not without the other— that is, the Lunar without the Solar— nor is aught begotten of one only, but of male and female together. And by God, in expounding all these things, for a long time I consulted those men, a hundred times by reading readings; and I had this not save by inspiration from God. And in few words we have shunned much talk, and have the favour and blessing of the Elder.

Then will I briefly set forth the doctrine of the Constant One. Take the whiteness and the blackness— which are the first and second keys of the work— and leave them while they are cooked, that is, fermented, that is, corrupted, in the alembic and in its vessel; and it ascendeth— that is, is sublimed into vapour— in its own moisture. Cast away the dregs, that is, the blackness which is Ethel; blot it out and purge the water; stretch the water, that is, wash the water.

Gloss. Hermes tincteth according to the quantity of clearness; wherefore stretch the water, that is, distil it by subliming, until it be clear, and all the moisture of the mass be drawn forth clear and white; make the earth clean from grossness and rigidity, or make it a subtle ash deprived of blackness. Close the vessel firmly— with gypsum or wax and white of egg— for there are winds therein; which if they be not held, the whole work would perish, as thou seest in Morienus to King Kalid in the Dialogue: truths most true. For it would chill the matter in the vessel and quench the fire. Truly smoke— that is, let not the matter smoke out of the vessel; neither let there be the smoky signs of wood-coals, but the subtle fire of beasts, well hooded. Bring the fire nearer— that is, let the massing of the earth with the water be stronger by setting near; keep the putrefaction. Gratianus: And let each thing calcined be dissolved in its manner, that it may putrefy. And Morienus in the Dialogue of the Wise Author: All the strength of this magistery is not save after putrefaction. He saith: If it be not putrid, it returneth to nothing. And he subjoineth, that after putrefaction the Most High God shall bring forward the state— composition, cooling, and heating; truly, that is, the excess of heat and of cold— persevere in temperance, that is, in the mean; keep away from extreme heats, not excessive. And all work is marred beyond measure, that is, by excess and over-abundance; so that the mass be neither too dry nor too moist.

Whence Bonellus in the Turba: Know that if thou multiply the water of the mass, the fire containeth it not, nor will it burn well in the furnace; and if thou dry it overmuch, it will neither be joined nor cooked. Hasten not. Whence Rasis in the Book of Lights: When water is mingled with ashes, it whiteneth it within; wait therefore for the whiteness. In this business, if the difficulty of working, or weariness, or fatigue, affect the workman with negligence, the very waiting bereaveth him of joy, choketh hope, destroyeth esteem.

It followeth: Be patient in cooking and in putrefying; grudge not the time. Albeit it be long, yet in the Elder’s sight it is nearer than every other work. And talents ever prepared never prosper. It followeth: And near, truly, as the Elder said, this work is not accomplished save in many days; nor is it needful that the glass be latticed. As Hermes saith: It sufficeth a man for a thousand thousand years; and though every day thou shouldst feed two thousand men, thou wouldst not consume it; for it tincteth unto infinity, and so greatly that it cannot be comprehended by understanding. And in the fifth book of the seven he saith: Thou shalt not know its effect until thou hast wrought and completed; and all this thou knowest already, how infinite it is, etc.

It followeth: And the “animals,” that is, the colours which are through the living water in the earth, foul not— that is, defile not— with dregs, that is, with powders or blackness. For, as Rasis saith in the Book of Lights: Let there never be black at the end; for if aught black remain, the medicine is imperfect. And the Elder saith: If blackness remain in it after its reddening, thou hast sinned in its preparation and hast corrupted whatsoever thou hast wrought; and remember, for grief of the sin and the loss, for these are incomparable riches. The living colours are white, citron, and ruddy; for, as is said in the Turba: Burning maketh white and maketh red; and therefore he said “animals,” because the soul of certain things colour eth and quickeneth the body.

Yet some books have: And be not loath to beget the animals, that is, to bring them forth; for the offspring of the Stone is a colour ever lively and abiding for ever. Some books have animals: foul not, that is, open not— let the vessel be shut. But in the register those animals, that is, the colours, thou mayest assay.

It followeth: Be not weary in what thou doest; redden until all the water be coagulated— yea, until it be coagulated— and flee not the fire; that is, let it be fixed. This is the proof above all proofs: if, being firm upon an iron plate, it emit not, nor flow like wax, and adhere firmly to the metal.

It followeth: For the water knoweth the battle of the fire, and the length of cooking and putrefying and thickening. For every work is double to itself; and the artificer followeth their nature until it come to its order by fire and by cooking.

It followeth: Then— that is, after the coagulation— in warm dung, that is, in the fire of the wise, surround the vessel and Laton for certain months, that is, nine, even as seed abideth in the womb, as it is said in the enigmas of the Turba: Make it abide or fly, that is, ascend. For it ascendeth and descendeth in the tree of the Sun, until it become Quelles, that is, the Elixir. That which he saith “for certain months,” Mundus in the Turba calleth forty days, and addeth what they be, even as seed abideth in the womb, that is, nine months or thereabout.

It followeth: Know also that no Quelles maketh red save that which is made of scarabs— that is, of the red pigment, which is auripigment. It followeth: Let no water be Quelles, save that which is made of scarabs, our water.

For this water alone is the water of the infinite treasure. And thou sayest rightly: Let no water be Elixir, save this water of the red oil, which is the singular water, and none other; for no other is wholly known. Whence Rasis: All other stones, our Stone excepted, bring forth a liquid water; for from what elements our nature is constituted, it is known; and that is of the most temperate complexion, and of the strongest composition. But the water of other stones is simple liquid, of feeble composition.

The Elder: And if any should labour to find another medicine for this operation, he could not. And elsewhere he saith: After God, thou hast no other medicine. For this verily is the art of the wise, which driveth away poverty. And he subjoineth: Neither the ancients nor the present can tinge gold, save with gold. And what is not gold—namely, their Stone—from it proceedeth gold.

And blessed Assiduus saith: When we speak of the substance, we name not gold until it be wrought gold; for it is not called gold, but heavenly and glorious water—namely, our brass, and our silver, and our silk. All speeches beyond are vain; for it is one and the same, namely, Wisdom, which God hath offered unto whom He would.

And Assiduus subjoineth: Whence cometh the word? Go unto the fountain, O thirsty one, and arriving in the land of the black or dusky, for it behoveth that the earth be blackened in the first work, as also in the second and in the nine. Nor is there need of more than nine parts of vinegar, according to the Elder and Moses in the Turba. And Hamuel setteth nine eagles.

It followeth: Even so, strangle them, that is, shut them in a vessel well sealed; and take their blood, that is, their redness, their fatness, which is their poison, slaying, that is, the icor of all imperfect bodies, whose leprosy it slayeth, and which reduceth the Mercury of competition into perfect gold. For it converteth not aught, save that which is of its nature, and becometh unto it.

It followeth: That which ascendeth to the heights, and straightway floweth to the receptacle: boil it until it be red, that is, until all the tincture be drawn forth, which is after the utter blackness, whereof whitening is the sequel. And straightway he addeth: I will signify to thee this Stone. Unless this vapour ascend, thou hast nought of it, for itself is the work, and without it nothing. And as the soul unto the body, so is it, which is the Quelles. Say not then that of envy I have written, and have not named the water, albeit I have named it. Look, and believe me, that this Stone is not a Stone.

Never hast thou heard any Philosopher say that this Stone is the water of the living fountain. And Rasis in the Book of Lights: Our Stone, in which is all our effect and grace, is of a brazen vision, indeed of water, of the nature of fire, burning in colour, entire in the property of natures; neither hard nor moist; a substance also that melteth; and apt for the use of many medicines, and vile, so that in all its showing it taketh the form of water.

Then follow the further precepts of Assiduus, saying: In this book is the perfection of the letters of vellum, and the most perfect and certain work in the midst of its kind: which Sun is in the midst of the planets, that is, of the metals, of middle and temperate complexion; and in the midst of its kind, between Mercury and Venus; and in the midst of its age, as touching the second work or first whitening, for then it tincteth the perfect white. It is also of aptest putrefaction, that is, of incineration, and of the handling of the soul from the body by putrefaction; and by blinding it putrefieth, and in the aptitude of goodness, or position, that is, of the parts in all their good order, it resteth. And when this is unclean—namely, the Sun, or the blemished Moon, or troubled Jupiter—or if it be not taken in due season, that is, old or young, not yet known, that is, unruled by transmutation into its own water…

And thus he proceedeth, warning that the aptness of putrefaction must be joined with the aptness of goodness of position: which hath respect unto the placing of strong fire, and to the due proportion of vessels.

Moses in the Turba saith of Senio: If the egg compounded be ruled beyond what is meet, then by great fire indeed its light, taken from the sea, is quenched; for it ascendeth to the sides, and is not dissolved, and by consequence is neither congealed nor tinging. Of the due time the same saith: Rule it, and cook it until whiteness appear; and then ye shall see one of three fellows left, namely the water of life, in which are three—fire, water, and air—or the water of life from the body, in which likewise are three.

And Limerus saith, about twelve or eighteen days, so long as there is no sign, and when it is in blackness, even the greatest.

And Morienus saith, that the blood must be broken, lest it hinder; which breaking, that is, separation, is done after it is whitened. And note, if it be ruled longer than is needful, then the body will intrude again; and therefore in due season must it be taken.

And further it followeth: or if it be taken from the lower part of its kind, that is, from other perfect planets…

And Pandulphus in the Turba saith: The egg of the Philosophers, when it is overturned, is against the greater world. For our egg, according to its midst, is called higher, namely from the Sun; but according to its extremities is called lower, namely, the other two parts. For the egg of the world, according to the poles, is called higher, and according to its midst lower; and in the midst is the point of the Sun, as the chick; and in the upper part the same. But in the egg of the world contrariwise: its midst is lower. For example: in the world fire is the subtiler, lighter, and higher element; but in the egg, fire is the lowest, for it is set in the midst. And in the world earth is the grosser, heavier, and lowest element; but in the egg, the outer shells are earth, and the highest element; and so of the rest. Therefore it is true, that the egg hath itself contrary to the egg of the world.

And thus the Philosophers called this art the Egg.

It followeth, the saying of Assiduus: Neither in a strange fire nor with a strange spirit doth it work. For, as the Elder saith: Make not aught alien enter upon it, for it shall corrupt it and destroy the whole. Rather, better to say: it worketh not in another fire, but in its own fire, which is moist. For strange fire is unequal and excessive, lacking temperance. For the whole efficacy of this work consisteth in its own fire, as Morienus and Geber witness. For the heat of the Sun alone generateth the good complexion, which heat the fire of nature doth imitate.

It followeth: When that other is digested—namely, the bird’s water of life, which is the animated tincture—by incorruptions its form is perfected. And after it is whitened, then is it apt for operation. Wherefore it must not be taken before melancholy, that is, blackness, abound in it; nor after it aboundeth. Nor let it be taken before the air, that is, vapour of air, be begotten in it—that is, in the unclean body not yet spirited. And if thou defer too long, then it fadeth. But after it is more perfectly formed, it is apt for operation; before melancholy abound, for otherwise it would work into black and not into red or white.

And before the air, that is, the soul of life, be begotten in it—namely, while it remaineth an unclean and gross body not yet spiritualised—and it grow sickly, that is, morbid and melancholy, before melancholy abound, and a strange air be begotten: note, that this happeneth when the water standeth divided, when it shall be apt for operation, whose coagulum falleth into its coagulant, by the cold of the air and the dryness that congealeth. Which befell one of my companions, who for a year sought it, but it had not been distilled. Then he saith, that in these ten precepts none erreth.

And of this work a certain wise man spake a most fair similitude of the man and woman of the art, saying: Whoso offendeth me in pity, and driveth me from rest, I will smite upon his face, whereby I shall take flight. By this he meaneth to shun the excess of heat, the “pity” being the soft humidity of the Moon. And he who taketh me out of my place, that is, from my air, and bindeth my beloved with me, that is, joineth the Sun with the Moon in one body in its water—then the arrows from our quiver, that is, the vapours of the humours of our body, shall avenge us and regenerate life, and never hereafter shall we die. And if, besides our lord of mobility, that is, without the excess of transmutation, we be enclosed and created by slow fire, then shall our champions or propagators, that is, our parents, perish—that is, die—delivering their souls unto the son, that is, unto the living water. And we, being senseless, that is, without spirit, shall lie in the earth, stripped of our fair garments, that is, of our colours and tinctures, which by nature are vile, for in dung and in the slime of the earth and in dark places they would hide themselves by nature, and only by the opinion of men are made precious.

Or thus expound it: stripped of vile garments, that is, in the blackness of the second work. And being bathed in our water, then our soul followeth—that is, the tincture—dead, that is, extinguished, in our bodies appeareth.

Whence one said: Though I ascend naked into the heavens, yet clothed shall I return unto the earth, and shall fulfil all the mines.

And if in the fountain of gold and silver we be baptized, and the spirit of our body with Father and Son shall ascend into heaven and descend again, then shall our souls be revived, and my body shall abide animal and white, namely the Moon. But the body of my beloved, that is, of the Sun, shall shine delightful, red, and rosy. This signifieth the second work.

And if the parents of my beloved, that is, the dead bodies, shall taste of the vine, and of the water of life of wisdom, and be fed with my milk, and be made drunken with the metals, and in my bed, that is, in the vessel, shall wed, they shall beget the son of the Moon, that is, the Lunar tincture, who shall prevail over all his kindred, that is, over all his progenitors.

And if my beloved drink beforehand of the brook of redness, and taste of the fountain of his mother, and be then coupled with me, and drunken with the red wine of our kin, and drink manifoldly, and lie lovingly with me in his bed, and by his seed enter into my little cell—then shall I conceive, and be with child, and in due time bring forth a most mighty son, ruling and reigning above all things, kings and princes of the earth, crowned with the golden crown of victory, by the Lord God most High, who liveth and reigneth for ever and ever. Amen.

Here endeth the First Book.

---

Here beginneth the Second Book, on the Exposition of the Figures, concerning the Mass of the Sun.

The exposition of the Epistle of the Sun unto the waxing Moon, in the solar year, which beginneth: In its tenuity, or newness, that is, in its exceeding novelty, namely, of its conjunction with the Sun, that is, of its illumination from him.

The Sun saith unto her: I will give unto thee of my beauty light, even solar, whereby is attained the perfection of tincture, for the solar light is exalted. For all that is high, that is, every planet, is perfected by it.

First spake the Moon unto the Sun: O Sun, thou hast need of me, as the cock hath need of the hen, which are two homogeneous birds in one sphere, whereof mention hath been made before. And I, the Moon, need thine help, O Sun, as the passive needeth its active, unto which it is nigh in potency, namely, of being transformed, without importunity, that is, without haste, out of the full Moon, that is, the perfect water. For the Moon is mistress of humours, and she establisheth an efficient perfectly.

For, as saith Morienus, the root of this science is in the hour of its composition; and thou must wait day and night upon its fixation. Let, therefore, all haste be far from the artificer; and let foresight, reason, and firm expectation be joined. Wherefore a gentle fire must be long applied, and its evenness kept through its days, lest by hasty burning the body be consumed.

It followeth: Since thou, O Sun, art perfect in all parts of the luminaries, thou art light, lord high and great, for by thee are perfected mineral, vegetable, and animal things. I, the waxing Moon, in solar light, am cold and moist, for I am mother of humours, and thou, Sun, art hot and dry, which is the principle of all generation. When we shall be coupled, that is, joined in equality of state, that is, in due proportion, and in the mansion, and in the vessel, where no foreign thing shall be, but the light joined with the heavy, that is, spirit with its body—or understand the four elements, by light, fire and air, by heavy, earth and water, as by rare and dense the ancients signified these four—then shall we rest together.

In that mansion, that is, in the house of the vessel, we shall dwell abiding, and we shall be as the woman and her husband in the generation of the child. And this is true by the very word. And I, the Sun, when we shall be joined abiding in the womb of the closed house, shall receive from thee the soul, that is, the fatness of oil, which is the tincture that vivifieth all things, in flattering, that is, gentle, wise manner, for nature rejoiceth by reason of their nearness in conformable nature, in its own water or with its own water. And nature overcometh nature, and nature containeth nature.

Thus in the Turba: If thou takest away my beauty, that is, of the Moon, by the fairness of anointing, thou intendest the first blackness, for the Sun discolouring her bringeth forth the same. And they shall be exalted, that is, sublimed in the exaltation of spirits, even as sublimed spirits, when we ascend by the ordered ladder of Saturn, Jupiter, and Mars. By these names they signified that blackness, calling Saturn whiteness, Jupiter redness, and Mars rust or verdigris. Hence, from the beginning of conception even unto the mid-course of the infant, each planet imprinteth his image, by divine virtue.

So likewise in this work every planet in his place imprinteth his virtue until the fulfilment of the work, as is said in the Book of Three Words. And therefore it was said before, without importunity. For whoso is hasty and over-vehement, by his excess confoundeth the work, for it is not the work of the workman, but the work of nature, the artificer being minister and helper.

Another gloss of the Head and the Tail, as it is said in the Turba: Take the viper and deprive it of head and tail; for in these two places its venom resteth—that is, the tincture—whence the spirit proceedeth, to wit, the tinging spirit. Then [join again] the tail and the head—that is, the beginning of the work and its end—and it is one and the same, from which it beginneth and with which it endeth. For this heavenly water worketh all things. Take therefore the residue of the viper’s body, that is, the earth, and cook it with a slow fire, that is, the Philosophic, until it be separated from the bones— that is, until it become hard, and glitter like a bared sword. And lay it upon plates, that is, in vessels, and long grind it there—by fire and by pestle—until the body be turned into spirit, and its pliancy be taken away; for the body cannot be made thin—that is, spiritualised—while pliancy remaineth in it. He intendeth that the residue, the “earth” whence the tincture is drawn by the water, be incinerated. Dry this body in the Sun, that is, at a gentle fire, with evenness of heat. Thereafter join it to its head and its tail, and grind with them— namely with the fire that grindeth all—until thou behold what thou seekest.

This done, know that thou hast a body that shall body forth (corporature) piercingly, and a nature containing nature, and a nature barking against nature— which verily is called the Theriaca of the Philosophers; and it is called a viper because, even as the viper in conceiving through the heat of lust cutteth off the head of the male, and in bringing forth dieth, and is cut through the midst; so the lunar moisture, conceiving the solar light convenient unto itself, slayeth the Sun; and in bringing forth the offspring of the Philosophers, itself likewise dieth. And both parents, dying, deliver their souls to the son—that is, to the living water—and they die and pass. And the parents are the food of the son, and he receiveth their nature; and with brass he is strengthened for the battle of the fire. This son is praised in all the books of the Philosophers; and he is the Indian Stone of the Babylonians, and is burnt brass, as Kalid said.

It followeth: Seven are the ranks of the ordered weights of bodies. Five parts of them are without obscurity—namely, “of the Sun’s shadow the beauty is of the two shining ones,” to wit, the Sun; and this composition is according to the number of the figures: the half earth of the Moon, counted from the lesser; the five half Moons; and the two Suns, one with two rays, the second with one ray. The exposition of these shall be given thee by my exposition; and it is a property of the root. He saith this because he had said, “The beauty is of the two shining ones.” The Sun is the key of every gate, that is, of all ingress of the art; and what remaineth there, that is, what we have left, is without doubt, that is, certain. The Sun is the simple key of the whole work, with firmament and terrenity—that is, with the Moon, earthy and opaque—more propitious than the other planets when he hath the “masculines” (aspects) which belong to him at the full Moon, and with the firmament direct, that is, ruled by art. And the Moon is called firmament, because Hermes saith: The Moon is potent in the firmament and poor in light; and with Mercury of the brighter ones, of convertible nature, the shadow of the Sun. Some books have: with the firmament direct, terrietari—the direction being in the ordered mean toward the earthy (elemental) body; and either reading is good.

Wherefore he saith: This is the demonstration, that is, the exposition of the seven parts; this is the division, that is, the separation of the spoiling, namely the stripped tincture; this is the division of decoction, that is, of the fire that cooketh. This spoiling we call blackness, which is made by a competent decoction, wherein the indissoluble temperament is loosed and the Soul of the tempered thing is drawn forth.

Note, according to the Elders, that this preparation is called conversion and division—into subtlety and attenuation of spirits—so that they may tinge and be imprinted into bodies; and this by reason of their conversion in the preparation out of state into state, out of thing into thing, out of infirmity into potency, out of grossness into tenuity and subtlety: as seed alone in the womb is converted by natural preparation out of thing into thing, until there be formed thence a perfect man, from that whence is his root and his beginning; and this without the ingress of any other thing save the menstrual blood, whence the seed was, and of blood like unto it, wherefrom cometh his nourishment. Likewise the egg, without ingress of any other thing, is converted from state to state, and is divided from thing to thing, until it be turned into a chick that flieth, like unto that whence its root and beginning were. Likewise the seeds of earth-born plants rot and are changed, and corruption entereth upon them, even as upon those whence they had their root.

And for this cause our minerals are not changed so as to go forth from their root: if they fall back unto that whence they were, they are not turned into other; and he that saith otherwise, saith false. This, then, is the conversion and division thou hearest in the Book of Wisdom. Thus far saith the Elder.

It followeth: This is coagulation without division, that is, the conjunction of male and female, and without dissolution after thou hast made it— that is, prepared it— severally affirming those seven parts of the Moon and the two of the Sun; which seven, divided according to the seven stars, that is, the seven planets (for all the planets work upon these seven parts of our planets),—this is the third: to amalgamate Mercury with the seventh part of the weight. Then put of the white moist nine parts, so that the tenth be the part of brass. And after thou hast cleansed in the preparation of conversion, until they appear like pearls in likeness, then shalt thou no more err. This is the whitening that uncovereth the doubt of thy thirsty earth—and that by the water of the heavenly clouds— in this said demonstration. I have shown thee golden flowers, that is, the solar tincture of every flower (colour) turned to the mean between the extremes, white and black— like the garment of the peacock in likeness. For here is the Stone in which are all colours, according to the diverse conversions thereof in its preparation.

In this work, therefore, the Sun, as king and lord of heaven, sendeth in spirit and life; Mercury fashioneth the little breathing-holes (spiracula), for it is the sharpest vinegar that maketh pure gold to be spirit, as Pythagoras saith: by it corruption and regeneration are wrought. The Moon, spouse of the Sun, enlighteneth the spirit of the seed conceived of her spouse; and by her cold and moisture she travaileth to bring forth the foetus produced of them.

At the entry of the residue of the number of the stars (the four), there is shown unto thee the impression and image in the decoction, whereby each Planet worketh the virtue of God—this is that which he saith, “cooked by each star singly.” Saturn, by his cold and dryness, constraineth and congealeth the nature in the mass; Jupiter, by his heat and moisture, digesteth; Mars, by his heat and dryness, gathereth the homogeneous and separateth the heterogeneous; Venus, by cold and moisture, disposeth the members and images. And thus natural Alchemy is born by natural principles and by the impression of the natural substantial form, the artificer ministering. For brass hath in itself but accidental forms; yet it helpeth nature by disposing the principles, and induceth substantial forms.

And though the place of generation be artificial, nevertheless it imitates the natural; for it is a closed place, wherein are taken the principles of nature generated by nature, and by reason of the daily and continual heat long reflected in itself and vapour-mingled, it is congealed into a metal, whose vapour is according to the species and wherein is the root.

From these things the solution of two arguments against the possibility of the art is plain. The first: that ye cannot induce substantial forms, but only accidental—answered above. The second: that the natural place ought to be the beginning of generation. They add that metals are generated by the influence of the planets, whose constellation is hidden from the alchemists, for they must needs begin to work where the celestial nature beginneth to move the ore. To whom it is to be said: the movers of the heavens, whensoever and wheresoever they find the matter disposed, having potency to such a form, then begin they to move by their impressions toward that form, so long as the artificer join the actives to the passives. For the Sun and man generate man; nor is it needful that the man who begetteth man should fetch the impression of the Sun; but, the active and passive principles concurring, with the aptitude of the matter, the Sun disposeth and moveth, as the other planets, according to local distance to the orb. Therefore, though the work may begin at any time, yet one time is more apt than another.

For Hermes (Book II of the Seven) saith: This element is moist in spring and summer; therefore it must be taken between this and that— to wit, fifteen days after the Sun’s entrance into Aries unto his entrance into Taurus. In this time it will be increased the more; and thou must distil this Stone while the Sun is in Aries and Taurus. So saith Hermes. But Assiduus saith it must be set in its vessel without “section” (breach) in winter, summer, autumn, spring, and all the days of the year. For, as the Elder saith: There is seed in the seed, having the world’s blessing from the Most Mighty. Let it proceed from male and female noble and most chaste; and let nothing incongruous or mingled be unto this seed, which is the most high matter of gold and silver, of most pure Mercury and incombustible sulphur. Therefore each planet imprinteth his image and impression severally, as in human seeds, until it be perfected.

It followeth: This is the perfection of coagulation without deceit; and the Sun is made— that is, the solar ore— in perfect states. Its beginning is in fire, and it grew in fire; it feareth not the ash— that is, the potsherd of ash. It is fixed, not fugitive; it is joined in the body of the metal even unto the heart, that is, into the depth; because it proceedeth from a fixed root, to wit, from the Sun, which is the fountain of all heat and the ruler of the planets.

It followeth: Here is the son vile and most dear—that is, the son, namely the Stone— whose mother is a virgin and hath not conceived by man; and he is most vile and most precious. He is called vile, because of no price in the eyes of every ignorant person; the female is vile, for if this work be told her, it would seem a lie. The Elder: And he is most precious, because without this the nature worketh not; without the moist, that is. For the Stone of the Philosophers is watery and moist; and the humour is most vile, because it is trodden under foot, and most precious, because it is the beginning of natural generation. This is the riddle of the wise.

Wherefore the preparation hereof is hard and hidden, destroying many wise men; and there is no by-path in that Stone for those who labour in opinions and operations. For he saith: Infinite have taken its root; and men have gone vainly away from the root of this science, and have not possessed the like thereof; and yet it never runneth into their estimation. Therefore it is hard to the erring, and wonderful; easy to them that know; little, light, delightful, and near—understand it more ingeniously. And it is subtle—judging thus: when their minds have been clarified by the books left by the Greeks; for naught is hidden save its preparation, which is harder than all.

This it is which gleameth in the Elixir: that here the tincture beginneth from potency, that is, from matter potent and most apt to such a form, and advanceth unto act, that is, unto the form of gold and silver, to which it was in potency.

For into such a kind of metal the humour is congealed, whose fume and vapour it is; for like is not generated save of its like by nature. Then the author inveigheth against the vain workmen of this art, who have neither the root nor, at the least, the preparations, saying: Every preparation is good for its own thing, save this hidden preparation of the Philosophers. But they themselves have laid a prohibition upon it in their very doing; for they are ever preparing and never prosper. For, as Morienus saith to the king: Know that earth, or stone, or egg, or blood, or vinegar, or all those things—such as sulphur, quicksilver, orpiment—are false and unprofitable for this magistery, having an evil end. And men oft take all these, and cook, and out of their decoction draw forth; and that which is drawn they oft apply, and after their opinion believe they do well. And that their error may be the more confirmed, and they despair not, they hope to find what they cannot.

And of the making of false books the Elder saith: He composed his book, thinking he had understood that hidden mystery; and he neither knoweth nor understandeth one letter of those things which he hath set down in his book, being far from the books of the Philosophers. And if he be questioned of them, he answereth by likenesses; and if he be pressed, he defendeth himself with cavils and vain similitudes.

It followeth: In the thing established, that is, in the firm root of the art, their preparation is unknown; for they have no being; or if they have a root, they have not its preparation, and therefore they know it not. Every mind that followeth conscience—that is, its own vain opinion—floweth, that is, is tossed, and wandereth through diverse erroneous ways, so that at last they say: We prepared it with every preparation, and we attained not; and we wrought with knowledge, and with preparations we laboured wisely. And therefore are they more foolish than fools; for they prepare that which hath no tincture in itself, of all things that tend to nothing and to an end; and they think they do well, and gain nothing but labours. And hence are they puffed up concerning the possibility of the art, and are blinded from the truth.

The ancient wise men said—this author derideth the pride of the alchemists of the philosophers who work in filthy things. The ancients said of such an operation: It is a goat—that is, proud and more stinking than a he-goat: for out of the oils of hair, and of ordure, and of menstrual blood, and of many such foul combustibles they labour, and know not the roots of the science nor its preparations. Vile men, they know not that they deceive to the shame of it. Such a workman is fit—so judgeth the contemplative, that is, the Philosopher, and the seer, that is, the Prophet—that when he thrusteth himself into such a science, he is fitter to plough, that is, to feed with camels—fit for rustic or herdsman’s work—than for this Philosophy, which hath its being from God by inspiration to the humble and just.

It followeth: Proud then is this goat, in that he is called knowing and yet is not. To some it is more worth to seem wise than to be and not seem, as is said in the Elenchi. So doth this man pride himself, that he is believed and called wise and learned; and that every learned man who seeketh the thing erreth in him. The vulgar— that is, the common operator—having the eyes of the mind shut, that is, clouded, sleepeth— that is, dreameth; for he hath fantastical and vain imaginations in vain matters. Whose beard—that is, the vessel of his work—befitteth boys, that is, the play of children. For it is said in the Elder: The profit thou intendest is only with the lords of the beard—that is, of the houses. And again he saith that their begetting is in the beard—that is, in the house of houses. Or it may be another taunt thus: the ancient wise, as a sign of maturity, went bearded; whose beard—that is, their wisdom—suiteth boys, that is, fools. Or take it by similitude, that such lying men mock men as boys pull the beards of sleepers, mocking them.

It followeth: If they have the thing—that is, the root of the science—they find not its preparation; and the thing of the art is not perfected save with the preparation. And this it is which they seek; and every opinion of theirs, besides that, is false. They have drawn the ignorant with little cords—that is, by deceits and their vain demonstrations. For in appearance they change the Moon into copper, and gold into another fantastical colour; and when they come into the fire, they return into the form of Sun and Moon as before; and the ignorant believe they have made them gold and silver. Or they make amalgams of Sun and Moon with Mercury, and promise to tinge Mercury and to coagulate it into Sun and Moon; and by immature gold and silver their distillations draw the ignorant and deceive them.

It followeth: The ignorant sow colocynth, and hope to eat honey thereof; but when they see not what they hoped, they return to their fancy, and extend—that is, magnify and strengthen—their error, and say that this is of ill fortune. Likewise these men with hair and urine; and those with dung; and those with eggs and the bellies of shells, and with blood—these things they bring forth, and sow as the roots of gold and silver, wherein is no proportion, nor even the least potency toward them; and they repeat their operations, insisting in divers ways, and yet never profit; saying, This is by our ill fortune, not by the matter of vain things nor by their false operations.

The temples, that is, the bodies of the vulgar alchemists—which seem to be the temple of the greater wisdom—are trimmed, that is, tricked out with garments; so are their places of the art of sulphur and arsenic, and their decoctions, and their pigments and urines. And if their places be of egg-shells, and of dung, and of hair, and of many things wherewith they defile themselves—wherefore we say they are goats, who with stench climb the mountains by byways—so do these men philosophise, composing stinking books wherein is no profit, save the loss of time and expense, whereof they boast.

Then inquisitively the author asketh, by what matter, that is, for what cause, it hath been said by these doctors to labour now in this, now in that: in the skulls, that is, in the bones of the head, and in flesh, brain, hair; and in the eggs of hens and of scorpions; and in urines; and in the shells of tortoises, that is, of shell-fish—whereas the truth is without diversity in one thing, and one disposition, and one cooking, namely, of decoction. Whence Morienus to the king: This whole mystery standeth in one thing and one way, and is perfected by a single disposition.

And the author answereth his own question, saying: Is not this spoken from the scantiness of equity—of understanding—of the ignorant and the blamed? And he reproveth them by a certain question and its manifest answer, saying: If thou shouldst say that an egg hath brought forth men, or that grains of wheat will bear galls, or that the palm hath borne pomegranates, or that the birds of the heaven have brought forth the fishes of the waters— they would answer, Thou sayest false. Then he solveth: Either things beget not save their likes, or things bring not forth save their own fruits. Would they not be turned back unto their ignorance? They have said that the father of gold and silver is an animal of earth and sea, or a man— that is, a part of man, as hair, blood, menses, secundine.

And some have said in trees—that is, in plants and herbs. And some in stones, as arsenics and other minerals. They are estranged from the truth of the science by these errors, by believing in uncertain things; and they have removed from themselves the praiseworthy marks—that is, the desired— even the station of science, that is, stable knowledge, and its ore. For its thing is manifest before the eyes of upright men and women— of those that have just eyes (some books read masculine eyes, i.e., bold and roving)—which also are known by the eyes of more perfect men. So also in the books and in the understandings of men and women knowing this science by their Prophets—whose understanding none of them dare openly to unfold.

The manifest matter—upon which a wandering mind and unstable wit sit in wandering things, not fixed— is treated many ways, whereas the truth of the art is without diversity. The proof that it is without diversity is that it is one thing. Wherefore the Elder saith below of the Stone of the art: Water is not glued save with a sulphur like unto itself; nor is it joined save to something like its sulphur—save in that which is of it, namely the Sun, which is of the white watery moist. And Hermes: It suiteth not (the water) save that which is nearest unto it by its own nature. And generally, no offspring is like unto that of which it is not. But the humidity is like by its nature, and is of the Moon’s dominion; and the fatness is of the Sun’s dominion.

And the Elder addeth: The Stone of the wise is perfected of itself and in itself. It is as a tree, whose branches and leaves and flowers and fruits are of it, and by it, and unto it; and it is the whole, and not another thing. And he subjoineth: In like manner I say unto you, that every other thing is not generated save with that which is of it, and with its own species, which is homogeneous to it. Likewise Adam and Eve and the whole race of men. Therefore every thing agreeth with its like and near, according to its species; and likewise flesh is begotten of flesh, and the tincture of metals in metals.

And he addeth: Begin therefore in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and know its nature; for it is from the root of its matter, which is in the same and of the same; nor doth any other thing enter upon it. And its root is Mercury. Likewise Mercury is of it; and this is that of which it is extracted, and is in it, and of it, and by it. All these signify their Stone, which is one—that is, singular; and it cannot be but that the same words be often found, for the sake of exposition, declaration, and the testimony of the philosophers.

Behold how clearly the philosophers speak; and the ignorant bend awry the eyes of their mind from it. And Geber saith: It behoveth the craftsman to be of constant will; nor let him presume to attempt this with a little now and then; for in a multitude of things our art is not perfected. For there is one Stone, one medicine, in which the whole magistery consisteth; to which we add not any strange thing, neither diminish, save that in the preparation we remove the superfluous— to wit, the cold and the moist—which blacken the work and destroy it.

The wise have delivered the doctrine fully, showing it as they were able; but fools have not understood.

It followeth: By God, if thou consider the stars, that is, the wandering planets, that is, the bodies of metals, there is no difference among us philosophers in that which they opine, for out of these metals, and by them, they prepare their Stone, in which is Mercury and sulphur fixed, uncombustible, rectified by nature. And therefore our preparation ariseth by bolts and keys opening the locks, that is, the hidden problems. By God, if the same preparation of the wise be put forth into the hand, that is, into manual operation, it returneth not empty, but enriched with treasure incomparable. Yet for worldly men, that is, such as without the true preparation assume it by false understanding and erroneous assignment, the hand returneth wholly empty.

And the preparation of the ignorant, persisting in the art, doth annul the labour therein; nor doth it know, nor hath it the fruit of the art, nor the keys nor the locks, that is, the problems of the wise, nor even knoweth it that the coagulant sendeth forth the tincture, nor attaineth it unto the fruit. But this our preparation of the wise is of the kind of stones, having the labours of solution. And whatsoever it figureth of two things, namely, of the metallic humidity of the two luminaries, without aught extraneous, of the same is it fixed, or is fixed by its own kind. Whence Hermes: Three faces in one part I beheld. And he said well, that of one they are; though they have elemental parts, as water and earth, fire and air, yet are all these so mightily complexional, that the least of one element is with the least of the other, so that by no artifice could they be separated, by reason of their most strong composition. Whence the author addeth: A part in science without parts, that is, without diversity; and the whole of the whole was made one of one, because all is of it, and not of another.

As the tailor, out of the same cloth, fashioneth diverse parts, as folds and sleeves, gores and the breast-piece, of which the principal matter is cloth; and the weaver, with the same threads, composeth the cloth, of which is the warp: even so this magistery is one of itself, nor needeth it aught else, as is said in Morienus.

It followeth: Let the intellectual eyes receive from the figures of the Senior; when thou regardest the science unto its roots with branches separated, with the doubled conjunction and binding of the two birds, in the cause how one is hindered by the other from ascent. And one is without feathers, by reason of the weight of earth, namely of earth, but water hath feathers. And the worm is sulphur, and the restraint of the other, and they are two quicksilvers. And he addeth: This is red sulphur, that is, water, which hath no end in its operation, for it tincteth into infinity. And the names and surnames, that is, the multiplicity of names in this art, blind the seers in their books, whence the sciences of error are examined: blinded by the multitude of names, whereas this our sulphur, or this our water, is tincted and tincting. This sulphur is that which endureth over every fire, the seed in the tree of olives and others; and when it draweth near unto the fire of beasts, ever enduring, it is venom, that is, the ichor of bodies. In it is all venom, that is, every joyous medicine, correcting every disease of bodies and of men and of metals. This sulphur is as it were lunar, having brightness solar. From it, that is, from the sulphur, are cut away the other feathers and wings, that is, the spirits, and its spirit is abiding, not departing, that is, fixed. To the higher things its soul flieth, by reason of its likeness, that is, the metallic humidity, conform and only-begotten to the red sulphur.

Then the fixed lamp with that which hath wings, and with the lunar lamp, ascendeth into the star, that is, into the term. From it ascendeth its soul and is exalted into heaven, that is, into spirit, and it becometh the rising Sun, that is, red, in the waxing Moon, into solar nature. And then the lamp of the two luminaries, that is, the water of life, returneth unto that whence it arose, namely into the earth, and it quickeneth, and is humbled, and putrefieth. And it is the figure of lovers, that is, the sulphur of earth. Therefore dispense the two luminaries, which are water of two bodies and natures. Or thus: dispense the two luminaries, namely the Sun and the Moon, and both readings are good, yet the second is the better.

And that water became one, having in itself the two lights: as we see the Sun with two rays in figure signifying the conjunction of the two luminaries shining upon the dead ashes and raining thereon, and that which had been given over unto death is revived, as after great want, when the dead is, that is, impoverished, he shall rise again.

To this like another said: If I ascend naked into heaven, and clothed I shall come down into the earth, I shall fulfil every ore. This is the sister, and this is the brother; that is, male and female are of one kind. They hardened the water, and laid the male and female in water, and the whole in earth, and yet by the subtilty of preparation—that is, by fire equal, gentle, not exceeding the celestial heat—they fixed them. But after conception was made, they made it to fly, that is, the begotten; and they were in the houses of the mountains, that is, the souls of the parents; which signifieth the waxing Moon, the greater luminary waxing. And it signifieth two birds therefrom, that is, two spirits or two souls of the two luminaries, of the air. For as Morienus saith: This work is likened unto the creation of man; for first is coitus, then conception, then impregnation, afterwards birth, and lastly nourishment.

And among other things Marcus saith: They conceive in baths—he meaneth the slow and moist heat of baths, wherein the Stone sweats in the beginning of its dissolution by little and little—and they bring forth in the air—he meaneth in the upper chamber, namely of the alembic, because the generation of this tincture is in the air of the alembic, above. And they walk upon the sea, and abide in their mountains and sepulchres. And he addeth: And they cast seed upon the marble of images, and into the water like unto them deified, and there come flying ravens, and fall upon that image—he intendeth the blackness which cometh by the two ears, by ravens. Then they flew upon the tops of the mountains, unto which no man may ascend, that is, into the upper part of the alembic shut on every side, and there they are whitened. Behold then its first preparation; and when thou knowest this, which is the extraction of the spirits all from the body, and their cleansing in their water. Behold the Sun, and the two Suns, that is, the Sun with one ray, and with two rays. And this is the last preparation, namely, of the spirits with their body, with grinding and roasting oft repeated, until thou see therein that which thou seekest.

And he saith that the second and last preparation is of three, namely, saltings or earths: the earth of leaves, the earth of pearls, and the third earth of gold; or of three, that is, the Trinity of the Stone. And these are three compositions of the red Stone having brightness.

Gloss: Gratianus saith: There are four elements, and a triple mineral of the elements. In the vegetable, partly in the earth according to the root, partly above the earth according to the herb. And the animal wholly above the earth walking. According to Morienus, the earths are three earths of this art. The first is the preparation of the water of life after the putrefaction of the body. The second third is the second whitening. The third third is the conjunction of the soul with the body. Or, according to the Senior, the three earths are: of leaves, of pearls, and of gold.

The four are elements, because hot, cold, moist and dry are in the earth, and the fifth essence, neither hot, nor cold, nor moist, nor dry, but the mean of them. And this already before hath been expounded concerning the number of the principles of the art. For some say one, some two, some three, some four, some five; and all speak well. These are not driven one against the other, but willingly rejoice together, because they are homogeneous; whence nature rejoiceth in nature, nature containeth nature, and nature overcometh nature.

The third is of two principal bodies, and the triple water, of air and fire and the nature of water; and all are one, because they are of one. And the Sun simple, and the two Suns, that is, with two rays broken, ascend no more into earth, but are fixed in it.

The triple is of soul, having projection tincting: the soul of the Sun, the soul of the Moon, and the tincture of sulphur, white, moist. And they are one of the same, the virtue of the superior, namely of the water of life, that is, of the tincture; and the virtue of the inferior, namely of the earth, are together of like nature, because they are begotten and corrupted by the same generation. But their corruption is good, that is, their putrefaction, which disposeth all generative nature into the better. For as Morienus saith to the point: All the strength of this magistery is not save after putrefaction; for never was anything imitated, or born, save after putrefaction. For if it be not putrid, it is not melted nor dissolved; and if it be not dissolved, it returneth to nothing.

It followeth, Hermes saith: A crown is made of the residue, that is, of the reliques of this divine water, which leaveth not the matter, that is, the earth fixed and ratified, in which are the darknesses, that is, the blackness.

The second—namely in the second work—by means of what remaineth of this water for imbibitions, shall be most highly whitened; and this is what he saith, to wit, that it quickeneth it, namely the earth, slaying it, that is, as a rain-humour; and it quickeneth two thirds of the earth—namely the white and the red—and the third of the third is burnt. He marketh the three soils to be enlivened: the earth of leaves, the earth of pearls, and the earth of gold. And the first third is burnt, because the flowers of the tincture, that is, the souls, are drawn out, when that pure water is gathered into that earth; as Anaxagoras saith in the fourth book: “the spirit of all the elements is coagulated in earth.” So we see its image painted in the Sun with two rays of the Planets upon the earth. But that which remained of the tincture gathered in the earth is not in the open—that is, it appeareth not as it was before the preparation—lest we seem any more to be in the hands of children; but let it be an inappreciable treasure of the wise. For, as Socrates saith, “the disposition of the work is a children’s game” (that is, before the preparation); but in the preparation, it is leisure and women’s work, to wit, cooking. Whence a certain philosopher saith that “this Stone boys carry in their hands; whose is the silence after the clamours.” And in these sayings of the philosophers there is a lock, and a lock set within a lock: that is, obscurity darkened with obscurity; for the type and figure in trope, one key and one only of them—because one way, one disposition, one act.

Next he setteth in his verse three things—namely the half third of the Moon—together with the Sun, “to that,” that is, to the equal moisture. This is cast down “by ignorance,” that is, hidden, namely that which is in that Stone from the operations; for they have hidden nothing save its preparation. Wherefore, in ignorance, no operation is taken; for the master is bound to know the passive working, that is, not to make it known to the unworthy. God, the protector of man, knoweth whom He willeth to inspire and from whom He willeth to hide it. Match therefore the figures to the exposition; for we have no image save the painted tablet of the Senior; and he that hath consideration and discretion shall see this more clearly than the Sun shining, with justice and not with injustice, in disputation.

Note what Morienus saith to the King in his dialogue: If the sages who were after the ancient philosophers and prophets had not found their expositions concerning the quality of the vessel in which they wrought, posterity had never reached the perfection of this magistery. Therefore commit to memory the quality of the vessel. Gratianus saith: In the first degree, metal vessels are expedient; in the second degree, glass; in the third, earthen. That is: in the first work let the vessel be metallic, fearing not the coagulation; in the fixation, earthen. Let the form of all be spherical below, up to the middle of a half-moon; and its height according to the quantity of the matter. Some of the ancients perfected in glass vessels; but such glass is not with us, unless like be found. Some of the ancients finished the whole work in an earthen vessel. Thus Zeno: “The vessel ought to be of stone—mill-stone-like—strong, not porous, well baked; such as the glass-makers have, wherein glasses melt. For this vessel, which endureth them six weeks, will well endure in the art six years: for the art hath not an excessive heat, but a spiritual glaze which melteth not in the fire like the common clay-glue of potters; it resisteth the fire, being of strong composition, and dense, not porous. Nor can the vessel of the art be made of any other stone; for another stone would not abide in the fire, but would be turned to ashes, a few excepted. Therefore it must be of baked stone.” Thus make thou such a vessel. Take the said clay, and dry it; then grind it; cast out water and little stones and foreign earth, and whatsoever is of another nature in or from it. Then burn almost the half thereof with a great fire or with stone; which half grind very small with the mill and sift; and with this ground part make a clay in the place of sand, mixing well that it be sufficiently tenacious; and of this fashion the vessel, and bake it in the fire; and suffer it to be “vitreified” within with a strong man (that it be not rent). Nor ought it to be glazed with lead-glass, but with ash; and let a cover be made of the same kind, without a vent-hole. For it is a vessel which is neither cucurbit nor alembic: verily a vessel of two stones of one kind, as Calid son of Iesid saith.

Note that no metal is expedient for our vessel save clear, well-tempered iron; no other would endure. For our water will not mingle with iron (i.e., it doth not corrode it). Wherefore Rasis in the Book of Lights saith: “If it be sublimed in iron, it conferreth safety.” And earlier he said that no instrument can be devised more compendious, saying: “The chiefest administration for distilling, and among the rest the most compendious vessel, requireth iron made of the most limpid matter; and herein it excelleth glass, that it cannot be broken.” And in this vessel the first work may be briefly ended; for over the lamp’s fire putrefaction and solution of the body will quickly be accomplished.

And as hath been said among the experienced, one vessel only is required; but among seekers, many are prepared severally, and in one of the rest the thing is tried and examined. Yet then note: they ought not to be of the same thickness, nor so much matter in the one as in the other; and set them so that the fire work equally upon them, and that the exposure be equal in the furnace; so that they rise four fingers or a little more, and hang within evenly; and let the flame serve them equally. If the vessel be glass, let there be placed equally, for the one as for the other, a bed of the former clay and mud. Make the furnace of the common potter’s clay, commonly three fingers thick, and of the height of a man’s forearm, and of a good palm in breadth; so that the flame of the fire touch not the bottom of the vessel, and that it freely give heat equally to all parts; having also breathings of three or four holes. Let the furnace be lifted evenly; and in the top, beneath, place a wheel of good clay of two fingers’ thickness or somewhat more, which wheel shall have in the midst one hole or two. And note that not all be at once put into preparation, as among the expert; rather let part be tried, that thou err not in the whole; or two, wherein thy vessels shall hang. And it is good caution that thou increase not the degrees of fire double those before, as Nodanus teacheth, but by the half: that is, in the first degree let there be one pound (i.e., one measure), in the second a pound and a half, &c. For by a gentle fire thou wilt not mar, but by excessive thou wilt corrupt; albeit by a slow fire things be longer cooked than by a sharp. It is more tolerable, under moderation, to prolong, than under excess to sin irrecoverably.

Note also with what portions of the vinegar the Rebis is dissolved into water; but it is dried more at length, and figured. And this is the common manner and doctrine of the philosophers. The experienced pour on water so that it stand above by three fingers, as seemed good to them. If seven parts—or fewer about that—be taken, the body of brass (i.e., our metal) is more slowly dissolved; for nine parts do more than six or seven; yet fewer dry sooner than more, and figure sooner. And whatsoever virtue can in one operation, the double virtue can in shorter time, saith the Philosopher—so the proportion of agent to patient be rightly kept.

For bringing it to perfection, one book readeth “it hath 21 days,” another “61 days.” Let there be days for solution—first let it be brought forth in 13 days; for the complement, 40 days—according as nature and the fire shall teach thee. Follow its nature according to the signs and keys delivered, and they will not suffer thee to err. For it knoweth the battle of water and fire, the length of cooking, as Assiduus saith, until it be made manifest to the sight; so that the imitation of the very work may teach thee to work. For it is the straightest rule and form of this art.

Let therefore the Stone be taken moist and white, well fermented; and let it be washed with one third of the nine; and let it putrefy by little and little, part after part, until it be whitened in 150 days—that is, in 21 days of the vinum named—and this according to the Senior. For he saith: The first illuminating work is to wash, to whiten, and to putrefy in 150 days; and this is the most perfect whitening, the flight of the darkness from it. And perchance the whiteness shall appear in 70 days—that is, ten weeks and two days—or in four weeks universally. But he addeth: this is not approved among them; the first is better, because it signifieth the temperance and goodness of the fire; the second and the third denote the intention (over-eagerness) of the fire and the corruption of the work.

Note that Morienus willeth the same: that the whiteness—which is the first work and the foundation of the redness—be achieved in 21 days and two days; the last being sudden, with strong fire given, and so they will be 23 days, as the Senior saith. And Morienus teacheth to imbibe with a fourth part in the first exposition, until the tinctures be brought down to the eighth part—that is, into the third. Likewise Antonius in the Turba saith: Quench a third part of the heat; that is, let there be of the vinegar, if it be 24, and of the same vinegar; and with the fourth part roast for three days, he commandeth. And let there be roastings; and again further with a fourth part, until it become white and fixed, for two days sudden, administering a stronger fire. These two, therefore, agree in the work.

Rasis hath the same intent: seven roastings, and in the meantime roast and moisten until it become white and fly not the fire; and then with its own water dissolve, and coagulate, and tinge. And he saith: In three days let there be one distillation, and the most right and perfect coction. And he addeth: Though we command to hold it three days, a day or part of a day sufficeth; and when in the work the tincture is complete, it is said to have fulfilled the number of days of inhumation; yet the space of 21 days accomplisheth the promised transmutation and cooking. And this third Philosopher agreeth with the aforesaid.

And note: if one third be completed in so many days, the two remaining thirds shall be completed in double time, that is, in forty-two days. And this saith Mundus, and Antonius, and Zeno, and many philosophers; so that on the eighth day the whole work is ended—because the coction is 21 days, as Hermes and many others say—and the earth is whitened in the other twenty-one days. And in the allegories: The soul is boiled forty days, as the seed abideth in the womb; and thus the purpose shall rise again. And the same road is unto the red as unto the white, save that first it must be completely and fixedly whitened; which whitening is the foundation of the second work; and the first work—namely the extraction of the tinctures—serveth these two works, which are one work. And if it be not fixed after the whitening, let the coction be repeated until so it come to pass, with a stronger fire; for that which hath once been fixed shall come back fixed.

And albeit these philosophers of Spirit, briefer than others, have set a short term for the whitening, yet commonly the philosophers in the Turba have bidden that both works be ruled forty days. Mundus teacheth to rule first for forty days; and when all the water hath been imbibed, again he teacheth for forty days that the spirit be incorporated, and with the body be made spiritual.

The same (method) Panophilus teaches: to whiten in forty days. And Theophilus says that the glutton of the wise—our bronze—liquefies and, as it were, turns into flowing water, because we must reduce it into thin foils. Then “cook with the poison at seven, in two sevens, to seven,” that is, for twenty-one days, as it is said in the Turba’s riddles. And because, according to Panophilus in the Turba, the first blackness does not endure unless for forty days, Theophilus subjoins: “And in its own water it is cooked for forty-two days; then openly thou shalt live (the work), and thou shalt find the bronze turned into quicksilver.” Therefore dividing this water into two equal parts, cook one part for forty days until it become a white flower—like the flower of salt in its brightness and coruscation; and again he teaches that the other part be cooked until it become saffron-colored, and until by coction and by water it be converted, and become something like pomegranate syrup.

Likewise Belus says there is a closer kinship between bronze and the water than between magnet and iron, and bids the successors cook the living water—which is the male power—together with the body, until it melt like flexible water; and he teaches to divide the water into two parts: the first half to be used for liquefying and cooking; the second half for cleansing what has been burned and its companion—those two together being made to imbibe seven times, until they are cleansed of every admixture and become earth. And he adds: “Know that in forty days the whole of it is turned into earth.”

Similarly Victimerus says: “Divide the water into two parts, with one part the bronze must be burned”—for that bronze, cast into that water, is called the seed of gold. Then with the remaining water the vessel must be moistened seven times, until all the water, with all the moisture dried out, be turned into dry earth. Then set (the matter) upon a kindled fire for forty days, until it putrefy and its colors appear.

Bonellus likewise says: “Divide the water into two parts—with the one part burn the body,” that is, whiten it (according to Lucas in the Turba, who says “to burn” is “to whiten”); “with the other part putrefy. Know that the whole regimen is nothing but in the water. Take therefore our bronze and, together with the first part of its water, set it in the vessel and cook for forty-one days, and cleanse it from every impurity, and cook until its days are completed and the Stone become devoid of moisture. Then cook until nothing remain save what is fixed. Then cleanse—wash the waters seven times; when the water is spent, leave it to putrefy in its vessel until the desired purpose appear to you; and beware of making it to be separated from the waters, lest it be infected and perish—(that) which is in the vessel.”

And before all these, near the beginning of this chapter, Bonellus says: “Cook all things over a gentle fire, until all that are in the vessel become waters. For when heat comes to it, by God’s ordinance they become waters. Therefore, seeing that blackness in the mineral water, know that the body is already liquefied; then set it in its vessel and cook for forty days, until it drink the humors of vinegar and honey. And indeed they cleanse it every seven days, or when ten nights are past, in which the water appears pure, until the forty days are fulfilled. Then truly it drinks the decoction of love. Again wash it and deprive it of blackness until it become earth and the moisture perish, and the Stone be dry to the touch.”

Likewise Ephisius says: “I command that the whitening be by the cooking of Ethelia (the subtle water), by grinding and imbibing, by most frequent handling of the bronze; but do not pour in the water all at once, lest the lye be drowned. Let therefore the humors dry, and the matter, turned into powder, leave it forty days until the colors described by the Philosophers appear.”

And Pandulphus bids to cook until all be black—the blackness lasts forty days—then to imbibe in fixed alum and saffron for forty days, until the third part be consumed. Likewise Athanius bids forty-two days; and again he says that from the tenth day of September unto the tenth day of Libra the second work is done. The Senior however wills that the whitening be prolonged even beyond one hundred and fifty days. And similarly Rasis; but Morienus first teaches that complete whitening be achieved in twenty-one days, saying: “O king, if thou behold in it the white made firm, though thou hadst sold thy whole kingdom and men, this work would not be compensated.”

Rasis, in the Book of Lights, speaks of the governance of the work thus: “At length in summer it suits alternately and proportionately, that it neither flee the fire nor emit smoke.” And shortly after he delivers the regimen thus: he says the inhumation is completed in twenty-one continuous days; whence, if twenty-one days be spent, it will be needful to bestow the same foulness beforehand and afterwards. As Rasis says in the Book of Lights: “It seems most necessary to the craftsman to search, to esteem, to love; nor will it weary thee to spend any time in these. But he to whom these three fail shall not be enriched by the delights of books.”

Whence by searching I learned in two ways the completion of the work: the first way, in a glass vessel, without the grinding of hands—as in the first and the last—so also in my work, by the ministry of fire and water alone. As it dissolves itself, so it couples itself; it grows white and is adorned with redness; it makes itself saffron, and black; it betroths itself; and from itself it receives, until it hasten the end of the work. For in the riddles it is said: “The Stone with its own javelin slays itself, macerates and espouses itself, and reddens itself; dissolves and coagulates itself; fixes and imbibes itself; and the soul prepares the body and the body (prepares) the soul.” Nor, as my instructor said to me, shalt thou see the whiteness until the whole body shall have been coagulated by self-imbibition—nor by separating the water from it, neither a third nor a half, since the disposition is not by human hands, as Morienus says; but by fire and water where they suffice. And these have the regimen: that when the whiteness shall appear, they proceed by six grades of fire, as the Philosophers have described—and those who follow approve this way.

First Morienus said: King Calid, since this disposition is not wrought by the hands of men, what is that disposition which perfects the whole magistery? The master answered him: “This disposition is the change of natures—the marvelous coupling of hot with cold, and moist with dry.” According to which the wise man says: “Azoth and fire wash and cleanse Laton, and its obscurity is utterly taken from it; for if thou dispose aright the measure of the fire, Azoth and fire in this disposition suffice thee for the whitening of Laton and its perfection.” And this disposition is the extraction of water and earth—and the casting of its water over its earth—until that earth be wholly soaked. And this water with the earth putrefies and is cleansed; which, once cleansed, the whole magistery is directed with God’s help. For then it lacks stench and stubbornness, and with every humility is white and shining, and able to receive the tincture.

Likewise Gratianus: “We cannot work with our hands upon Mercury, but with ten species which we call our ‘hands’ in this work of ours—that is, nine parts of water and the tenth of earth.”

Likewise Theophilus in the Turba: “Take white magnesia and, mixed with masculine quicksilver, convert it by cooking in fire—and not by hands—until it become a thin water. For then it grindeth itself, until by coction and by water it be ground and become like pomegranate syrup.” Yet this Philosopher would have the water divided into two parts—by one to whiten, by the other to redden—and perchance he marks the two works, the white and the red: for when it is white, coldness and moisture endure. And as Belus says, the body is three times cleansed by means of the water from every defilement and is divided and becomes earth, saying: “Bring it about that in forty days the whole is turned into earth.” Whence he subjoins: “By cooking, melt it until it become water; then resolve the waters until it be as melted coin; then cook until it be coagulated and become like tin; cook it again, and with the remaining water imbibe until the purpose be found.” Those who in the same manner say to divide the water—that is, the matter—into two works, the white and the red, deliver the sages’ sophism and not a manifest word.

Likewise Locustes says: “Divide the water into two parts: with one part the lead is made to melt like water; and cook until it be dried and become earth. Then retain the water kept aside until it put on the red color.” But he subjoins: “Those who wish to congeal quicksilver, (let them do so) with its mystic body. Then cook until both be a permanent water; then cook that water until it be coagulated.” And these waters, when dried with their like, because in the veins quicksilver now of itself begins to coagulate, set it in its vessel and cook until it be well boiled down and become saffron, like to the golden color. And, according to Gregory: “After the brightness that flashes, govern it until it become red; and when ye see this, cook until it become gold. Then repeat, and let it become the Tyrian color of gold.” And Baxons: “Cook until it become black; then white; then red.” And Zimen, saying how bodies are turned into non-bodies, says: “Let Ethelia be ground until it become powder. Know that it becometh not powder save by continuous and very strong coction and grinding in fire—and not by hands—with imbibition and putrefaction and solution and exposition and solution of Ethelia.” Likewise the Roasting Philosopher: “Unless ye first make the things like at the beginning of the cooking—without hand-grinding—until they become water, ye have not found the work.” But most—or all—of these would often imbibe or divide the water; and they say it is not ground all at once, but by succession of water and fire, not by hands.

And Bonellus says: “Truly, let the hand be silvered by true grinding of gold; yet beware of making it to be separated from the waters, lest the poisons come upon you and the things that are in it perish.” But Ephistius says the contrary, for he says: “I order, however, that it be not poured in all at once, lest the lye be submerged; rather pour little by little, and grind, and dry, and do it many times until the water be finished and dry.” He said this because it is not poured—that is, cooked and ground—at once, but successively. For, according to Rasis, to pour, to cleanse, to flow, to water, to cook, to wash—are the same.

Likewise Baxons: “Alas for you, who understand the sayings of the Philosophers and how he divided the work—mixing, cooking, making like, roasting, heating, whitening, grinding, watering the Ethelia, making rust, and dyeing. These therefore are many names, yet truly the thing is one; for there is one living water and one coction,” as Assiduus says. And straightway, seeing that they seem to pretend one continuous action, he adds: “And if the Philosophers had known that one grinding and one roasting—or coction—would suffice, they would not have repeated their sayings so much.” And therefore be assured that the compound be iterated and cooked continually, and be not slothful nor grow weary of those coctions. For Morienus wills that the fire be continuous and even, lest the greatest loss follow. And he adds that the vessel should adhere immovably to its furnace until the whole time of the “cold action of gold” be fulfilled. Yet, with a fourth part, mortify and irrigate, taking care that the flame touch not the vessel; for all would turn to ruin. And yet let this divided imbibition be made, and the third water be added; not all at once. And the same (Morienus) says: “Perhaps to prepare all at once is for the experienced.” For Gratianus says: “Note: if all be prepared at once, it is good for the experienced; yet greater experience for seekers is that each be prepared singly and examined one by the rest.”

He subjoins, that in every dissolution there is an incorporation of the dissolved with the dissolvent; and there the spirit can become body and the body spirit. And the same Gratianus prepares singly, saying: “Mercury, in his whole disposition, is Elixir—that is, Mercury tincturing himself, unfixed. In Leo he is Elixir—that is, Mercury prepared and separated, and tincturing with a fixed tincture, according to his quantity, yet not to the full. When he is (‘leavened’) with the ferment he becomes Elixir—that is, Mercury ‘leavened,’ tincturing and changing inseparably and unto infinity and beyond measure; so that the beginning beareth witness above its own end—which is: calcine, dissolve, coagulate—the ‘uncertain’ Mercury. Xir is called any medicine that strings (coagulates) Mercury, alchemically prepared upon him. Therefore first draw the oil from the earth, and dissolve in it the medicine that stringeth and coagulath—that is, the earth; and again sublime through the alembic; and calcine; and let the calcination be “pressed” (true, dry); and dissolve; and distill; and coagulate; and incerate with its own oil; and cast that Xir upon fermented Mercury, and it is an Elixir apt to make Elixir. And know for certain that the body is thus dissolved—by falsehood intervening—by reason of metallic humidity; for unless its own body, from which it is drawn, enter into it,” etc.

Afterwards the same (author) says: “Let Mercury be taken and set in custodia, between the burning and the burned; and commit it to the Sun and the Moon, who are the fountains of cold and heat; and to our earth, on account of the germ of fixed and fusible whiteness and redness.” Which things he there expounds, speaking of the preparation of the ferment. Note: “Sublime Mercury from the ferment, and dissolve it in the eagle’s water; and calcine the red river, and coagulate with it the dissolved Mercury; and dry; and set this dry in the fire with the ferment; and calcine the whole; and dissolve again; and again coagulate with it the dissolved Mercury”—and this is what he means by “the burned and the burning.” And elsewhere he says: “Whiten the Laton, which, when you shall have whitened it and by long coction brought it back to its former clarity, you will again have, etc. And then calcine, dissolve, distill, coagulate, and incerate; and thus proceed for a month; and if the result be penetrative, then thou hast come to the end.” And for this part all seem to agree—Senior, the Turba, the Riddles of the Turbae—as is clear.

Here ends the Second Part, on the Mass of Sun and Moon.

---

Here begins the Third Part: the Book of Three Words.

On the Mass of Sun and Moon.

A wondrous work of three words, in which the most precious arcanum and gift of God is wholly contained—concerning the precious Stone, which is an airy body, volatile, cold and moist, watery and yet adustive. The sheer delight of this secret and of our venerable fellowship constrains me to set forth its exposition, so that those who know so great a mystery—hidden beneath countless problems and withdrawn from the wise and prudent of this world—may rejoice in the gift of the glorious God, an unfailing treasure. I shall expound nothing save the difficulties of the book, fitting to them the testimonies of diverse Philosophers and their own glosses, for I have no wish to invent anything beyond the Philosophers’ sayings. The thing is one; its path is one. And this is the second part of the treatise On the Mass of Sun and Moon, that is, a congruent counsel upon the demonstration of the Book of Three Words.

The Philosophers say: the combination of two contraries—cold and moist, which are watery and adustive—do not befriend heat and dryness; for heat and dryness overthrow the cold-and-moist ruling power. Then this spirit is turned into a most noble body that flees not the fire, runs in the fire like oil, and is a most fair, perpetual tincture. Hence we must learn to reveal its hidden part—namely the hot and dry—and to hide what is manifest, that is, the cold and moist. This hidden part is of the nature of the Sun, most worthy and most precious of all hidden things, and the one tincture—singular; there is no other—for it is the permanent water that ever lives, the Philosophers’ vinegar. Thus Mundus in the Turba: “Our gum is amended by nothing save gold alone. I say our gum is stronger than gold; whoever knows it penetrates what is more precious than gold. Indeed, honor gold with our gum, for without it gold cannot be amended. And therefore the Philosophers writing of it tell nothing plainly; for if the common sellers knew it, they would not sell it at so cheap a price.”

Aristotle says: “Know that among Philosophers it is stronger and higher than all natures; among fools it is most cheap; but we revere it. And if kings knew it, they would not suffer it to come to the poor.” O how marvelously Nature by this gum turns gold into spirit, and in what wondrous manner it flashes forth and surpasses all! And Pandophilus: “I say there is no body worthier and purer than the Sun; without it and its shadow—that is, the Moon, which of itself is dark—no dyeing poison is generated. But he who strives for the Philosophers’ poison without its composer errs entirely; while he who knows how, with the Sun and its shadow, to dye the poison, comes to the arcanum called ‘the coin’—which, when it becomes red, is called gold. And whoever knows the Philosophers’ hidden decambar knows the whole work.”

And the Moon is called the Sun’s shadow when the Sun is clothed in the Moon’s blackness, the color of ink, as the Senior says; and it is said of Cabarid that he is the son of fire—because he grew up in fire and does not fear the fire’s bound. It is said also from canna (burning, fire), and bar (son); or from cambar, from deca (ten) and barbarus, as though “son of ten species of the art,” namely the nine pearls and the tenth, art itself—of which exposition has already preceded in the first treatise. Gratianus says that by these ten species Mercury is taken. And in the Senior it is said: “The past nor the present can tinge gold save with gold.” The author likewise says the most hidden thing—most worthy—is of the Sun’s nature: the Solar spirit, the Sun’s blood, his tincture.

Note: the Stone is not adustive passively (for it is not burned; the fire does not corrupt it but betters it, as will be shown). It is called adustive actively, because the sages’ sulphur, as Sapius says, burns by a combustion of whitening and bettering; for the wise man’s combustion is the total whitening of the whole. The Philosophers sufficiently assure men, saying: “Our sulphur is not the vulgar sulphur that burns with a combustion of blackness and corruption.”

Floris says in the Turba: “Do you not see that this crucifying (heat) torments not with harm or corruption, but with profit and consolidation? For if the crucifixion were noxious, it would not be embraced until the changeful colors were drawn from it.” And this single water we call “sulphur,” which also we apply to the red tinctures.

As to its incorruption by fire, Geber elegantly declares: “Our sulphur is of a most strong complexion and of uniform substance; for in it the least parts of earth and the least parts of air, water, and fire are so commingled that no one of them can abandon another in resolution, but each is resolved with each by the strong union of Solar heat which they had in the minerals, according to Nature’s due consent.”

Likewise, says Geber, quicksilver is a viscous water, generated in the earth’s bowels—of subtle, earthy substance—united by a most temperate heat to a total union in the least parts, until the moist is equally tempered by the dry and the dry by the moist. Indeed it shuns a smooth and even surface on account of its watery moisture, yet does not adhere—though it has a viscous moisture—because of a dryness that tempers that moisture and suffers it not to stick. It is friendly and agreeable to the metals; it is the medium for conjoining tinctures; without it no metal can be gilded. And none of the metals sink in quicksilver save the Sun (gold). Whence you may draw the greatest secret. It is also figured and is the tincture of redness, of most exuberant reflection and gleaming splendor; it does not depart from the thing mixed; it mingles with gold and shapes through it with the greatest ingenuity—a thing not attained by the craftsman of stiff neck or stone heart. It is also incombustible and incorruptible; for all corruption of metals comes either from a sulphur enclosed within their substance, which, by inflaming, diminishes and utterly destroys the metals—or from a multiplication of the exterior flame, penetrating them and wholly resolving them (as in the calcination of lead, where there is a rarefaction of parts; then the flame can penetrate and destroy). If therefore all causes of the metals’ corruption concur, the bodies must needs be corrupted.

But quicksilver permits no division into the parts of its corruption; either it withdraws from the fire wholly, or remains wholly standing in it. Nay rather, it is notable as a necessary cause of perfection; for by the good adhesion of its parts and the strength of its complexion and commixture, when its parts are thickened by fire, it no longer permits itself to be corrupted; nor by the ingress of furious flame that would exalt it to the utmost, since it does not suffer rarefaction on account of the density of its composition. Therefore it is weighty. And because it lacks adustion by sulphur, it is not burned. Blessed be the glorious and most high God who created it and gave it a substance and properties of substance such as no other natural thing possesses—and within which the perfection of this work may be found by the art that brings it from proximate potency to act. For this is that which overcomes the fire and is not overcome by it, but rests amicably in it and rejoices.

All these things Geber says of Mercury; and this is the art’s sulphur. Hence Plato: “All quicksilver is sulphur, but not every sulphur is quicksilver; and all gold is bronze (in genus), but not every bronze is gold.” When these two are well regulated, the fire will never separate them; for their natures are alike, and both are of the most temperate and strongest composition.

These are the three words of the premised intent, and they are emblematic—after the likeness of the Philosophers’ embryo. For three months water keeps the fetus in the womb; for three months air warms it; for as many months fire guards it. When these are completed, the blood that was sustained in the navel—by which the infant was nourished—ascends to the mother’s breast; there, after the pangs, it takes on the whiteness of snow. The infant will never find an exit until it has breathed out all its airy vapors; at length it opens the mouth and is suckled.

From these words we must, with a keen wit, extract the “two” and the “seven” that are understood from them. And the Senior, on Hermes’ authority, likewise says the same: “Know that water serves it in the belly for the first three months; then air for three months; then fire for the following three; and cooks it and perfects it. And when the nine months are complete, the blood by which it was nourished in the womb is cut off and ascends to the woman’s breast, there to be as a crown and to become its nourishment after its going forth from the womb.” All this is said for the assigning of the Stone’s preparation, as the ancient Sages prepared it: by “womb” he intends the bottom of the cucurbit; by the “seed of man and woman,” the moistures of Sun and Moon; by “menstrual blood,” the white moist through which the fetus is warmed and formed in the womb of our vessel. By the “closed womb” during conception and impregnation, note the sealing of the vessel and the most careful confirmation of the conjunction, lest what is within take inspiration from the air; for there are winds and spirits there, whose exhalation would spoil the nourishing work.

By “blood that reddens” he means the blackness appearing at the beginning of the work, from which redness of tincture is born. By the ascent of the blood to the mother’s breast, note its sublimation to the airs in the upper part of the alembic, where it takes on the whiteness of snow—and then the Stone is perfected, which is a humid, aqueous spirit. And Morienus says: “Yet it is not like other water, but a water found everywhere and of no price, and everlasting—for it is the world’s principle. For from water all things were made. Over the water the Spirit of the glorious and most high God was borne; and the beginning of man’s generation is from it.” Of this water the father is the Sun, the mother the Moon, as Hermes, father of the Philosophers, says. And Assiduus: “Whose mother is a virgin and whose father has not known woman”—and it is one and the same saying. Assuredly, the Sun is the principle of man’s generation in the oblique circle.

Hence some Philosophers teach of this art by the way of Nature—of male and female, of hot and moist, and the other natural principles. Others argue arithmetically—of nine and the tenth part, how two and three make six, one and two and three. Others astronomically—of Sun, Moon, and Planets, whose light and motion are their cause; who are everywhere and always in power and in every subject, and of no price, because their light and motion are not seen. As from milk the infant’s nourishment is wrought after it leaves the womb, so the earth is nourished, enlivened, and grows by this divine water until it suffices to itself.

Thus, by the likeness of the seed in the womb, the Philosophers teach the preparation of the Philosophic Mercury. Hence Pythagoras in the Turba: “Nor is it without cause compared to the seed of the womb; it is rightly likened thereto; for in its complexion it many times makes colors appear, as the matter is governed in each practitioner’s hands.” And Bonellus in the Turba says: “Know that nothing is generated without a complexion. The seed is generated from blood and desire, and is nourished by the heat and moisture of blood; after forty days the fetus is formed; and if there were no moisture in the womb, the seed would not dissolve nor would the fetus be begotten. That blood is constituted to nourish the seed until it brings forth the fetus; when it is brought forth, it is nourished only with milk as long as it is little; and the more it is dried by natural heat, the more the bones are strengthened, it is led into youth; and when it comes to old age, it suffices to itself.” In like manner must we labor in this work, knowing that nothing is generated without heat; and that excessive heat makes it exhale, while cold destroys; but if the heat be tempered, then it is pleasant to it, and thus the vein is enlivened and the heat wholly increases. And this Philosopher most beautifully teaches the fetus’s preparation, generation, and nourishment. And Aristotle, in the Letter to King Alexander:

And know that no offspring is ever born except from a father and a mother. When the infant has exhausted all the spirit of its matter that is required for its organization, it is naturally born—now without its former nourishment. And just as, in nine months, the infant expels all airy vapors and the menstruum is converted into a milky form, so in nine months the first work is completed—namely the second whiteness (albedo secunda), by which the whole work is coagulated—though, according to experienced authors, it is resolved around six months; according to Balgus in the Turba, in 180 days; and according to many philosophers (Rasis, Assiduus, the Senior, and the author in the Turba), in 20 days, and on the same day and month the “taking away of vapor” ceases; with its heat dryness is received—leaving no ambiguity or suspicion. As Rasis says in the Book of Lights: once the body is dead and from it quicksilver has first been extracted in its own water—by which that body is nourished and grows and is revived—it never dies thereafter, because it is an incorruptible tincture sprung from an incorruptible seed by God’s providence. And assuredly, this Mercury is the common (vulgar) one—yet not “coagulated,” as just said.

Therefore: Water keeps the fetus in the womb for three months; Air warms it for three months; Fire cooks it for as many months. This is said by likeness for our Mercury, because within six months, under the Philosophers’ steady and even fire, water and air (that is, spirit and vapor of brass) are gathered in the Philosophic Water. Thus Mercury is taken—extracted—red in the hidden sense, but outwardly white; and it dissolves strongly in twelve days, and in as many days it lies hidden, co-agulating. Mark well the regimen for extracting this Mercury, per Avicenna: heat in a moist body first produces blackness; then it brings it to whiteness, because heat entirely consumes the moisture—and where any remains, the warmth makes it white, as is seen in common heating.

So in the first operation all things blacken; in the second they whiten; in the third, with a stronger fire, there must be incineration by composition. Thus in our work, from an abundance of moisture in the body, blackness is generated in the fire. This blackness is called Ethel de Ethel—“quicksilver from quicksilver.” And Pandulphus in the Turba: “Rule it with the white moist—which is a great secret—until it be covered with blackness and that blackness itself be made.” The dissolution of the blackness is the Lunar moisture and Solar fat, than which nothing is more akin or nearer. And according to Hermes—by Pandulphus’ experience—this blackness lasts about forty days, for then there will appear a most noble whiteness, after heat has entirely consumed the moisture and the airy exhalations have been expelled and the body put to death.

But “Fire guards it for as many [months],” that is, fire completes the whole work, as the author’s gloss: the fire first coagulates the dead body; second, incinerates it; and again, dissolved in its own water and ground by trituration, it is worked until all is humid like thick grease, and the water is quenched by that fat. Then distill, coagulate, incinerate. For, as Pandulphus says in the Turba: “Know that as often as you imbibe the ash—that is, the incinerated body—and as often as you imbibe with the gums, so often must it be dried and again moistened, until its color is turned into that which is sought.” And Assiduus: “Cook it until the water is united and coagulated and it does not flee the fire,” meaning a temperate fire so the compound does not fume away. For the Water knows how to fight the Fire, and the length of cooking, putrefying, and thickening.

Then gird the vessel round with warm dung—the Philosophers’ moist fire—and for some months make it “fly,” until the water reddens, thickens, and becomes a dyeing Elixir. “For some months,” i.e., according to Mundus the Philosopher, for forty-two days (six weeks), or as long as seed abides in the womb until a man is formed from his root. Gloss: “to fly,” because it ascends and descends in the Golden Tree, and thus overcomes both the upper and lower virtue until it becomes fixed. And Athanasius in the Turba says of the same months: “Cook it in the Sun,” i.e., under solar heat, which is a continuous, uniform fire, and “in the black earth” for forty and two days; and perhaps it will take longer; therefore he explains the time: “The second work is completed from the day of September until the tenth of Libra,” i.e., in a year.

So, interpret “Fire keeps it for as many [months]” as the nine months—or a year—of tempered fire; just as for nine months the blood descending from the navel is warmed and then rises to the woman’s breast where it takes the whiteness of milk, which is the nourishment of the fetus after it leaves the womb. Understand by this that the Stone was prepared in this mode: not as a quantity of time, but as the quality (regimen) of the Philosophers who nourish their “offspring” by its own divine water.

Thus this spirit is turned into spirit—because it is expounded two ways—into a body (i.e., it is coagulated in earth), and the body is turned into spirit (i.e., all is sublimed in the Golden Tree); or again the body is turned into spirit (i.e., having lost thickness and rigidity, it becomes spiritual). Hence in the Turba: “Be certain that when it has lost its thickness, it will become spiritual.” And Gratianus says: that the body becomes spirit and the spirit body—understand that body and spirit become one; and when the body, dissolved in a saline seat, dyes, it is spiritual. Therefore this body is turned into spirit, i.e., becomes spiritual—i.e., dyeing—for to dye is the office of spirit; and then this spirit is again turned into body, i.e., finally fixed. First by a Lunar fixation, then by a Solar fixation—by God’s power, from whom this wisdom flows to those He wills—and by measured patience moderating the degrees of fire; for there are four termini, as will be seen; and this is the “length of the two and the seven.” These are difficult words which I long examined.

Note then the tempering of the fire: it must be even in all its degrees, each perfected in itself, as Gratianus says. And this concerns the “length” of the two fires and the seven degrees of that fire. For from the three, two are understood—not conversely—as the author says: a double fire is found which is of three degrees. Gloss: the double fire—that is, the simple (like that for eggs or birds; also the fever-like heat) according to Mercury in the first work—and the second, a graded or doubled fire. And this double fire is of three degrees in the first key of the work, and triple in the second key of the work; for there are two keys of the art, says the author. The first key is a year; the second key is another year and seven days (as later authors will prove). And each key has three degrees, as will appear later from the testimony of the wise. Or otherwise: these three degrees are the Sun’s three phases in the zodiac—first when the Sun is in Aries (its exaltation), second in Leo, third in Sagittarius. Gratianus agrees: the artificial heat imitates the natural in three grades—first, dissolving in the moist (Sun in Aries to Cancer) in the first work; second, aggregating in the moist (Sun in Leo) for the whitening of the second work; third, incorporating in the moist (Sun entering Sagittarius), where the substantial humidity is calcined.

The first degree is weak—the extraction of spirits from the body, leaving the “leaf-earth.” The second degree is “smoke,” i.e., the second whitening—the “pearl-earth.” The third degree is the look toward the “gold-earth,” i.e., the redness. Thus the author speaks arithmetically (of the “length of two and seven”) and astronomically (of the Sun’s triple degree). And Gratianus says: Mercury in every disposition is an elixir: in Leo it is ixir (prepared), in the ferment it is elixir (cerated). So that the beginning testifies over its end and conversely—“calcine, dissolve, distill, coagulate Mercury, and cerate.” Mercury becomes three-named in its fitting: first ixir, second ixir, third elixir. Ixir is fusible Mercury that dyes with an unfixed tincture and does not transmute; Ixir (second sense) is prepared, separated Mercury dyeing with a fixed tincture according to its measure, bringing change (as when in Leo); Elixir is cerated Mercury dyeing and changing inseparably and beyond measure (when the Sun enters Sagittarius), in which degree rain falls from heaven into earth and the spirits’ colors are changed—i.e., incinerated and fixed and made alive again.

Therefore fire is triple (three degrees), and double (positive and graded). From the three, the two are understood: from these three grades of fire you take two fires—simple and doubled. These fires differ: the positive is not graded, for it is not doubled. These three degrees are divided into seven degrees, counting the first as the foundation to which all following fires are graduated. And the seven fires you may understand from Gratianus, who says Mercury must not be placed in any degree of heat unless first it is taken with Mercury extracted and fixed—in the ferment of Sun and Moon—made like into one body. Of whose fitting he says: the body dissolved in the humid, upon the coming of Mercury, dissolves it; yet this is not the work of the “humid” but of falsity through the humid, by which the body is joined with Mercury by reason of the metallic humidity, which is more friendly to the metallic body. Therefore the soul enters its body; and since two bodies cannot occupy one place, they sink to the bottom and the pristine water floats above; and this is called the “second water,” in which simple Mercury (vulgar) dissolved does not fall—and this is a good secret, if you know the cause.

Note the exposition in Aristotle’s Letter to Alexander, where he enumerates the species of the art: “Know then that Fire is sulphur,” i.e., the Sun. Hence Parmenides in the Turba: “This sea turns gold into red fire.” And Gratianus: “The tender Mercury is wont, with Alkibrik (the Sun), to separate the most rubicund substance—by the service of the ‘olive’ (oil) or by the fat of animals taken from the richest pastures.” (I will later explain this saying.)

Therefore sulphur is fire—Solar splendor—and the potent spirit is magnesia, the dead body of the two luminaries, which has another place than the body of the water (for body and water are set apart, and the supernatant water is Mercury—the first water). The second is Air, i.e., the body’s vapor. And quicksilver is the first water, the flowing body uncovered. But spirit is the second water, in which the Lunar moisture and Solar fat are joined to Mercury by the metallic humidity.

Next: “All things are nourished, every shoot grows, every light ascends, every fruit ripens.” But simple, common, vulgar Mercury is not for our work; we use composed Mercury, for it coagulates under cold and takes on forms; yet simple Mercury lacks the ferment and is useless to us—this is a great secret. Of this composed Mercury Enimerus in the Turba says: “I warn you, congeal quicksilver compounded from many things, so that two and three make one”—that is, male and female make the Water of Life in which are three (air, fire, water); and “four make one,” that is, the four elements become one; and “two become one,” i.e., spirit and body are joined. Or thus: “four make one,” i.e., four parts of brass and one of Sun and Moon; “three become one,” by continuation, as the Senior in the Turba: “Take one part of a sincere (noble) body and three of another brass, and mix with vinegar.” And Dardaris: “Four coins of the vulgar tinge brass.”

And I repeat the first word: Mercury should not be put to any degree of heat unless first it is taken with Mercury extracted and fixed from brass. Hence Rason: “If you dissolve the white body so that it becomes quicksilver, its flowers will be extracted; and if goldsmiths knew this—who have business with it—they would profit greatly by it, not by much fire, but by its solution, to convert it back to that whence it had its root.” And this is the Senior’s gloss. But such solution should be only by a simple, gentle fire—like that for eggs or birds—nourished in the first work.

Afterwards Gratianus, of the second work and its six degrees of fire, says Mercury must be led by degrees to fixation. First its “vein-ness” is calcined in the first degree of heat; second, its heat in the second degree; third, its substantial humidity in the third degree. And whatever is calcined must be dissolved in its own way, that it may putrefy—i.e., by grinding, imbibing, and roasting. And so at length all is ground into one, imbibed with one ferment, i.e., “wine-water,” for water is the ferment of water.

And again let it be led through three degrees of heat, and thus Mercury works upon itself. In this way there are six degrees of the doubled fire, and the simple fire is the seventh.

Gratian, however, sets out only six degrees or modes, excluding the seventh and the “positive” fire; the positive fire is not called a degree, but rather the foundation of the degrees. The author of this work, by contrast, counts six degrees of fire including the simple one as first. The reason: the first (positive) fire and the second (which is the first degree) differ only thus— the first fire, namely of the first work, is uniform in beginning, middle, and end; but the first degree of the second work is non-uniform, because at the end it is sharpened, and by this fire the water is coagulated with the body, and the body is made spiritual.

How it is non-uniform is clear from many Philosophers. Lucas in the Turba: “Let the fire be gentle while whitening until it coagulates; afterwards make the fire somewhat stronger.” Archiratuis there likewise: “Cook it until it is turned into a stone; afterwards cook with a stronger fire until the stone becomes harder, is compacted, and is turned into ash; then imbibe again until it becomes moist, and cook with a stronger fire. And, as said, seal the mouth of the vessel and cook until the whole body is consumed and incinerated.” Toward the end of the Turba the Author says: “Then put it in a glass vessel, leaving it in a dark place until you see the vessel glow and shine like a jacinth.”

Before proceeding, note by what fire the redness of the first and second work is drawn out. Gratian says: It is not “reduced,” because we say “the spirit becomes body”—understand “fixed”—and “the body becomes spirit,” which is to be taken similarly. So the oft-ground tenderness (viscosity) of Mercury—as said above—accustomed in the fire with Alkibrik (the incombustible sulphur, i.e., the Sun), remains; for neither fire nor sulphurs waste it, but fire rather improves it (the Sun).

Know there are two sulphurs of the Art: a mobile aqueous sulphur—i.e., quicksilver (hence Plato: “Every quicksilver is sulphur, though not every sulphur is quicksilver”)—and another sulphur akin to it in nature, i.e., the Sun. These two sulphurs seek each other like iron the magnet; from that sulphur (gold) you will separate its most reddened (most purple) substance and Tyrian venom [= the powerful dyeing tincture], with the help of the “service of the olive” (oil) and the fat of animals from richest pastures.

Therefore Morienus to King Khalid on the fires of the work: “Above all, keep the fire even—let it neither increase nor diminish.” And he adds: “The Philosophers’ fire is such that its matter has living division; its matter is produced from sheep’s dung, with olive leaves added; for nothing else compels the fire’s combustion to endure equally.” Assiduus says the Philosophers’ fire is a moist fire—i.e., bury and putrefy in horse and ox dung, with the flame of a lamp. He also says: “Make peace between spirit and body on the fiery bed of putrefaction from things [flowers/substances] that spring from earth, or that air engenders, or are born in the bellies of animals.” And elsewhere, of the second work after the water has been coagulated in earth: “Then wrap the vessel with moist dung, and for some months make it ‘fly,’ until it becomes quelles (elixir).”

The Senior says putrefaction is “the body with the subtle fire of beasts,” and they measured and hid this fire. By this fire the frozen water becomes stone; running water becomes quiet; and when it has been prepared it returns to its former form, and is congealed, and kept in patience, and brought back in the preparation. Notably expounding the subtle “fire of beasts,” the Senior adds that the first light (i.e., regimen) of 150 days is better than the second (120) or third (70): it must be intense light—but the first must be temperate.

Khalid: “Know also there are fires of many kinds; some fires bring corruption in cooking; it is best to have one kind in cooking.” Aristotle to Alexander: “Beware the material be touched by its own flame; rather liquefy it as melted things are liquefied.” Rodarius in the Book of Three Words: “In fire alone, without any separation, can be done all distillations, sublimations, calcinations, rubifications, suffusions, with all resolutions and coagulations—until friendship is made between this and that; then it will conquer every solid thing, and oil will run on it before your very eyes.” Gratian: the fire in all its degrees must be even until, by the work of fire, the work is perfected. Bonellus in the Turba: “The more days pass, the more strongly it coagulates and is not restrained. By the benefit of the Sun (solar fire) it is coagulated and frozen, and that strongest whiteness makes it overcome fire.” Theophilus: when the Philosophers see the Stone turned into blood, they set it in the Sun—i.e., a slow, continuous, measured fire—until the viscosity ceases, the blood dries, and then the venom appears and the hidden is made manifest. Hence Rasis (Book of Lights): “When we bid you set it in the Sun, we denote illumination or fire.” Casius: “Rule it with Sun and dew until it becomes a stone.” Antonius bids to cook it in the Sun and black earth, saying: one operation congeals sooner and another slower according to difference of cooking—if the place of cooking is dewy it congeals quicker, if dry then slower; we keep moister fires to finish quicker than drier.

Why multiply authorities? One equal fire is owed in all degrees. Fire, therefore, and Azoth suffice you in this Art. As for wax, oil, and tallow—they are under the Sun’s dominion, and “from the dew of heaven,” in which are many human secrets.

Before speaking of the degrees of fire, it must first be known how this spirit is turned into body, and body into spirit. Assiduus: “Know, my son, among all natures some are more perfect; nothing of the rest is directed without others; the whole is not joined unless the part be in it, nor the part unless the whole be in it—just as earth is melted and turned into air.” And he adds how spirit is turned into body: “While the work is converted, you say that fire is coagulated and becomes air; air is coagulated and becomes water; water is coagulated and becomes earth. Behold: into one nature the enemies have met; when they are driven together (coagulated) they become friends; when they are rarefied they become enemies”—i.e., in the separation of the elements. Therefore examine all in earth—i.e., spiritualize the earth and make it dyeing—and you have finished.

Gratian similarly: “In fire let there be light in air; when the moist fails, the splendor fails”—meaning: coagulate it like a mirror or a bared sword; from bone make lime—i.e., by drying that shining moisture until it becomes ash—of which Aziratus says, “How precious is that ash!” The air (where the spirit is) condenses into water within the sealed glass; hence the hissing pellicle evaporates. Pandulphus: “Seal the mouth of the vessel carefully, lest the flower go out, but let it be joined to its near-kin and increase its whiteness.” Water becomes earth like glass—i.e., the dryness gathered makes it always harder. (He means the coagulation of water into earth.) Thus the beginning of this thing bears witness to its end: calcine, dissolve, distill, coagulate; and again calcine and incerate.

Socrates: “The dead stone is glass made by fire, and its viscosity [is such] because the spirit is opened by the virtue of fire.” Therefore spirit acts into viscosity; though it cannot perforate, yet spirit (as dyer) penetrates the body—not body into body.

Next: “Earth in fire is salt”—that is, earth is calcined into ash, as Pandulphus: “As often as you imbibe the ash, so often must it be dried until its color is turned into what is sought.” Hence: “And afterwards various things happen among themselves.”

Of this conversion of spirit into body Plato in the Turba: “Know, all of you, that every spirit at last rests in earth. The spirit of fire falls into air; that air and the fire into water; and finally what is condensed from the thickness of fire, air, and water falls into earth.” Gratian, how body becomes spirit: “Earth is resolved into water, water into air, air into fire—this is the road by which body becomes spirit.”

This water is hot, fiery, burning, powerful—of stronger heat and adustion than common fire, says the Senior; it overcomes it, and so it is said. Parmenides: “O nature of heavenly power, multiplying natures! O truly strong, conquering and surpassing natures, making its own natures rejoice!” This is the spiritual nature to which God gave the ability that fire cannot bestow.

Then: fire by trituration becomes air; air by trituration becomes water—and this is the road by which spirit becomes body. On this conversion Gratian distinguishes: “Xir (ixir) makes Xir only by the benefit of long heat, equally and continuously enduring; then it thus diffuses the ore through various stones, and afterwards is separated from them.” He explains: manus (“hand” or “handling”). We cannot work upon Mercury with our own hands, but with the “ten species” we call our hands in this art—i.e., nine parts of white moist and a tenth part of aer (fire of our furnace). This weight is universal. But Rasis assigns “seven parts of earth and three of our fire-air” as the ten species by which Mercury is taken and fermented.

Xir is any medicine that “binds” Mercury, alchemically prepared over it—i.e., the earth of the Stone that coagulates the “virgin’s milk” (holds Mercury). Hence the method: “First extract the oil (Mercury) from the earth (its ore), and dissolve in it the medicine that binds and coagulates (the earth dissolved), imbibing and grinding until it becomes like thick grease; and separate the oil by long trituration (three days, per Rasis), and afterwards roast them together until they pass into one nature. And this is what he says: ‘and again sublime by the albificum (i.e., roasting).’ He says ‘sublime’ because, when fire is ministered to it, it rises to a sharp height—its nature is spiritual, therefore it ascends, as appears in the vessel and in the little-knotted cover—hence let the fire be light in the coagulation.”

Then: calcine (dry to ash), and “it remains”—that is, it is fixed by expressed calcination; and again calcine and incerate with its own oil; and cast that Xir—i.e., calcined earth—upon fermented Mercury; and imbibe the fermented Mercury (i.e., the composed one); and let the Xir be apt to make Elixir.

Gloss: Xir = “mancipated/handled”—i.e., captured by the “hands/species”; Mercury fixed, extracted from the earth or by the earth. Xir also = “emancipated hand”—as if Mercury extracted and mancipated in its white body; then it tinges to white (for tinged Mercury tinges). Lucas: “Magnesia, being white, whitens all things. Join it to its kind until it coagulates and is white like snow; roast it until it makes itself into ash. Magnesia, once whitened, does not let the spirits flee nor appear in its shadow; when this is done you have the greatest secret. For sulphur is mingled with sulphur.” Enimidius: “Sulphur is contained by sulphur.” Sulphurs flee—unless by the living silver of its own kind, extracted from brass, they are held; do not think they tinge and afterwards flee. Rasis (Book of Lights), Morienus, and Assiduus want the earth, once whitened and bright, to be fixed (supply: with Lunar fixation), but not fixed with Solar fixation; therefore it tinges to the Moon. And this is the second of the third work; the Elixir is called Abelon (“the All”); and Xir mancipatus is “the All captured,” i.e., fixed— the whole soul, incorporation, and perfect fixation in the length of two years and seven days, according to the author’s experience. This is the second gloss on the “two and seven.”

And thus natural Alchemy is born according to the impression of the Planets (as the author wrote): for in this work there is the “salvation of the Moon” (sublimation of Lunar moisture) and the “circle of the Sun,” since after extraction there is the triple grade as explained before. Well does he say “the circle of the Sun,” for after extraction of the Solar spirit and the death of its body there follows the restitution of soul and the vivification of body. In this word the author touches the ore of the Rebis, already explained sufficiently in the first tract.

Let us therefore return to the exposition of the Three Words, in which the whole art consists: namely, “Water keeps the fetus in the womb for three months…”

Air warms it for three months; fire guards it for as many. All this is said of Mercury, by the likeness of “air in the womb.” And a twofold fire is found, which has three degrees; and from these three are understood two [i.e., the simple and the graded fire], as explained before. The first degree of fire completes the water and the air; the second—namely, the next degree of fire within fire—completes the whole work: it coagulates, calcines, incerates, and fixes. This is what we said.

The Stone is twofold, cold and moist. And the mercurial liquor, from the first seed, makes a globe (a sphere) through a fine cloth, expelling whatever of moisture (the second water) it cannot hold; and this once the first work is finished, which is completed by the fire of the first degree. Note: if the globes do not form, it will not float but will sink to the sides of the vessel, nor will it compact by dissolution even for a year if roasted—this has been proven by experience.

Then, under the following degrees of fire, that globe takes on flesh (coagulation) and blood (tincture). Hence Assiduus: “Our Stone is gold incarnate,” and it receives members (its integral parts)—he notes the “incarnation” of the remaining water, and the coagulation and incineration, and again dissolution, distillation, coagulation, and calcination, so that the beginning bears witness to its end and conversely, until all the parts pass into one nature.

Afterwards, by the governance of the fire, it receives an image according to its nature (its species), from which its root came, by the most high God; and it comes to a golden state and will shine with a purple—i.e., Tyrian—hue. Thus in the Philosophers’ Allegories concerning the final regimen: “After the whole work has been turned into earth, place it in a glass vessel, leaving it in a dark place” (this signifies sealing the vessel), “until you see the vessel glow and shine like a jacinth.” And this Tyrian color, with which purple is dyed, is drawn out by the fire of two and seven degrees, of which we have spoken and will speak more specifically.

Some want this saying understood of the first work: they make a globe and roast it by setting a pan beneath for three or four hours, in a cloth hanging at the bottom; then they throw it wholly into the nine-part liquor and cook until it takes its image and its members—that is, until our acetum (our vinegar) has extracted all the Lunar moisture and Solar fat, which are the tinctures of the air. But it seems to me this deals with the second work; and amalgams are more quickly turned into a mass without handling by our acetum, and it works more strongly on the rebis, because the agent touches the patient more and acts more powerfully on a flat mass than on a compact globe, in which the parts of our vinegar cannot so freely mix. Hence Aristaeus: “Take the body the master selects, making it into plates; then put it into the water of our sea and turn it into its Ethelia, and cook until it is rid of blackness and whiteness appears.” Likewise Bonellus in the Turba: “Take of the sifted filings; make plates of them, sprinkle them with the poison [the biting water], and place them in a vessel well sealed.” And Aristaeus and Theophilus say the vessel should be concave to hold 30 pounds, though the master of the work did not quite put in 25 pounds of body—shaped into thin plates, pure, raw, pleasant, and clean. Then he performs the first work, saying: “But the seed is akin to this,” because copper and Mercury are not yet transmuted in coagulation and fixation, just as in the second work they pass into one another.

And this Stone is single, and there is no other like it in the world—none similar in effect or nature—which impregnates itself, conceives from itself, and bears itself; afterwards, though living, it dies the red death, etc. In the Philosophers’ Etymologies: “Our Stone kills itself with its own dart; likewise it weds itself; it dissolves itself and coagulates itself and fixes itself and imbibes itself; and the soul prepares the body and the body the soul.” After this living thing dies the red death—this can be understood of the living body of copper/bronze: after it becomes red it dies by a red death, i.e., after its moisture and red tincture have been extracted. Or it can be understood of the composed quicksilver already extracted in the first work: after that is dead (calcined) and fixed by the red death (by its fire) by destroying coldness and moisture, then comes the cure of the dead—that is, of any imperfect body (the “dead bodies” lacking tincture, which are the spirit and soul of the living body and of our Art). Therefore it is the cure of the imperfect body, since by heat and dryness it tinges and does not flee the fire, nor give off smoke, and flows like wax and is like oil. For dryness in Alchemy tinges and does not flee the fire; and with this tincture all the dead (the imperfect metals) are rectified with the true red and white tincture so that they live forever.

Next, of the keys, terms, and degrees of fire. The first key and the first term are completed in twelve months; and if it is not completed, at least it will be completed by the end of the fourth term. Hence the Author in the text: “The first term kills cold and moisture by extracting the souls and the whole spirit, and turns the whole into earth by coagulating and calcining,” etc. The second term is the following year—he speaks of the term in general, for the following year has three terms. And in this second key of the work, the next term (i.e., the year) completes the death of the first dead thing—our body—whose thickness and rigidity were destroyed in the first term; and it increases the redness and makes a sooty, pitchy mass, and it ascends the “tree,” curled like the first fruit, as if covered with hoarfrost, and bright shining; and this year makes “leaves of gold.” This is the rectification of Mercury—i.e., the fixed oil which dries all corrupted metals and brings them to health and a better nature.

The second term is of four months; and if it is not completed then, at least it happens in the third term, also of four months; and if still not finished, it will be done in the fourth term, of four months and nine days. Rachay son of Dybeis said: “At the end of the first term, it will seem founded on the plates, giving neither smoke nor crackle—sign of perfect cooking; if these are lacking, reduce it to the fourth fire.”

On the fires: the first term is governed by three fires. The first fire is its own and weak at the beginning—let this governance be six months; this fire completes water and air, i.e., the spirit in its water (which is the Stone alone). Thus Mercury extracted is taken, red in effect, and the body is slain. Then “fire guards it for as many”—happily six months—whose governance is by two fires: the second, which is double with respect to the first three months; and so the first term and first key are completed. Yet although the author spent a long time extracting the Stone’s cold and moisture by his experience, Khalid son of Yazid finished the whole coagulation in thirteen weeks: in three weeks (21 days) “of one name” he completed water and air—read it in his book. This variety comes from the variety of fire. The water should be divided by a median half, and one part imbibed for seven weeks over a tepid fire, and it will reach a higher grade; then the other remaining part should be imbibed in six weeks, and then its substance and heat will shine.

The second key likewise is of twelve months and seven days, and has three terms. In the first, rule it with the fourth fire, which is double the third—these are four months. This is the second term—sixteen months. Then rule with the fifth fire for four months, which is double the fourth—this is the third term—twenty months. After this, rule with the sixth fire, double the fifth, for four months and seven days, with the three degrees of fire.

Assiduus likewise sets a long span. He says that philosophers variously spoke—“for 21 days, and 40 days, and 80 days; for 4 months and 7 months; and one week; and three days; and a part of a day.” They added and diminished—“I will show you the absolute: its perfection through a year,” i.e., by the perfection of the four seasons—winter (cold and moist), spring (hidden heat), summer (manifest heat), autumn (manifest dryness). Therefore after autumn you must not cease from the work and begin anew; as if to say: once the matter is dried, it must be fixed and matured in the second year.

Note that Morienus, Rasis, the Senior, and many others finished the first work in 21 days (three weeks). Mundus and Pandulphus in 42 days (for blackness does not last more than 40 days). Some in 80 days (Rosinus, Socrates); some in 4 months; some name 21 days as three weeks (Rasis), who also says the first work can be done in just three days. And Khalid in three weeks—that is, in the philosophers’ “three months”—and even in 21 weeks. Some finished the second work in nine weeks (i.e., months), as is said in the allegories “40 days, as seed remains in the womb,” i.e., 40 weeks. Antonius likewise in a year; some in seven months (i.e., 28 “days”—that is, weeks); some in a week (i.e., 70 philosophical “days”), as Zeno. Thus must Assiduus be understood, who also says “in 40 days the whole water is clear.” Some in four months (120 days) up to the second whitening; some in one day—understand this of distillation and imbibition. Finally Rasis: although we bid you grind for three days, a day or part of a day suffices—that is, “by a week of three days,” i.e., three weeks. Hence Bachafaeus: “You cannot reach success without a long term and continuous regimen.” And the Senior: “This medicine is not perfected except by a long preparation, in many days and nights.” Thus it is clear the philosophers set different limits for this cooking—perhaps because of different places: in hot regions quicker than in cold; and with moist fire quicker than with dry. Constantinus says this work should be pursued continuously until it is evident to sight—that is, until the imitation of the work itself teaches you how to operate.

For the water knoweth the battle of the fire, and the length of the cooking, as Assiduus saith—or follow the saying of any other. Theophilus said that in one hundred days the whole work is turned into earth; Bonellus, Archanus, and Myretis will the same. And Aristaeus saith the completion is in eighty days; the same saith Rosinus. Socrates in one hundred and fifty days. Balgus and Aziratus say the work is cooked in one hundred and ninety days, and the master of the work setteth the same, saying that he perfected the whole work in eighty days. And in the Allegories it is said it should be cooked in forty days, and that within a week it becometh white. Likewise Antonius saith the decoction is done in forty-two days. Elsewhere in the Allegories, in twenty-one days. The same saith Morienus. Lucas saith it is attained in seven days, and is white. Socrates saith: grind with reason, with salt, and with sea-water, and rain for twenty-one days, and with brine for ten days, and with sweet water for ten days, and thou shalt find it. Mundus saith that it must be cooked for forty days, and again for forty days—this is eighty days of one name—or twice nine months, so that in nine months it is fixed. Pandulphus saith that in seven days blackness appeareth. Rasis, in the Book of Lights, giveth the term of burial as twenty-one days, as the promised solution.

And note that in this Art “day” is sometimes taken for a natural day, sometimes for a week; as Rasis in the Book of Lights setteth the burial at twenty-one days—that is, twenty-one weeks. But the Senior taketh it as natural days, saying in one hundred and fifty days; which may perchance come to the same. Some call those twenty-one days and one, “three weeks,” as Khalid and Hermes in the first chapter, “Sea-shells,” etc. And Rasis, in three days, as to the perfect roasting, according to Morienus.

And note, for fuller understanding: some sayings of the terms are to be understood only of the first work, some only of the second, some of the whole work; some of the first whiteness or blackness, some of the blackness and whiteness of the second work. As a diligent student of the authors may more fully and plainly see. Hence the variety of fire is prolonged or shortened. For in one hundred days of one reckoning, and eighty weeks of another, many have finished the work. And all these things the nature of the matter cooked, and the fire, will teach thee.

For, as it is said in the Book of Etymologies: “Ours with its own dart slayeth itself, and likewise weddeth itself, and layeth itself down, and coagulath itself, and fixeth itself, and imbibeth and incerateth itself, and the soul prepareth the body and the body the soul.” But if most of the seventy philosophers hold place in this work concerning the proportion of mover to moved, then in half the time it may be prepared. For if one mover moveth some mobile in one work, then a mover twice as strong will move it in half the time, so long as both perfect equally, and the compound of the Art flee not the fire. Yet beware of excess, for danger lieth therein. For, as Rasis saith in the Book of Lights: “And because a moderate fire effecteth equally as a greater, yet ever a slow fire is to be applied.” And thus let it be ever spirated until it be turned into a fair form.

Note also: marvel not at the ambiguity of “days,” for the philosophers did so by inspiration. Read Daniel, who saith: “After seventy weeks Christ shall be born, and after sixty weeks Christ shall be slain,” etc. Daniel also saith: “After fourteen weeks shall come the son of iniquity,” and elsewhere saith “fourteen days.”

In the last chapter of this treatise I shall declare a certain question, whose difficulty hath a flowery exposition, and will give light for the understanding of the philosophers’ secrets in their books.

The question therefore is asked: whether the whole watery tincture be coagulated in the body, or only the tincture existing in the water. Which is not proved—first, by the saying of Gratian: “In six it maketh Xir save by the benefit of a daily heat equally and continually enduring; just as the mineral diffuseth itself into the hardest stones, and afterwards separateth from them.” Therefore it seemeth likewise that the tincture of the Art diffuseth itself in its water, and afterwards separateth from it.

This same seemeth to be said by Rasis in the Book of Lights, saying: “There are four natures which constitute the philosophical man; three of them, namely earthy gums, infect the ruddy subject, yet add no weight—only whiteness; but they assign redness, while silver alone is wondrously transformed into redness.” The same by the authority of the Senior, who saith: “The spirit is the place of the soul, and is the water which draweth this soul from its bodies; and the soul is the tincture dissolved in the water, and is borne in it, as the dyers’ tincture is borne in water, wherein they dye cloth. The tincture spreadeth in the cloth; then the water passeth away by drying, and the tincture remaineth in the cloth. So the philosophers’ water, wherein the tincture is borne, is brought back upon its blessed earth, and they have likened it, and called the water the soul, which Hermes calleth gold, saying: ‘Sow gold in the foliated white earth.’ And this earth tingeth; then the spiritual water departeth, and the soul remaineth, which is the tincture in the body, wherein it manifesteth its beauty.”

All this the Senior saith. To this question it is to be answered: the water with the tincture is coagulated—this I have seen by experience.

Wherefore Khalid son of Isidis: “Since I have seen the water coagulate itself, then I am ratified that the thing assigned is true.” And elsewhere he saith: “For it is a stone, not a stone; for in it is the ferment, without which the mass of water would not coagulate.” And the Senior saith: “Their water is gold, and it is the ferment of bodies, to which they bring them back. And from this Stone is drawn the gold which endureth poverty; and after God thou hast no other medicine.” Of which Khalid said: “Neither the absent nor the present can dye gold save with gold; and this gold—their Stone that dyeth—springeth forth from itself.” And of this gold, which is the flowers that are made by air sublimed, all their intent is set. Hence it was not called “stone, not a stone” except because it is a water congelable into stone.

And in a certain book Khalid son of Isidis saith: “There are four signs showing the art:

1. The joining of dryness and moisture, and the appearance of blackness—for thou must join the moist with the dry, and the hot with the cold.

2. The ointment appearing in the beginning of the work—its liquefaction, when it is over the fire; and when the coldness of air cometh to it, it coagulats; then in the fire it melts again as ointment. And it is a poison that killeth, which, being dissolved, becometh powerful and odorous, remaining black in the lower part of the instrument, and becometh water; then they call it spirit and quicksilver, which hath many names.

3. The third sign is that it is of less water after preparation, just as milk—namely, virgin’s milk—when curdled, is lighter in weight, being separated from the whey. To this third sign Pythagoras in the Turba giveth a likeness: “Take Ethelia, and like milk, for bodies are to it as the curd of milk.” And again he saith: “Place it in its vessel and coagulate until it be powder, and cook it with the spittle of the Moon, and coagulate and guide, and thou shalt find the Stone broken and imbued with water. This is the Stone which we name with every name; which receiveth the work and drinketh itself; and it is the Stone from which proceed all colours.”

4. The fourth sign is that it thickeneth its own nature. This, then, is the way of preparation. The foundation of this work is patience, gentleness, delay, and the fitness of instruments to assist therein.

Lo, in these four signs its coagulation with tincture is made plain.

Wherefore Khalid the son of Isidis saith: The wise of this Art declared that there be many things which aid the work, though not immediately, yet they are of the progeny of its kind. And he addeth: The male and the female, and the four natures, are one; for the one is generated of the other, from its caverns and from its stock; therefore they are one, and unto one they return. Thus the fire prevaileth not betwixt the tincture and the water, but rather the virgin’s milk—that is, Mercury—is coagulated, that it itself may be coagulate.

To the second reasoning it must be answered, that it proceedeth from a false understanding. Wherefore it hath a threefold exposition.

First exposition. The four elements of the Stone are most duly proportioned, constituting the Philosophical Man—that is, the perfect human Elixir, for it driveth away many infirmities and defects from man. And the Stone is called man, because without human reason and science none attaineth unto it. Hence in the Allegories: Take man… And Assiduus: Blessed is he that tendeth unto this Stone, and giveth thanks to God, for he hath need of no work of kinsman or stranger. And Morienus: This is the science that most of all ought to be sought among the rest, for by it may we reach unto another more marvellous—that is, Medicine. The philosophers, using this Stone, lived an hundred and sixty years in their time. For, as it is said in the Etymologies of the Philosophers, in this all the wise agreed—that when our Stone, called Haematies, is reddened, then is it complete, and worketh divers operations, not only in solid bodies but also in the human, in precious stones and gems. And there is no thing more marvellous in the world than it is, in all its workings. It healeth not only metals, but preserveth also human bodies from their infirmities.

And it is further said there: Take the haematite Stone, and give it to drink with water to the paralytic, the dropsical, the frenzied, and all leprous, and chiefest infirmities, both inward and outward. Whatever evil spots be in the body, it blotteth them out, and it availeth for the sight without doubt. And whoso useth it daily shall be merry as it were, and it maketh the countenance bright to all that use it. It driveth away Melancholy, and all ill humours indifferently from the body. And what marvel? doth not gold itself cure many sicknesses? If thou make gold nobler than gold, spiritual and attenuate with the attenuation of spirits, it cureth solid bodies and human alike. For it is the Theriac of the Philosophers, as their Allegories declare.

Thus then the four natures of the Stone constitute the Philosophical Man: three natures—that is, earth in water—are three, namely, two quicksilvers with their sulphur; the fourth nature is the water of the Stone, to wit the viscous gold, called the ruddy gum, wherein those three earthy natures are signed, that is, dyed and wedded in perpetual tincture. For this water accomplisheth all: by it earth is dissolved, coagulated, calcined, and incinerated; and by it all volatile things are retained. Three natures, therefore, are signed in the ruddy gum—that is, the golden over-water, which is water simple in essence.

Moses likewise in the Turba saith of the first work: Cook it with a gentle fire until white appear; then quench it, and ye shall behold the One—that is, the Water of Life—divided from three, namely, from the body in which are three natures: two males, Sol and coagulated Mercury, and Luna. These in the earth are signed with the ruddy gum laid over them. Yet no weight—that is, of metalline humidity—is added, save that which was in the white and in the living red water, and in our air reddening. For our brass, though dead, is red by nature: outwardly white, yet inwardly ruddy. Add only quicksilver—that is, the metalline substance of argent vive—and forthwith into redness, that is, the golden tincture, it is wondrously transformed.

For, as Khalid saith, after preparation it is of less water, like unto milk—as though he would say, the water addeth no more weight to the body than the metalline humidity which it already hath. For though the watery moisture passeth away, the metalline remaineth, while only quicksilver is wondrously transformed into redness.

Hence in Mottiene it is said: Azoth cannot substantially take away from Laton its heat, save in appearance; but Laton taketh away from Azoth its whiteness, and ruleth over it, and maketh it ruddy, for Laton hath a natural power that surpasseth all colours. Therefore I said well: so long as quicksilver alone is wondrously transformed into redness. For the colour of Laton endureth, and whatsoever thou sowest in Mercury, that shalt thou reap from it. Whence Gratian saith: All metal is in Mercury; therefore whatsoever thou sowest therein, the same shalt thou reap; for it hath a fixed incorruptible seed—that is, incorruptible metalline humidity—since either it wholly departeth unburnt from the fire, or it wholly abideth in it, as Geber declareth. And it hath in itself an aqueous moisture superabundant, with which the fixed part passeth.

Another gloss. The three natures of the gum are signed in the ruddy, yet no weight is added, save what was in the white—that is, in the virgin’s milk. For its mother is a virgin, and its father never lay with her, as Assiduus saith. And Hermes: Its father is the Sun, its mother the Moon, &c. Therefore well is it called the virgin’s milk, and it addeth to the red and to the Sun. For the Sun is not increased—rather, it is corrupted into better. Increase is an addition to a pre-existing quantity, but the Sun is made Azima, a ferment corrupt.

For the definition of death is: the soul’s separation from the body, and the soul’s joining to the world-body. And this befalleth when the ruddy gum transformeth only silver—the white argent earth—because silver is wondrously changed into redness, into its proper colour. Thus the Sun is not augmented, but being corrupted, our living Moon is wondrously transformed by the strength of our vinegar into solar tincture.

Wherefore Morienus: Fools err in all other things, for never shall they attain this purpose, until Sol and Luna be joined into one body; and unless the Most High God will it, never shall it be. For it is the gift of God and the secret of the Most High. Now this conjunction of Sun and Moon is not made save after their corruption. Wherefore in the Allegories: Both must be slain with their own sword, withholding from themselves their enduring souls, until the most hidden inward soul be extinguished. For from man proceedeth nothing but man, nor from beasts but their like. Even so there shall be no way to redness and whiteness, save if thou join argent vive, suffering fire, unto Sol and Luna; nor otherwise canst thou draw forth the soul that pierceth and tincteth, save in the womb of the body wherein it is hidden. Therefore no body remaineth incorrupt among bodies.

Therefore let there be no increase therein, but the kinds of perpetual tincture; for the corruption of one is the generation of another, according to the Philosophers. Yet this saying doth not wholly exclude the coagulation of quicksilver. For Rosen saith: And I was mindful of the coagulation of the body, which is called the fiery body, and Cambar, and argent vive, and the red sulphur. By these names they named the soul going forth from the body itself.

It may also be otherwise expounded, namely, that the tincture addeth not weight in tinging, save only that silver is wondrously converted into gold. Thus the metalline humidity with the water is joined, the metalline body—that is, the solar fatness and lunar humour—is coagulated, that is, fixed. Whence Assuberes in the Turba: In the urine of children and clean abiding water, cook it with a slow fire, before it tincteth, until all blackness depart from it, and thereafter it shall easily be confirmed.

If it departed like the water of our dyers, they would not call it perpetual or abiding water, nor say that it is easily confirmed, that is, coagulated. For this quicksilver is the perfection of the thing, and therefore it passeth not away, as Geber witnesseth. The true consideration of the thing that perfecteth is the consideration of the pure election of the substance of quicksilver, which is the matter that from that matter hath taken its origin, and is created thereof. Yet this matter is not quicksilver in its own nature, nor in the whole of its substance, but was part thereof. Nor is it now as our Stone is made, but part of it. For it enlighteneth, preserveth by abstinence, and signifieth perfection. Let Almighty God be praised, who createth the most precious out of the most vile, even our Stone, whereof this work is made, having in itself all colours.

For it is white, red, ruddy, citron, more citrine, heavenly, and deep green. In this Stone are the four Elements: it is watery, airy, fiery, and earthy. In its hidden part are heat and dryness; in its manifest part cold and moisture. It is oil, and this is dry; and that dryness tincteth Alchemically, for dryness tincteth and not another. But watery and adustive humidity corrupteth this work, and tincteth into blackness. These infirmities therefore must be destroyed by the degrees of fire, of which it is better to judge thus: that after its coagulation it be held in such a degree of fire that it cannot flee, until it can endure a greater degree of fire; and again be held therein for days, so long as it flee not, until it may endure a threefold greater fire. And thus by hand it is led from degree to degree, until it suffer perfect ignition in the body and flee not the fire. And in the last three degrees a stone vessel not porous is expedient, bearing the fire, as was said at the end of the first book.

Nor do I believe this can be wrought in glass, with ashes intervening, by the Philosophical fire, which cannot work its actions in the degrees of fire through so many means removing the medicine’s fixation, as through potsherd and ashes, unless it hang luted upon the wheel over equal fire in its degrees. Wherefore Gratianus: In the first degree metallic vessels are expedient, namely in the first work. In the second degree glass vessels, for coagulation and for the whitening of earth, until the whole virtue of the water be incinerated. In the third degree potsherd vessels are expedient, for its plenary fixation, &c.

Amen.

Here endeth the study of the Counsel of the Marriage of the Sun and the Moon, the Art completed, &c.

---

Latin Version

X. ANONYMI VETERIS PHILOSOPHI CONSILIUM CONIUGII, SEU DE MASSA SOLIS & LUNA LIBRI III.

Verè aurei, & incomparabiles.

EX ARABICO IN LATINUM SERMONEM REDUCTI.

INCIPIT PRIMUS LIBER CONSILII CONIUGII, DE MASSA SOLIS & LUNA CUM SUIS COMPENDIIS.

NON legitur à divina munificentia majus emanasse donum sapientiæ, Unde Hamuel, recommenda memoriæ, exorna conscientiam, magnifica scientiam. Qui enim spernit scientiam, spernit illum Deus sublimis & gloriosus; sapientes verò & electi servi Dei, quorum vnus post alium, hanc sibi hereditavit sapientiam gratiâ & dono Dei, cuius nomen Domini sit benedictum vtbique, facerent memoriam perpetuam posteris, de hac libros suos conscripserunt, tipycis & tropicis locutionibus velatos. Nisi enim hanc scientiam posteris descripsissent seculis oblivioni dedita periissent, sicut & domini eius mortui Sunt enim libri vasa memoriæ, & fama perpetua sapientum. Ne autem hæc sapientia & donum Dei altissimi hilariter elargitum microcosmo ad interitum tenderet, Deo volente Philosophi & prophetæ scientiarum domini, huius sapientiæ series in scripturis deposuerunt velatas, propter plures causas. Prima est Hamuelis in Seniore, vt attribuerent illam domino glorioso, vt revelaret illam cui vellet, & prohiberet illam à quo vellet. Nam vt dixit Morienus ad regem Calid: O bone rex, scire te cōvenit, quod hoc magisterium nihil aliud est nisi secretorum secretorum, & arcanū Dei altissimi & magni. Ipse enim hoc magisterium suis prophetis mandavit quorum animas in paradyso suo collocauit. Si autem sapientes, qui post illos fuerunt, suas dispositiones de qualitate vasis in quo conficerent non invenissent, nunquam ad huius magisterii perfectionem pervenire potuissent, & in eodem libro postea alibi dicitur: Scire te convenit, quod intentio omnis hominis, hanc scientiam puram & divinam inquirentis, nihil aliud arbitrari debet nisi donum Dei altissimi, & magni, qui eam servis suis commendat, cuius nomen sit benedictum. Secunda causa est in libro luminū Rasis: postquam multa de dispositione artis docuisset, dicit: Quamvis omnia dilucide præmissa sunt, idoneum tamen arbitror, quaplumina sub ænigmatis specie involui. Si enim omnia prout se habent, vellem enodare, nullus vltra prudentiæ locus esset, cùi insipiens sapienti æquaretur, nec sub circulo Solari vel Lunari, quisquam mortalium paupertate noverca medias angustias desereret. Tertia causa revelationis huius scientiæ legitur, ne detur occasio malignanti prauis, hæc scientia occultatur in verbis obscuris, unde solis celari non debet. Dicit assiduus, quidam ex philosophis Domini timentes, non tam sublime, nec tam pretiosum hoc magisterium habuerunt. Immo opus suum patens & manifestum scribere voluerunt: sed expavefcebant hæc agere, eo quod mundum deler et, & opus arandi & serendi plantarum periret. Ergo non frustra libros suos scripserunt velatos, nec cuneunt composuerunt. Quarta causa obscuritatis legitur in fine turba philosophorum, vbi dicitur: Nisi enim nomina multiplicarentur in hac arte nostra, sapientiam nostram pueri deriderent. Quinta causa est Mundi philosophi in Turba, dicit enim: Si plebei venditores hanc mineram agnoscerent, non venderet eam vili precio. Assurberes in eodem libro. Et si reges eam agnoscerent, non sinerent eam ad pauperes devenire.

Libri autem Philosophorum, quanquam obscuri, tamen valde vtiles sunt ingeniosis hanc scientiam inquirentibus, quæ sine literarum cognitione haberi non potest. Vnde Pythagoras in Turba: Quanto plus libros legebam, tanto magis agnoscebam: Et Mitiriganus ad Horosicum: Narrasti frater de argento vivo, & intus quod est magnésia, & insipisti libros philosophorum legi & experiri. Et Morienus ad Kalid regem dixit, quod iam diximus tu bene intellige, & intellectum memoriæ commenda, & iuxta suum ordinem illa dispone, & in eorum dispositione frequenter stude, quia eius frequens studium viam rectam tibi ostendit, ita vt eam videas, nec amplius à te celari possit.

Rasis in libro luminum: Cum ergo nostrorum statuum scriptas omnia diligenter & serio perspexeris, si universa ad propriam formam reducere studeas, voti nullatenus cessabitur effectus. Propterea artifici summe videtur necessarium scrutari diligenter, diligere; in amando inquirendo & deliciendo libros nostros scripta petuntur, quod amando reperto colligat & servet. Nec in his alicuius temporis dispendii impedire te pigebit. Cui autem hæc ita deficiunt, nec librorum deliciis ditari merebitur.

Hamuel commentator Senioris se excusans quod sapientiam suam in figuris descripsit, dixit: Propinquius est illud intellectui subtiliter prospicientis, & cognoscentis terminos sapientiæ, ex sermonibus typicis & obscuris, cum contulerit illos sermones illis imaginibus & figuris, unum aperiet tibi reliquum, nec negligetur aliquid super lapide occulto. Item etiam commentator suadens libros legere suos diffuse loquitur, causam subintus dicit: Ego autem vt portaretur memoria mea à posteris in ista arte, sedi solitarius considerans libros antiquorum, inquirens à quolibet nobis cum sederintibus, scientiam hanc inquirentibus: quos cum alloquerer, non intelligerem me, habebant enim præ manibus libros, qui describunt species & res vanas, quas noscent, qui his occupatur. Et hæ sunt res quæ deteriorant occupantes & ipsi incubunt suis comixionib. deviantes à veritate & ignorantia excocati; quorum nullus ausus est exponere nec literam vna ex dictis philosophorum. Est autem opus cum sapiens sim, & aperta mihi catera sint & noverim occulta, vt exponam verba sapientum, & perveniam per illam expositionem ad veritatis manifestationem: post eorum manifestationem, vt manifestaretur studentibus in illis, & aperirentur satidientib. in illis & impatientibus, & sufficientia habentib. in his, quæ præ manibus habent ex ignorantia. Sed cum non explano aliquid ex eis, erit liber meus tanquam ipsius sapientis, & verba mea, & verba sua vel illorum, & mihi attribui, quod est inconveniens, & dedecus illiqui hoc facit, quia apparet iactantiam. Veruntamen si sui cù magno labore in scientia, & aperui sunt mihi tropi illorum occulti, & manifestum est mihi quod occultauerint, & apprihendi per scientiam quod occultauerunt, debeo hoc appropinquare intellectui successorum meorum, sermonibus in aperto velatis, significantibus intellectum occultum, & velatum, ut hoc sit occultum & velatum.

Est enim apertum studiosis & sapientibus, & intelligentibus, & investigantibus; occultum autem insipientibus, quod nisi fecerero non manifestabo industriam meam præ cæteris, & erunt dicta mea tanquam propositio sine demonstratione, quod non feci sic. Et scito, quod qui percipit scientiam, no modo, non latebitur ipsum dicta expositionis meæ, & maxime ad quos pervenerint libri mei. Et Deus sit mihi testis super vos, ut non prohibeatis eos, qui sunt digni ex fratribus nostris, & non pandatis ea indignis, alias indigne ageretis, & contra conscientiam & merebimini pœnam à Deo, cuius nomen glorificetur.

Commissæ enim est vobis hæc scientia, ut subveniat fratribus nostris pauperibus, & Deus retribuet. O quantum est honoratum, ex his assignationibus & argumentis philosophorum per libros eorundem inquirendos. Hæc omnia dixit Senior. Ego inter sapientiæ amores minimos ipsorum exco-innatus quorum experientiam non attingo, ocium cupiens evitare fructum studii mei loquiqui & laboris immensii, propter quod multis annis laboraui cum diligentia, & assiduitate quærendo & æstimando, & multas noctes insonmes duxi, egendo diebus multis.

Iam habito dono domini mei Dei consecutus, dignum duxi non solum intellectui, qui locus est specierum intelligibilium, verum scriptura, quæ gazophilacium sapientiæ Dei est, foræ mandandum, ne tanquam aurarum possessorem & degenerem, me scientia dignaretur deponere, procuraui. Primo in laudem Dei, datoris scientiæ, & ad utilitatem fidelium eius. Hanc enim scientiam inquirentibus, necessarium est habere mentes purificatas Deo, cum sit donum & secretum secretorum Dei, & soror Philosophiæ ac philosophorum, quia habet esse à Deo per inspirationem. Singulariter vero motus ut proprium munus habeat virtus societatis, non errantis sed verè existentis in intelligentia principiorum, & scientiarum, & conclusionum artis, per expositionem trium verborum & clavis sapientiæ maioris, volui specialius declarare, ut multorum sapientum dubiam aciem mentis figat.

Quia vero problema diversorum philosophorum commutando exponere decrevi, de viro artis & muliere eius: hunc librum consilium coniugii de massa Solis atque Lunæ; volui nuncupare. In quo prius de minera artis eloquar, exponendo secreta secretorum. Secundo de regimine eius. Tertio ponam carmen trecentorum versuum, & commentabor dicta philosophorum, & exponendo societatem quicquid obscuraverunt pro posse suo, & celaverunt præ patribus & filiis, comprehendens in summa quod ipsi in multis passibus librorum expanderunt sepultum tropicis & typicis locutionibus & magnis obscuritatibus involutum. Sed quia lapis sapientum in cavernis planetarum occultatus est, id est, in definitione Solis & Lunæ & Planetarum reliquorum, ab iis ducam exordium.



PRIMA PARS HUIUS LIBRI.



Sol ut dicit Algazel est mundi oculus splendorem firmamenti, pulchritudo cœli, orbium viator, fons totius caloris, planetarum rector, horarum divisor, gratia & honor Dei. Luna ut aridem, est cœli purpura, Solis sectatrix, navigationis solamen, roris nutrix larga, præsagium tempestatis, domina humiditatis. Sol dicitur quasi super omnia lucens, Luna quasi luce lucens aliena, quia ipsa non lucet de se, sed omnem splendorem suum à Sole mutuat. Hermes, Sol etiam est dominus corporum & lapidum & est nobilior eis, quoniam est rex eorum & ipsorum copia, quod non corrumpit terra nec aqua, nec ignis, nec minuitur in igne, sed ignis ipsum rectificat & humectat, & non comburunt ipsum sulphura corrumpentia, quia natura ipsius est æqualis, clare & recte temperata, propter quod exulerunt ipsum sapientes, & magnificaverunt ipsum, & posuerunt in ipso compositionem Elixir magni lapidis, quoniam est substantia æqualis permanens, fixa longitudine æternitatis. Hoc quidem Elixir est de complexione substantiæ auri, quia est calidum & humidum, & est Elixir hoc in corporibus, sicut Sol in stellis, quare Sol est rex stellarum, & lumen earum, & per eum complentur res terræ ex plantis, fructibus & mineris. Etenim retinet omne corpus, & retinetur ab eo, & est fermentum duorum Elixirium albi & rubri, & non rectificantur nisi per ipsum, & non complentur per aliud, sicut pasta, quæ non completur nisi per fermentum, & est hoc fermentum in Elixir, sicut coagulum in lacte, & sicut muscus in odore bono. Luna vero, sponsa Solis est coloris cœlestini, vicina complexion Solis, & est domina humiditatis, ex qua cuncta procreantur adiutorio Solis. Mercurius vero metallarum dominus est, qui aurum, & argentum, & gemmas latere volentia in luto mercatoribus adinvenit, & Mercurius est pars materiæ omnium metallorum, & est ex fisico terreo, & subtili, & humido ventuoso, inassiduo, vehementer & optime universaliter complexionato, nisi quod vergit ad humidum aquosum, unde ratione humidi humidantis fluit in frigido, quærens iter alienum, & fugit in igne. Et ratione humidi ventuosi, inaditabilis, & vehementis complexionis non aduritur, sed in totum sublimatur.

Nam humidum ventuosum motum ab igne, trahit secum subtile suum siccum omnino ita, quod post se nullas relinquit fæces, & ratione sicci fluit globosé, & non madidat illud, quod tangit, nec adhæret ratione vehementissimæ complexionis, & ex soliditate partium densarum privatam raritate ponderosum est, & super ipsum natant lapides, & metalla omnia, præter aurum, quod petit fundum. Ex quo elicere poteris maximum secretum, scilicet naturam, symbolum & similitudinem magnam. Et sciendum, quod Sol & Luna, & Mercurius digestæ sunt calore temperato. Mars vero & Venus calore igneo, excedente temperiem adustivam, & hic calor dicitur oppositis. Calore vero molendesi, quiescit defectivus ac eius parte digeritur Iupiter & Saturnus. Et sciendum quod Mercurius purus, id est, optime complexionalus est in Sole & Luna, & seipsum solvere reperitur, licet sit materia vel potius pars materiæ omnium aliorum. Et postquam ad suam speciem est productus naturæ beneficio, ratione suæ optimæ complexionis vltra corrumpi non potest, sed alia corrumpibilia metalla ex eo habent generari. Contingit ex eo, quam diu est in fieri non in facto esse, scilicet digestion, optesi & molendesi. Et ex his, & per hæc, quæ dicta sunt præparaverunt sapientes lapidem suum de meliori mineræ, quam possint invenire. Vnde Geber, qui primam naturalia ignoravit, iam multum remotus est ab arte nostra, quia radicem non habet veram, super quam intentionem suam fundet. Qui vero principia sciverit naturæ & causas atque essentias, non tamen adeptus & consecutus est, verum finem & profectum artis huius occultissimæ, habet tamen faciliorem aditum, & hic parum remotus est ab artis introitu: Qui vero sciverit omnia principia & causas mineralium & generationis modum, quæ ex intentione naturæ consistunt, parum quidem aufertur ab eo de operis complemento, sine quibus non potest scientia nostra perfici.

Lapis philosophorum est rex de cœlo descendens, cuius montes sunt argentei, & rivuli aurei, & terra lapidis, & gemmæ pretiosæ. Ecce iam omnes species artis enumeratæ sunt. Assiduus: Scito fili, quod opus philosophorum & prophetarum non sit nisi in solo argento vivo, quoniam illis in omnibus rebus cogitantibus & ad argenti vivi scientiam pervenientibus, necliebant, quod argentum vivum accipiant, quo operantur. Ideoque in naturis & in accidentibus, quæ omnia alterant, cogitationem & complexionem iterauerunt. Cum autem super lapidem eorum quieverit intentio, & notum habuerint, quod ex hoc lapide procedit argentum vivum, quod voluerunt quidam ex ipsis valde celare, omnibus nominibus nominarunt, & omni operi & rebus ipsum assimilaverunt.

Quidam vero tantum uno nomine, quod est lapis: aquam vero ex eo, vel ex ea, vel ab eo extrahitur, argentum vivum nominauerunt, quod diviserunt in duas partes, quas illos oportuit duobus nominibus nominare. Quidam enim dixerunt cœlum & terram: Quidam masculum & fœminam: Quidam lapidem & aquam: Quidam spiritum & corpus: Quidam ovum & gallum, quidan hominem & magnesiam, quidam vile ac charum, &c. stercorefectum, ad quod vix poterit perveniri, quod homines ac puerini plateis & viis prætereunt, id est humidum, quorum expositio in sequentibus apparebit. Unde Rasis in lumine luminum, sapientes quidam in uno scilicet humido, quidam in duobus, masculo & fœmina, quidam in tribus, scilicet, spiritu, anima & corpore, scilicet, aqua, terra & tinctura, quidam in quatuor scilicet elementis consistere volunt.

Sapientes tamen dicunt, quomodo quinque elementa ex radice una, scilicet æræ philosophico pullulant: scilicet quatuor elementa, calidum, frigidum, humidum & siccum & quinta essentia, quæ nec est calida, nec frigida, nec humida, nec sicca, nullo alterius generis adveniente. Nam & seipsum dissolvit, & coagulat seipsum, albescit & rubore decoratur, seipsum croceum facit & nigrum: præterea seipsum disponat, id est, spondet vini, quia natura naturæ congaudet propter vicinitatem, id est, proximitatem naturæ inter illa, & a seipso concipit, quia vnus est genus omnium illarum specierum, scilicet masculi & fœminæ, & spiritus Lunæ: & natura naturam vincit, & natura naturam continet, quousque finem operis acceleret.

Adomati, sciatis, quod non est nisi res una, quæ patrem habet & matrem, & eius pater & mater eorum inveniuntur, atque paciscunt, nec ipsa suo patre & matre in aliquo differre potest. Hermes, cuius pater est Sol, mater vero Luna. Et Assiduus, cuius mater est virgo & pater non concubuit, ergo est generatio casta. Et iterum Hermes dicit, non convenit rei, nisi quod propinquus est ex naturæ: & statim adiunxit: Humiditas autem est ex dominio Solis.

Et dicit Dantinus: Quod omnis res artis huius, non est, nisi deo & cum eo: quia omnis tinctura à suo simili procedit. Et Arctotienes etiam commemorat, quod tres species ad totum magisterium sufficiunt, scilicet, fumus albus, id est, vis quinta, id est, aqua cœlestis: & leo viridis, id est, as Hermetis: & aqua fæetida, quæ est mater omnium, ex qua & per quam, & cum qua præparant ipsum in principio, & in fine.

Has igitur species tres, & eius confectiones, nemini detegas: Sed stultis hoc magisterium circa quamlibet aliam rem quærere, & quærendo errare contingit, quia ad eius perfectionem non perveniunt, donec Sol & Luna in unum redigantur corpus, quod nisi Deus voluerit, nunquam fiet.

Et Aristoteles in Epistola ad Alexandrum dicit: Quod huius artis duo sunt lapides principales, albus & rubeus, mirabilis naturæ. Albus in occasu Solis incipit apparere super facies aquarum, abscondens se usque ad mediam noctem, & postea vergit in profundum. Rubeus vero ex opposito operatur, quia incipit ascendere super aquas in ortu Solis usque ad meridiem, & postea descendit in profundum. Et in alia Epistola dicit: Aqua instrumentalis in arte intelligitur esse duorum, quorum unum Soli, alterum Lunæ deputatur, & iam arcanum cœleste patefecit. Et Kalid, in his duobus lapidibus, quos designavi, est quatuor naturarum explicitatum perfectio, quorum alter est vir, id est, Sol, alter vero uxor, id est, Luna. Et Hamuel commentat. Hæc est magnesia nobilis, quam commendaverunt omnes philosophi, quæ ex multis vocabulis una est res, & sunt duæ aquæ divinæ.

Lunaris, scilicet & Solaris, nec vna ex eis operatur sine alia.

Et Hermes dicit: Quod lapis esse, est secretum totum, & vita unius cuiusque rei, & omnis homo indiget eo.

Et hæc est aqua, quæ est in tritico semernum, & in oliva oleum, & in persicis gummi, & in omnibus arboribus fructus diversis, & principium generationis hominis est ex ea, & est vivum quod non moritur quamdiu mundus est, quia est caput mundi, id est, humor. Rasis in libro luminum, supervacue videtur illud nominare & designare, quia nunquam te recedit, quia si morieris tecum moritur, sed si interieris, cum ipso obiis mortem.

Et in eodem ipso libro de minerarum arte sic loquitur, sed diffusè est sermo, oleum quoque suscipitens colorem, id est, splendorem solarem, ipsum sulphur est: ita eodem modo idem etiam est æs. Ergo Plato dicit, omne arg. vivum sulphur, sed non & converso, & omne aurum æs, & non omne æs aurum. Textus, sed omne oleum Soli comparatur atque auro. Ergo Hermes, Pinguedo est ex dominio Solis: & humiditas ex dominio Lunæ, quia omnis frigidi oleum est humiditas, & omnis calidi oleum est pinguedo. Textus, Arque secundario mortem respiciendo, ab ipso oleum exprimitur, sed propter siccitatem terræ postquam totus vapor æris est extractus in aqua sibi simili. Dicitur etiam opus mortis propter rubiginem. Vnde Theophilus, Dico vobis quod ferrum non sit rubiginosum nisi per aquam illam, & ipsa est quæ laminas tinxit. Et Donellus, Ego autem dico vobis, sumite ferrum facientes inde tabulas postea aspergite eas veneno, & ponantur in vas cuius os bene claudatur, &c. Et propter ingredimen in opere primo & secundo apparentem dicitur Mars: Vnde Florius: Est sciote quod prima nigredo ex natura Martis est, & ex illa nigredine exortus est rubor qui nigredinem undavit, & pacem intersugiens & non fugiens ordinavit: Est enim Mars deus belli. Textus, quod aut sex id est, nigredo atque tinctura emittitur, aqua vocatur perpetua & incorruptibilis, fex ipsa dum nigrescit magnesiæ nomen usurpar. Glossa in Turba, Ablue donec exeat nigredo, quam quidam nummos vocaverunt. Et Gradinon ait, Rebus artis nostræ semel contritis, & coctis, invenietis nigredinem, & illud est plumbum sapientum, de quo dixerunt nummi nostri nigri sunt. Textus, Alba fex ipsa plumbum album nominatur id est stannum. Ipsa quidem Mercurio ascribitur, & ipsa est oleum, quod cum digniori administratione præparata ipsum aurum viscosum & atramentum nominant & gummi rubicundum, & auripigmentum rubri sibi nomen assumpsit, quia est pinguedo auri & tota eius tinctura.

Textus natura, quinta ipsa est Veneris, apud Philosophos, quæ nec calida nec frigida, nec humida, nec sicca est, sed medium. Ea etiam auripigmentum croceum & Iris pro multiplici eius colore dicitur. Est enim lapis à quo procedit omnis color, ipsa est aqua perpetua, alba quidem quando prima candida apparet, tum etiam albumen ovi, & acetum, aqua marina & almidzari, & similia his nomina attribuens. Ex hac quidem aqua, & ex hoc corpore argentum vivum mutatur: Et siccatur, ad rubem se transformans: sic hoc oleum occulti & secretum in candido amplius argenti vivi quod jam prædictum est totius operis exordium & radicem firmat, & cum perfectum fuerit stanno vel plumbo, vel æri supra positum, in argenti optimam speciem convertit. Ipsum quoque deinceps de auri tinctura produci possibile est; Et tandem rubescente, oleum scil. sulphuris cum argento vivo, quod de candido corpore habet esse, desponsandum erit ex aqua æris candor & serenitas argenti vivi quæ album efficit, & ipsa est rubea, post candorem namque rubescit. Hoc itaque oleum & argentum vivum in unum redacta, unum quiddam constituunt, unde vetus & commune sentit proverbium & est sermo sapientis, Servus rubicundus candidum ducit uxorem, & per conceptionem feminis gravida, peperit filium qui omnes suos progenitores, id est, Solem & Lunam superat. Cum igitur arg. vivum ex candido corpore procedit, oleo id est sulphuri sociatur. Glossa argumentum vivum de argento sociatur oleo, id est pinguedini solari, quæ mascula est & illa fæmina. Textus: Etiam habet argentum vivum nomine alterius designandum. Nam quæ corpora candida & rubea, sunt commissa vel admixa, totum hoc corpora quatuor nuncupamus.

Sic igitur de argento vivo in corpore magnesiæ, est per corpus candidi & rubicundi solutum cognoscunt congelari. Etiam Hermes in libro ducatus qui est unus de 7. dicit: Fiducia, in duabus rebus consistit, quibus tertium adiungitur, & est idem dictum quod prius. Et idem alibi dicit: Tres facies id est, spiritus vidi, ex uno patre natos, id est, una progenie quia ipsorum est unum genus, quarum una est in igne, altera in aere, tertia in aqua. Qua, scilicet, Hamuel commentator senioris dicit: Est aqua vitæ triplex, quia est unum in quo sunt, scil. aer, ignis & aqua in qua est anima exorta quam vocant aurum & vocant eam aquam divinam. Textum vocant aurum & vocant eam aquam divinam. Textus, quas scilicet facies pater eorum coniunxit, pater, id est, genus unum quia homogenea sunt, ideo symbola: & unum videt esse coniunctas scilic. naturas tres, quia se congaudent, tunc uno ore locuti sunt, scilicet illæ tres naturæ coniunctæ in aqua dicentes, eas quæstium quatuor elementorum naturas, scilicet in terra, quia in corpore mortuo sunt quatuor, calidum, humidum, frigidum & siccum, & ista uniuntur per aquam illam quæ omnia operatur scilicet vivificat, mortificat calcinando, & cætera solvit, & se cum terra coagulat. Textus: Quas scilicet naturas 4. formicæ id est, nigredo in ventre terræ æris Philosophi prius eduxerunt in aquam, quæ nec est calida, nec humida, nec frigida, nec sicca sed medium omnium incorruptibilis, coniungens tincturas fixas.

Et Lucas Philosophus: Comburite eas, id est, comburite argentum, & comburite aurum, quod non est nisi lumen comburere, quia comburere est dealbare, scilicet prima & secunda dealbatione. Et rubeum facere est vivificare quod est ultimum operis. Et idem subiunxit: definitio artis huius est, corporis liquefactio id est solutio in aquam, & animæ a corpore divisio: animæ quoque corpori suo mundo reafficiatio. Æs enim nostrum habet animam & corpus sicut homo.

Oportet ergo dividi corpus, & animam separari ab eo, quod non penetret corpus sed anima id est tinctura in aqua quæ est subtilis & tingens ipsum corpus, id est penetrat terram mortuam, & ita est corpus & anima in natura.

Et subiunxit pulchrum ænigma & obscurum, quod splendor Saturni, id est, nigredo solaris, quæ est Spiritus eius & tinctura, dum scandit in aera, id est, dum resolvitur in vaporem aereum in aqua sua ex qua est prius non apparet nisi tenebrosus id est viget, & tunc nascitur proles Philosophorum. Textus: Mercurius id est stillabun quasi stillans bonum, radio solari id est splendori solis occurrit, ut coniungatur lumen lumini, & albificetur post sumam nigredinem.

Textus, & argen. vivum id est aqua viva virtute suæ igneæ, id est solari quæ potentior est igne, corpus sc. mortuum vivificat, id est rubificet & perficit, id est figit. Præterea de lapide isto impari Catis in Turba dicit: Si volueris ad perfectionem nummum nostrum, id est æs experiri, inspicere, si est æs impalpabilis id est munda & purgata a nigredine, sc. quod est oleum, quod quasi frustra deluper natare conspexeris, & congregatur & in aquam candidam conversum fuerit: quod si tale inveniatur, est aptum, quia aliter non tingit. Rasis, Spiritus in corpora habet ingressum, cum adeo munda & purgata subiacente. Et hæc radix præcipua est huius negotii. Sequitur, Et scito te quod si aliud quicquam præter æs nostrum & aquam nostram sumpseris, & in aquam nostram rigatis nihil proficit: Si vero æs nostrum per aquam nostram rigatis veritatem invenietis. Et subdit: Per æs nostrum & aquam nostram permanentem, Philosophi significaverunt hoc lapide, quem etiam lento igne coqui iusserunt, & utique duo sunt lapis noster nummosus, scil. æs & aqua, & sunt etiam de quo dixerunt sapientes, quod natura natura lætatur propter propinquitatem naturæ in illa duo, id est masculum & fœminam, ac aquam nostram, & est eiusdem naturæ, sc. aqua illorum duorum id est Solis & Lunæ, inter quam maxima consistit propinquitas quæ nisi esset, tam cito non converterentur sc. in unum. Et Catis in Turba, Quod non existit ab homine nisi homo, nec ex volatili nisi volatile. Et natura non emendatur nisi per naturam. Ex ea quidem & non ex alia colitur ars, quam nisi capias, & rigatis non bene agitis. Jungite ergo masculum, id est Solem, filium scilicet sororis suæ, id est Lunæ odoriferæ, id est per odorem seu fumosam evaporationem & vobis artem gignent: & nolite eis alienum iungere pulverem, nec rem aliam præter aquam suam. Et subdit, O quam præciosissima & mirifica est servi huius rubri, id est, Mercurii rubricati, natura, ipse enim est sine quo regimen operis stare non potest. Et dicit Lasan, Quod natura illa masculus est & fœmina, & inudi vocaverunt eam magnesiam, eo quod id eo est maximum arcanum. Et Asfaracus, Qui veritatem vult consequi capiat Solis humorem & spiritum Lunæ, quia sulphur sulphure continetur & humiditas humiditate. Et Arsilebres, sulphur sulphure, id est argentum vivum cum ære, omne enim arg. vivum sulphur est, sed ambo sulphura sunt incorruptibilia, & humiditas humiditate, id est, Mercurius humiditate æris.

Et Constans dicit, Nihil aliud curate, nisi quomodo duo sunt arg. viva, scil. fixum in ære, & volatile fugiens in Mercurio. Et invidus dicit, quod hoc sulphur id est, arg. vivum, consuevit fugere, & sublimatur sicut vapor.

Oportet enim alio arg. vivo sui generis id est, æris retinere, & fugam cohibere, quod si cum albo vel rubeo sulphure sui generis non misceatur, id est auro vel argento, proclidius fugiet. Argentum ergo vivum arg. vivo sui generis jungite, quo peracto maximum habetis arcanum. Et Parmenides dimittite aquas & brodia, corpora & lapides, sed nummos causate, & æs pro ingredine, & stannum pro liquefactione sumite, id est, fac tabulas, id est, folia de auro, & pro ingredine sumite, id est cum mercurio denigrate & compultræscite, & stannum pro liquefactione sumite, id est, quando videtis ipsum album totum, tunc est liquefactum, id est in aquam conversum, subdit idem Parmen. Dimittite semones superfluos, & accipite arg. vivum id est aquam compositam, & congelate eam in corpore magnesiæ, id est, in terra aqua divinæ, & fiet album & rubeum, id est aurum & argentum.

Et dicitur lapis magnesiæ, quia secundum Pythagoram est res illa consequens socium suum, sicut magnes ferrum. Quoniam sicut propinquitas magnetis est cum ferro, sic confirmatis est aquæ cum terra. Et sicut anima cum corpore lætatur, sic natura quidem cum natura sibi compari congaudet. Et Eximius dicit, Dico vobis veraciter, quod non est tinctura Veneris in ære nostro. Nolite ergo pecunias vestras in vanum consumere, cordibus & animabus vestris tristitiam inducendo. Et Hermes ait, Quod Azoth id est arg. vivum, & ignis putredinis, quiesit ignis sapientum, Latonem, id est æs, abluunt atque mundificant, & eius obscuritatem ab eo penitus eripiunt. Quod si ignis modum recte disposueris, Azoth & ignis in hac dispositione huius rei tibi sufficiunt. Unde Einterfector ait, Dealbate Latonem id est æs, & non potest dealbari nisi solvatur in Azoth, & libros rumpite ne corda vestra rumpantur. Et Dantinus inquit, Laton quavis primus sit rubeus, tamen inutilis, sed si post rubedinem in album variatur nullum valebit. Et Hermes, In primis est nigredo, & postea cum sale & anaton, id est igne & mercurio sequitur albedo, & in primis fuit rubeum & in ultimo album. Est superaddita nigredo omnino auferetur & deinde vertitur in rubeum, lucidum nimis pulchrum. Et Marion dixit, quum Laton noster id est æs nostrum cum Acidbrie comburitur, id est cum sulphure nostro humido, albo incombustibili, & mollities Azoth super ipsum funditur, ita ut fervor, id est pinguedo calida eius tollatur, tunc omnis obscuritas atque nigredo ab illo auferetur. Humor enim in igne generat nigredinem quo humore digesto, sequitur albedo, sic est in proposito. Et cum in aurum purissimum convertitur, id est in colorem aureum in effectu non aspectu, quia aurum viscosum & album est in aspectu vel visu. Non igitur in vanum testimonia de minera artis ad loca addidi diversa. Quia dicit Morienus: Ego autem dico tibi, quod in speciem in ponderibus nihil expendás & maxime in auri artificio. Quia si quid aliud ab hoc lapide quis in hoc magisterio quæsierit assimilatur viro per scalas atque gradus ascendere nitenti, qui cum nequiverit super faciem suam pronus in terram cadit.

Et postea dicit, quod in hoc lapide sunt quatuor elementa, & assimilatur mundo & mundi compositioni, nec in mundo alius lapis invenitur qui huic assimiletur in effectu vel natura. Quicunque aut alium lapidem ab hoc magisterio quæsierit, eius opera omnia frustrabuntur. Hamuel, iam demonstraverunt tibi sapientes modum manifeste per philosophia rerum vanis, unde lucratus es multum & redemisti pecuniam tuam ne expendantur in vanum. Et hæc est magna utilitas si intellexerís. Ut aut plenius pateat hoc capitulum figuras minerarum & compositiones earum cum distinctione operis duplicis, quas senior in domo sua in imagine sua descripsit, scientiam pulchriorem sed obscuriore traditam, ego exponam breviter.

Dicit senior: Intravi ego domum quandam subterraneam, quæ domus est thesaurorum. Et vidi in rectis 9. imagines aquilarum, habentes alas expensas ac si volarent, pedes extentos habentes & apertos, & in pede unius cuius aquila similitudino arcus ampli qui sæpe solet sagittari.

Et a dextris & sinistris domus, imagines hominum erant, prout possent esse perfectiores, stantium induti diversis speciebus & coloribus, habentes manus extensas ad interiorem thalamum, imminentes ad quandam statuam intus in domo. Et interiore parte thalami, erat imago sapientis, quæ habebat tabula una marmoream in longitudine unius brachii, & latitudine unius palmæ in manibus suis super genua sua, Et digiti manuum eius desuper reflexi, & deslibus, ac si innueret respicere in eam, sicut in libris apertu cuilibet videbatur intuenti. Et habebat tabula illa columnas sicut liber, divisa in erat per medium, & in parte in qua sedebat Sapiens, erant imagines diversarum rerum, & literæ barbaricæ. Et in prima medietate tabulæ erant quinque in inferioriori parte tabulæ. Prima sphaera ex duabus avibus pectoribus inclinatis: quarum una habebat alas abscissas scilicet masculus: alia vero super istam erat alata scilicet fœmina, & utraque tenebat rostro caudam alterius, ac si volans vellet volare cum altera, & illa vellet retinere volantem. Erant istæ duæ aves homo geneæ, in una sphaera. Deinde alia sphaera 3. Luna plena. Superius in prima tabula erat duo iuxta caput volantis, imago erat Lunæ crescentis, & ex altera parte Luna in sphaera. In altera vero mediæ dictæ tabulæ secunda, erat similter 3. tria superioris & duo inferioris. Superius Sol cum duobus radiis, qui est Sol duplex, & imago duorum in uno. Et ex altera parte imago Solis cum uno radio, qui est Sol simplex, quasi imago vituis in vino. Et radiis descendebat circundans terram nigram, in inferiori parte divisam per tria. Tertia eius habebat Lunam crescentem, pars interior alba sine nigredine, & sphaera nigra circundabat eam. Et hæc sunt duo scilicet terra ex duabus naturis scilic. sphaera nigra, & Luna quam circundabat. Et superius tria, scil. Sol cum duobus radiis, & Sol simplex cum uno radio & hæc sunt omnia decem secundu numerum 9. aquilarum & terræ nigra.

Glossa: Domus hæc thesaurorum est vas artis in limo pendens sterquilinii, de quo potesta diffusis dicetur. Novem vero aquilæ sunt novem partes aceti, seu maris nostri, quia sicut pennæ aquilæ suscipit aurum cum deaurantur, ita nulla alia res potest solvere Solem, nisi aquila nostra nec ulla alia aqua sit hæc aurea. De quo dicit Marion, Nihil est quod à Latone suam obscuritatem vel suum odorem auferre potest, sed Azoth est quasi suum regimen, primo videlicet quando decoquitur, nam & eum colorat & album reddit, & iterum Laton dominatur Azotho, quia eum rubicundum reddit. Alius quoque Philosophus dicit. Et Azoth nequit substantialiter latoni auferre suum colorem, vel eum mutare nisi quantum ad visum, sed Laton ab Azoth suam aufert substantialiter albedinem, quia ciniset mirabilis fortitudo quæ super omnes colores apparet, Laton quidem Azoth dominatur & eum reddit rubicundum, cum novem aquilis, id est, novem partibus aquæ volatil tinctura æris nostri & sublimando in illo vase suo dealbatur totum. Unde Rasis, substantia omnium rerum decimæ adæquatur parti, si aut totum signare volueris, novem dimas sui necesset sic fieri de substantia aque.

Et Moses in Turba, Iungite primo novem partes de aceto, hæ enim aquilæ habent arcus extentos mortificantes corpus & extrahentes eius animam quæ est tinctura æris. Parmenides. Hoc mare rubrum vertit aurum in rubeum ignem, eo quod natura natura lætatur. Coquite igitur in humore, donec appareat natura abscondita, id est donec privetur nigredine quæ fuerat Ethel de Ethel, id est de argento Rosin. Si decritis id est solveritis, in aquam nostram corpus album, id est æs nostrum, extrahentur ab eo flores, id est tinctura eius. Et Aristæus in Turba: Accipite corpus quod magister sum iussit facientes inde tabulas tenues: deinde in aqua maris nostri ipsas ponite, quæ postquam teguntur aqua permanens dicitur in igne lento decoquas donec consfingatur corpus & fiat aqua, & projicite Ethel, id est arg. vivum jungite, & lento igne simul assate, donec fiat brodium signatum ex pinguedine solari, & in suum proprium Ethelio convertere, scil. ex quo fuit & natura est composita donec fiat nummus bonus, id est nigredo, quam Solis florem nuncupamus, coquite eum etiam donec privetur nigredine, & appareat albedo, & est æs combustum & auri flos. Pythagoras in Turba dicit. Est acetum acerrimum quæ aurum merum spiritum facit esse, quo habito nec albedo nec nigredo nec rubigo consistit. Et cum illud acetum misceatur corpori, vertit ipsum in spiritum, ipsum quoque tingit tinctura spirituali, quæ nunquam deleri potest. Et filius Azir, Hoc acetum comburit corpus, & vertit ipsum in cinerem & dealbat eum similiter, & si coquitur donec bene privetur nigredo, fiet lapis & nummus albissimus.

Postea subjungit: Nunc per istam dispositionem, ostensa est vobis natura fortior omnibus naturis, atque potentior ac nobilior, quam Sola Dei miseratione acetum purum novi esse. Et quando plus libros legebam, tanto plus agnoscebam. Homines vero prout possent esse perfectiores induti diversis speciebus & colorib. sunt Philosophi & Prophetæ servi Dei, qui annuunt ad legendam & intelligendam sapientiam Dei altissimi, ut percipiant quæ qui servus Dei est, quod thesaurus eius nunquam deficiat. Literæ vero barbaricæ & infinita species, sunt ænigmata & obscura sophismata infinita sapientum, ut ea a malignis celarent hominib. Unde in Turba: Cum enim infinita habeant nomina, uno tamen nomine nominantur, in quo non est fallacia nec diversitas. Et hoc ubi non prodest magnificè nominatur, & ubi prodest, ibi celatur. Est enim lapis & non lapis, & quia spiritus anima & corpus, est albus volatilis albus volatilis concavuus quod ad porositatem terræ. Et quia totum combibit terram suam salsus, pilis carens, quem nemo infringidatum valde, id est, sublimatum tangere potest sine magna offensa, quem si volare facis, volat, & si dixeris ipsum esse aquam, verum dicis, & si dixeris ipsum non esse aquam, falsum dicis.

Non igitur pluralitate nominum decipiaris, sed certum habe, quod unumquodque est, cui nihil alienum infertur. Eius igitur socium investigia, id est æs, & nihil aliud ei inferas, & sine homines multiplicare nomina, quæ si non multiplicarent, sapientiam nostram pueri deriderent. Hæc omnia scripta sunt in Turba, in sine de ænigmatibus sapientum.

Dua aves sunt homogeneæ, id est, unius naturæ, & sunt lapis sapientum, masculus est sine alis, id est, non potest volare quia de se ignis non potest ipsum corrumpere, nec ex halare in igne, vel nullum salium, vel spirituum aut alumium, nisi aquila nostra dicta. Avis vero alata est fœmina, quæ cum corporibus corrumpentibus consumitur. Unde dixerunt: Facire fœminam super masculum, & ascendit masculus super fœminam, quoniam per fœmineæ adiutorium, & aquæ suæ volat, & spiritus efficitur humidus, & argentum vivum ab hominibus extractum, id est, ratione & magna intelligentia.

Unde Theophil. Et quicquid invidi in suis libris occulte narraverunt, argentum vivum significare voluerunt, quod alii aquam sulphuris, alii album plumbum, alii æs, aliquando nummus compilatus nominatur. Et coniunxerunt masculum cum fœmina in proprio humore, quia sine masculo & fœmina nullus natus generatur. Morienus quintas partes seu ordines descripsit lapidis. Primum est coitus, secundò conceptio, tertiò impraegnatio, quarto ortus, quinto nutrimentum. Si enim non fuerit coitus, non erit conceptio. & si non fuerit conceptio, non erit impraegnatio, & si non fuerit impraegnatio non erit ortus. Hæc est huius dispositionis directio, quia scilicet hominis creationi assimilatur. Unde prius dixit Morienus: O bone rex, tibi confiteor verum, quia hæc divino nutu in sua creatione magis consistitur. Omnis enim à Deo creatio, sine ista aqua persistere non potest, scilicet, humore seu aqua. Et post subdit: Quid multa referam? hæc enim res à re extrahitur. Cuius minera exiistit apud te nunquam, & illam invenerunt, & ut verius confitear, ex re ipsi accipiunt, & nullius mineræ exegisti. Intellige quoad creationem hominis de mare & fœmina, & libidine quoad humidum.

Si enim non esset humidum in utero, sicut dicit Bonellus in Turba, non servaretur sperma, donec fœtum producat.

Et Assiduus humidum aquosum lapidem suum dicit pro sophismate. Et scito fili, quod hunc lapidem de quo hoc arcanum extrahitur, Deus non emendum precio posuit, quoniam in viis ejectus invenitur, ut à paupere & divite haberi possit, ut ratione ac scientia possit ad eum quis leviter pervenire, humidum vero ubique est, & lapis noster humidus est humiditate aquosa, & metallica, unde dixerunt ipsi & vilissimum & pretiosissimum quod est in mundo.

Humor enim communis de quo omnia generantur impreciabilis est, Hamuel exponit hoc vilissimum dicens, preciosius quod est in mundo ex vestibus est sericum, & est ex vermibus, & mel in quo est sanitas hominis, est ex apibus, & margaritae ex conchis extrahuntur. Et homo, qui est dignius, quam quod est in mundo, est ex spermate. Æs vero artis, & minera, solam hominum opinionem facit pretiosa, ut præclare dicitur in lib. de consol. Philosophiæ.

Pulchritudo enim, quam habent, non est eorum sed lucis: Omnis enim color est lux in corpore perspicuo, terminata per opacum. Aurum enim atque argentum, & gemmæ de natura sua latere volunt in luto & terra opaca, unde hoc significare voluit Morien. dicens: Si hoc, quod quæsieris, in sterquilinio inveneris, illud accipe, si vero in sterquilinio non inveneris, manum tolle ex marsupio. Et item Gratianus. Et si hoc in stercore inveneris, quod tibi placet vel expedit, nihilominus tolle, significas quod de minera recenti accipere debes, quod non fuit in opere. Et quod subdit Morien. Omnis enim res quæ magno emitur precio, in huius operis artificio, mendax & inutilis reperitur, significat prohibitione à rebus vanis, ut margaritis, argento vivo, sulphure, arsenico, sale ammoniaco, quæ ignem fugiunt. Quomodocirca expectabitur bonū de eo, quod non est permanens. Tinctura enim quæ extrahitur à corporali & combustibili radice annullatur, sicut radix eius. Non enim mutantur res, ut à radice sua exeunt, in mineralibus, nec in seminibus videtur vegetabilium, & seminibus animalium, utex ovo sit pullus diversis transmutationibus, à quo habet radicem. Et similiter ex spermate fit homo, nullo alio superingrediente nisi menstruo sanguine, ex quo fit sperma, sicut ex sanguine sibi æquali atque consimili per quem inde nutritur.

Sed egestio stercoris & urinæ sanguinis, capilli, & ova, & similia, nullam vicinitatem habent cum metallicis, ita quod à radice ipsorum possit fieri aurum & argentum, sicut quidam putant ignorantes, non enim exit ab homine nisi homo, nec ex simili, nisi sibi simile.

Igitur aurum & argentum non nisi ex consimili specie exitus. Unde ait Senior filius Hamuel: unumquodque animal non generatur ex se, nisi cum eo quod est ex se, cum specie sua, quod est homogeneum ipsius. Similiter Adam & Eva & omne hominum genus. Ergo omnis res convenit cum suo simili & propinquio est secundum speciem. Incipie in nomine domini nostri Iesu Christi, & cognosce naturam eius, est enim à radice materiæ suæ, quod in eodem & de eodem est, nec ingreditur aliud super eo, quod non sit etiam ab eo, & est radix eius. Similiter Mercurius est ab eo, & hoc est, ex quo extrahitur, & est in eo & ex eo.

Lapis enim philosophorum est aqua congelata sicut in auro & argento, & repugnat igni & resolvitur in aquam suam, ex qua componitur ex genere suo. Unde Hermes: Non convenit rei, nisi quod propinquius est ei ex natura sua, & generabit in proles ei similis. Et statim subiunctum est humiditas aurum est, ex dominio Lunæ & pinguedo ex dominio Solis. Unde hæc duo, scilicet, Sol & Luna unum sunt, & coagulium, & semen. Et Aros rex dicit, Aqua non conglutinatur nisi cum simili sulphuris sui, nec invenitur in re aliquid simile sui, nisi quod est ex eo. Et Calid filius Iesid: Præteriti nec præsentes possunt tingere aurum, nisi cum auro, & cætera cum in Seniore invenies. Et hæc de duabus aubibus atque aquilis dicta, sufficiant.

Sequitur, quare posuit plures Soles & Lunas? Respondetur: Quia non egreditur simul uno actu spiritus & anima, sed paulatim pars post partem successive. Hæc in Seniore plane declarantur: Sed ego exponam, quod ille prætermisit. Duæ plenæ Lunæ & mediæ sunt quinque à minori computandæ scilicet media Luna, & quatuor mediæ Lunæ sunt induabus plenis & duo Soles sunt omnia septem, ex hoc est quod postea est dicturus, septem sunt ordines ponderis, quinque ex eis sunt absq; obscuritate, scilicet Lunæ: duorum lucentium est pulchritudo, id est, duarum partium Solis. Et quia non est nisi imago Sols & Lunæ, in tabula, & numerus, pondus sequitur numerum figurarum in ea, & subiunxit postea: Scito unius radicis, non minus quam tres & tertiam dimidiam partem esse, quod scilicet pondus ponitur cum eo, id est, Sole, ad illud scilicet tertium, id est, novem. Secundum enim quod Hermes dicit, Sol & Luna sunt radices huius artis. Et Rasis tres partes ignis, & septem terræ præcipit recipere, & pars parti ut dicit æquatur correspondendo, scilicet æqualitate proportionis. Et secundum opinionem Obede: Rasis de Luce quatuor partes, & de aere partem unam, & ex igne partem unam. In libro trium verborum, quatuor ponuntur pondera, primum est de terræ 11. partes, & de igne partem unam, & inferas eis de unguento, & pone ad solvendum quousque consficiantur. Hæc autem dissolutio est ab eo colore accepta. Quidam dicunt tres partes terræ & unam ignis, regimen vero unum & idem, & utrumque rectum, primum tamen melius dicit. Et Zenoa in Turba dicit: Vnam partem de sincero corpore, id est, solis, & tres de alio ære: deinde commiscete æcero, & continuo coquíte, quousque terra sit.

Et Dardaris in Turba dicit: Et quatuor nummi vulgino tingunt, sed tingunt æs, id est, Mercurium, tinto autem ære tingunt nummos vulgi. Et dicit, quod argentum vivum, est quatuor corporum, quæ sunt animæ occultæ in quatuor corporibus. Alii dicunt, quod non, sed sunt septem partes terræ, & una ignis, & hoc etiam bonum est, primum tamen melius.

Quidam dicunt, quod non, sed sint undecim partes terræ, & una ignis, & idem regimen est, primum tamen melius, & subdit. Operare ergo quod volueris, quia regimen est idem, & spatium temporis etiam idem. Et ut quidam dicit in libro Luminum. Volunt tres partes terræ & unam ignis, quod tamen Rasi non placet: Dicit ergo: Non enim precii inæqualitas commutari debet. Et Nota, quod folia cum duabus partibus unguenti debent vento, igne amalgamari, & postea totum unguentum infrigidari, cum pondere suo vero, ita quod sint novem vicinarum & æris una pars. Et in Turba Pandulphus: Ecce quod in ovo sint quatuor, terra, aqua, aer, & ignis, & punctus solis in medio rubens, qui est pullus. Et Morienus dicit: Quod prima propositio est quasi nulla. Et quidam expertus in hac arte dixit: Modicus Solis ut drachma unam, ut sit semen ignis. Et Assiduus omnia investigans, dicit: duas invení substantias, scilicet, agentem & patientem, & ecce agens nunc ubique, patiens vero plura, ex quo notum: Quod in hoc opere accepto uno duo fiunt, scilicet, masculus & fœmina. Porro masculus ubique singulare, fœmina vero plura. Et nota, quod duplex est pondus artis, sc. commune in quo nō est diversitas, sc. novem, & pars decima: Aliud est pondus singulare, seu plurale, & est duplex. Primum est primi operis, & illa est in prima compositione æris, & est diversum secundi diversos. Nota de pondere imbibitionis, quantum sc. potest sanguis imbibere partes, quod natura scit melius quam artifex, quia natura facit imbibit nec fit manu vel contrectatio, sed ignis & Azoth ut Assiduus dixit.

Iam aliud est pondus spirituale secundi operis. Et illud etiam est diversum secundù diversos. Athomus in Turba vult tertiam partem ignis, & duas terræ commassari. Dicit enim: Et si fuerint viginti quatuor unciæ, extinguite calorem illum, tertia parte, id est, octo unciis de aceto. Et Bonellus in Turba monet ac dicit: Cavete humorem multiplicare, nec ponatis ipsum siccum, sed facite ipsum ut massâ fortè: Scientes, quod si aquæ massam multiplicaveritis, non continebit eam, nec bene ardebit in camino, id est, non bene exsiccabitur, nec si nimis siccaveritis, non coniungentur nec coquetur.

Arsuberes etiam dicit in Turba: Iunigite ipsum aqua nivis, ut apud virum sufficere credatur, & decoquite donec rubigo consumatur. Morienus vero quartam partem vult ignis, & tres terræ. Dicit enim: Nam cum corpus immundum duxeris mitte postea de fermento, id est, aquaviæ, quartam partem sui, fermentum enim aurei est aurum, sicut fermentum panis est panis. Et quando eum miseris, depone in Solem ad coquendum, donec hæc duo in unum redigantur. Hermes vero, cui nullus fuit similis, quartam partem docet addere, & illam non simul, sed ex quarto ad quartum, id est, in quatuor diebus, pro qualibet quarta, & tere in mortario, donec fiat sicut pinguedo, vel unguentum & postea assa ad siccitatem, & iterum humiditatem conterere in pluribus diebus, & hoc novem vicibus solve & coagula. In qualibet enim solutione & coagulatione, augebitur effectus eius. Rasis vero in libro luminū, aquælem docet addere partem aquæ ipsi terræ, ut in opere suo videbitur: Tamen Helmeris modus est melior illis.

Et sciendum quod Philosophi finem ante principium in suis tractationibus sæpius posuerunt, & principium in finem interserentes. Unde quandoque depresserunt primum opus, & locuti sunt de secundo, quandoque primum opus retractaverunt dimittentes secundum, quandoque tamen ex tradicibus scientiæ, quandoque sine mineris.

Propter quod Hermes in libro radicum, qui est secundus de septem dicit: Quod sapientia auctoris, maior est libro suo. Potest enim auferre principium vel finem, cum radice, vel sine radice sicut primus inventor. Et in quinto de septem. Postquam de coniunctione aquæ & terræ satis superque dixisset, & pondere secundi operis, scilicet, de quarta parte, & de quinta parte, & de altera duum modo deglutire positum: Deinde loquitur de pondere primo in fine, dicens: Quod secundum scilicet sententiam cœlestium, atque secundum sententiam singularium, & secundum sententiam bonorum materialium est arcanum, & non dicam tibi nisi singulariter. Et hæc est, una pars ignis & tres terræ: & iam per Deum benedicti: Natura enim sunt quatuor & non plures. Unde multiplicia sunt pondera eorum: Aut penes quatuor naturas elementorum, aut penes quatuor naturas & aquam secundam, aut penes pluralitatem rerum, sc. trium, qui est numerus perfectus: aut penes septem planetas, aut penes 12. signa, quibus opus regitur, pondera sua descripserunt. Primi posuerunt quartam partem Solis, secundi quintam, tertii tertiam, aut paulo plus, quarti septimam, ut Rasis ponit septem partes terræ, & tres ignis. Quinti duodecimam, & secundum diversas rationes diversa pondera statuerunt. Et quandoque loquentes de uno opere posuerunt pondera alterius. Unde Senior: Et ipsi forte locuti sunt verbum in uno sensu, & sub eo est alius. Amplius prima, quinque: scilicet, duo superioris, luna impletæ crescens, & Luna plena, & subtilia alia tria scilicet duas aves & Luna plena significat primum opus, quod est extractio tincturarum de corpore donec nihil remaneat in corpore, quod non ascendit cum spiritu humido, quo modificatur corpus, & in aquam vertitur claram. Primo tamen apparet nigredo ex dominio humidi in calido, quæ tam diu durat, quousque consumatur humidum, & tunc dealbatur aqua. Et de hac aqua dicit Morienus, quod nihil cù ea facies ipsa non existet fermentura. Et Senior dicit: Antequam descenderes feceris has tres partes aquæ, id est, aquam, ærem & ignem, existentes in aqua super terram eorum albam & foliâtam, scilicet, in secundo opere, primus in primo opere solvetur totum, scilicet, corpus humidum, & fiet terra, scilicet, lapis. Unde necessaria est præparatio eorum prima, sicut consuetudo est, & hæc est putrefactio corporis cuique bestiari subtili 150. diebus: & quidam 120. diebus naturalibus, & forsitan apparebit albedo prima in 170. diebus, nec approbatur hoc apud philosophos, quia significat intentionem ignis. Et ideo primum in humore, est apud eum melius, quam secundum, vel tertium, quia significat temperantiam ignis, donec detur albedo, & rubedo reducatur. Nota licet hæc retroqueantur ad solutionem rerum primam, tamen senior intelligit de albedine secunda, quæ in centum quinquaginta diebus resolvitur, cum una certa dierum coloribus: aut quia in viginti uno die resolvitur in aqua, quam aut in 150. diebus resolvitur albedo secunda, quæ est primum opus & coagulatio tota totius, quod est, verius & expertum. Hæc putredine dicit Pandolphus in Turba: Summe occultum honorabile, hoc est magnesiam albam, quæ in vino mixta est & contrita, & non accipiatis eam, nisi mundam & puram, & ponatis eam in vase suo, & orate Deum, ut vos ipsum videre faciat lapidem rectum, & coquíte ipsum lente, & cum extraxeritis ipsum, videte, si factus est niger, & si est, bene rexisitis. Sin autem, regite ipsum album, quod est magnum secretum donec operiatur nigredine, atque postea nigredo fiat, quæ quadraginta diebus tantummodo durat & dealbatur, & coagulatur.

Et hæc aqua est flos æris, aurum Indicium, & aqua croci, & alumen fixum. Et vt Asuarus in Turba ait auctoritate Hermetis. Dicit enim: Hermes partem nummorum sumi iussit, id est, album humidum, & ex ære Philosophorum partem, & nummis commiscere, & vasi imponere, cuius os bene claudatur, & coquatur septem diebus unius nominis, tunc convertetur æs in nummos, id est, in album humidum, atque coagulatur iterum septem diebus, & non taceat decoctio, postea apparebit vas, & invenietur nigredo: de super iteretur decoctio, donec consumatur nigredo, qua consumpta apparebit albedo nobilissima, & sic ceperit Solis humorem & spiritum Lunæ. Et hoc est opus primum, quod non præcedit aliud.

Duæ vero aves homogeneæ sunt, masculus & fœmina, sed numerus duorum in in unum positus in figuris, scilicet septem: Luna vero plena subitus, designat humorem Solis & spiritum Lunæ lapidis humidi philosophorum extrahendi in aqua sua.

Superius est Luna crescens similiter quia paulatim & paulatim, non simul sed pars post partem ascendit tinctura, donec humor totus congelatus in ære, convertatur in spiritum humidum sui generis, quod designatur per secundam Lunam plenam, quæ est Abarahanas perfectum, & de ilia aqua divina, quæ est lapis philosophorum, est totus liber Senioris.

Secunda vero medietas figurarum, similiter opus secundum, id est, congelationis, videlicet partium aquæ eorum, id est, colorum aquæ in terra alba munda, id est, fixationis eius in ea. Sol cum duobus radiis est imago aquæ divinæ, in qua sunt tria, scilicet ignis, aer & aqua, & est aqua ex duabus naturis composita, & maris & fœminæ. Et tamen est aqua triplex, propter rem tertiam additam duobus, & ista aqua non simul imbibitur, id est, conteritur, sed singulariter diversis radiis imbibitur, conteritur, coagulatur & incineratur. Sol vero cum uno radio est, quod aqua triplex est una naturalis & homogenea in una aqua. Et licet sint duo opera, album & rubeum tamen est unum opus in eodem incipiens, & eodem & non alio modo terminans, & est figura unius in uno. Terra vero est corpus inferius ex duobus corporibus cui admixtum est tertium sui generis, quod primo coagulatur, ut speculum vel gladius denudatus, & postea per maiorem calorem incineratur, & iterum conteritur cum spiritu humido, donec no appareat, sed ei commisceatur, & fiat unguentum, & iterum coagulatur: deinde incineratur, & sic primum reducendum hæc super suum finem, donec plene dealbetur albedine fixa. Et est secunda, tertia artis de qua dicit Morienus: O rex si regnum tuum vendidisses, hoc opus non compensares. Deinde iterum imbibitur donec commisceatur & congelatur & incineratur. Quia dicitur in Turba Pandulphus: Scientes quoties cinerem unitiis, toties oportet ipsum exiccare, & humectari, donec vertatur color eius in id quod quæritur, & totū coëgulerit Et in imbibitione infinis colores emittit colores, donec perfectum & ultimum puniceum & fixum coem producatur igne continuo sine manuum contritione. Unde Mundus Philosophus: Postea per 40. dies finitie donec spiritus penetrat corpus. Hoc enim est regimen quo spiritus incorporantur, & corpora in spiritus vertantur: Et moneo siquidem ne compositum fumiget, quo peracto maximum habetis arcanum, quod Philosophi in libris suis celaverunt. Terra vero quam circundabat sphæra nigra, est secunda nigredo quæ pervenit ex humiditate aquæ missæ super terram: Sed quod est divisa per tertiam eius, id est per tria tertia, significat tres saltaturas, vel tres terras, scilicet terram margaritarum, & terram foliorum & terram auri. Terra margaritarum est prima terra ex qua extractæ sunt tincturæ in aqua sua, ex qua procedit margarita: secunda terra foliorum id est colorum: nam variabiles producit colores, donec perfecte dealbetur, & cui perfecte dealbatur est tertia. Vel potest dici prima terra foliorum, quia folia æris mutata transeunt in aquam & terram. Secunda terra margaritarum, quando plene dealbatur. Et tertia terra est, quæ est tinctura Solaris & ipsa terra post denigrationem. Secunda dealbata dicitur aurum Philosophorum. Et aqua est aurum eorum, quia est materia aurii quæ generat aurum secundum Seniores. Et illæ tres terræ est una natura unius sphæræ, & unius generis: & similiter est intelligendum de tribus saltaturis, & saltatis id est imbibitionibus cum tribus terris parvissimis. Prima tertia congelatur & incinerata efficitur masculus, & sunt duo masculus Solis & Mercurii, & una fœmina Lunaris naturæ. Deinde per reliquam aquæ, quæ sunt 6. colorum partes fit altera fœmina, & erunt duo masculi & duæ fœminæ. Secunda vero tertia est saltatura, quod totum nihil aliud est dictum, nisi calcina, solve, & distilla, coagula & incinera, & iterum calcina, donec totum coaguletur, & velimo figuratur, quod est ultima tertia & finis operis. De quibus tribus terris in Turba ca. de ænigmatib. per omnia ænigmata, postquà opus suum dividit in tria, primo in corpus mortuum, & animam extractionem a corpore, quod est primum opus. Secundo de dealbatione corporis, & eius mundificatione per aquam suam imbibendo & assando, donec ad modum nivis dealbetur, seu salis candidi. Tertia est animæ mundæ, corpori mundo & candido sociato, propter quod ænigma primum ponam Turbæ. Dicit in: Accipe hominem, tunde eum super lapide vel laminâ trahendo donec corpus eius moriatur, & spiritus eius extrahatur, & hoc est primum. Deinde de secundo dicit, unde iterum vivet corpus, donec spirituale sit, & eius pereat spissitudo, & esto securus, quod cum suam amiserit spissitudinem fiet spirituale. De tertio sic statim sequitur, Redde ei postea animam suam id est coloré vividum vivum, deinde pone in balneo per 40. dies sicut & in vulva spermæ moratur, quæ utique regenerationis nostræ est principium, & ita surgit creatio, propositionis peragetur. Ecce tres terras ponit, terram mortuam, terram candidam, quæ est Luna interior albedinis, & in albedine rubor, id est terra vivida quæ est tertia terra. Unde Florinus in Turba: Cum albedinem illam supereminenter videbitis, certi estote, quod rubor in illa absconditus est, & tunc oportet vos ipsum extrahere, & tam diu decoquere, donec totum rubeum fiat. Quod autem dicit per 40. dies significat unius nominis Athomus similiter dicit per 42. dies, & subiungit quantitatem, sc. sicut & in vulva sperma moratur, hoc est 40. hebdomadas. Et quia citius & tardius potest hoc fieri, inde subdit Athomus, quod opus hoc secundum a die mensis Septembr. 10. qui est primus mensis secundum Ægyptios ex ubertate fructuum, ad decimum libræ perficitur, id est per annum est eius perfectio, quia contingit ex diversitate ignis citius & tardius perfici. Et postquà anima coniuncta est corpori, non exiuitur ignis, scil. per tres terminos & tres gradus ignis, & sit alteratio gradativa, donec tertio gradu compleatur, vt dicit Gratianus. Determinis autem & gradib. ignis consule libram trium verborum, & hoc ego ibi exposui. Nota de domo thesaurorum de qua dixit author in primo, Assiduis loquitur de ea sic; Ergo filii locus huius lapidis tibi ostendam, nec peritum tradeat legere, & ne desperet se ad scientiam pervenire posse. Hoc autem quoddam est in loco, qui vig. locum est quatuor elementa, & sunt quatuor ianue, quas si nosse vis, dico primo quatuor esse stationes, quatuor angulos, quatuor terminos, & quatuor parietes. His autem quatuor claves exponam, in fine carminis huius. Sequitur: Hæc autem domus est thesauraria, in qua omnia thesaurantur sublimia de scientiis sive sapientiis, vel rebus gloriosissimis quæ haberi possunt, & in hac domo thesauriantur. Domus in qua thesauri sunt, quatuor ianuis clauditur, quæ quatuor clavibus reserantur. Cuiq; istarum clavis est una: Nullus hanc domum potest ingredi, nec aliquid ab ea retrahere, nec arcani quod in ea clausum est scire, nisi prius clavem cognoscat, & eam secum habeat, aut saltem sit de familia domus. Scito ergo fili, & animo aduerte, quod qui scit clavem unam, & ignorat residuas, domus ianua sua clave aperiet, sed ea quæ sunt in domo non aspiciet, quoniam domus superficiem habet ad intimum visum tendentem. Ergo oportet vt singulæ ianuæ singulis clavibus aperiantur, quouis; domus tota adimpleatur lumine, tunc ingrediatur quisquis de thesauro accipies. Scito fili, quod tibi thesauri non sunt absconditi, verum in ea seruati domo coram oculis tuis, cum domum ingrederis. Volotamen unam clavem tibi ostendere vel tribuere, quod per eius signa invenies, quibus si rationem habes, tertias eius residuas poteris invenire ex ea. Porro hæc una clavis est accessio aquæ per vasis collum, ad caput eius habens similitudinem animalis hominis, & est basiliscus sapientiæ absq; cornu, quod extrahit aquam cornu cervi, & germen aquæ præcipuæ, & lumen fluminis pulcherrimi, cuius sunt notiores lapides, preciosiæ & gemmae & coralli.

Ex eorum nempe pinguedinis vapore, fit clavis una, et si vis perfectionem oportet reliquas tres extrahere, et scire gloriam, de quatuor terminis inferioris prima clavis est humoris extractio, et pinguedinis id est aquæ et olei, et humor est Lunæ et pinguedo Solis: cuius sunt hæc signa, scilicet nigredo superabundans, quæ consumpta purificata iam est anima in aqua per destillationem. Dicit Vietimerus: Expectabis aquam ex vapore sublimare. Nam cum videris natura aquam fieri ab ignis calore, totumque corpus magnesiæ ut aquam liquefactam, omnia tum vapora facta sunt, de iure attrahit vapor et continet suum par; quia fixum retinet volatile, naturæ enim naturas coiciunt. Et Rasís in libro luminum: Cum inhumationem facias donec vertatur in aquam mollem, tunc enim sine tui desiderii poteris, et hoc est post albedinam primam.

Secunda clavis est attenuatio corporis terrestris, quoniam rigiditas ei inest et flexibilitas et inquination, quæ non nisi laborioso et subtili ingenio exuelli potest ut dicatur in Turba. Non enim potest attenuari corpus quam diu flexibilitas et rigiditas et durities in eo consistit. Capiatur ergo, ut dicitur in Turba, corpus et abluatur, et ad lentum et tepidum ignis calorem tergatur, et admodum eorum qui litum cum cinere et aqua calcis maioris albi candida faciunt, dealbetur. Deinde per noctem unam dimittatur in humidum locum, postea aqua maris ablutum roretur paulatim, donec plenissime dealbetur, donec ab omni inquinamento mundi et albissimum videatur. Hæc autem albedo non sit sine nigredine magna, primo in cuius ventre est albedo ista salis candidissimi nostri, et hæc est secunda clavis.

Tertia clavis est totius aquæ, id est humiditatis residuæ, quæ iam olei nomen habet, imbibitionem, contritione longa, quia assatio et congelatio, incineratio et inceratio, cum eodem oleo fiat, donec tota aqua adunetur. Quarta clavis est fixatio in tribus terminis et tribus gradibus ignis, donec sit fixum tingens. Et subdit in alio capitulo Assiduus: Deinde post coagulationem fac ipsum volare, per quosdam menses, id est, 40 diebus unius nominis in humido stercore, id est igne humido velleret, donec aqua rubescat et inspissetur et fiat æqualis. Et intelligo quod Assiduus vult tres partes terræ et unam ignis. Dicit enim: Ex eorum pinguedinis vapore, sit clavis una, pinguedo aut est fix ex dominio Solis. Et si vis perfectionem, oportet te tres reliquas partes terræ extrahere. Sed prima glossa est melior, et hæc non fallit.

Et nota quod omnes Philosophi experti unum vas habuerunt, inexperti duo, ad minus unum pro registro, in quo reliquum perceperunt. Unde Gratianus dicit, & nota si praeparentur omnia simul apud expertos, bonum est: tamen maior experientia inquirentibus cum singula singulariter praeparantur & examinantur unum in reliquo. Non enim potes aliter praeparare singulariter, non enim sufficit una aqua absque alia, id est, Lunaris absque Solari, non sine genitum ex vno tantum, sed ex mare & femina simul. Et per Deum in expositione istorum omnium, longo tempore illos consului, centies per legendo lectiones, & non habui istud nisi per inspirationem a Deo. Et in paucis consuluimus multiloquium & gratiam & benedictionem Senioris. Deinde doctrinam Assidui breviter exponam. Accipe albedinem & nigredinem, quae scil. sunt claves operis primae & secundae, & dimitte dum coquitur, id est fermentatur id est corrumpitur in alembico & in vase suo: & ascendit id est sublimatur in vaporem in suo humore. Fecem, id est nigredinem quae est Ethel, projice, id est dele & purga aquam, extendid est, aquam ablue. Glossa: Hermes secundum claritatis quantitatem tingit, unde aquam extende, id est distilla sublimando, donec fiat clara, & omnis humor massae extrahatur clarus & albus, terram mundam scil. a grossitie & rigiditate, vel fiat cinis subtilis privata nigredine, vas firmiter claude scil. gypso vel cera, & albumine, sunt enim in eo venti; qui si detenti non fuerint, totum opus periret; ut vides Morienus ad regem Kalid in dialogo, verum vera, quia infrigidaret materiam in vase, & ignem extingueret: Fumum vera, id est, quod fumiger materia de vase, vel non debet esse signis fumosis carbonum lignorum, sed ignis bestiarum subtilis bene coelatus. Ignem propius duc, id est massiacionem terrae cum aqua sit fortior, de prope apponendo, putrefactionem serva. Gratianus, Et unumquodq; calcinatum dissolvatur suo modo ut putrescat. Et Morienus in dialogo auctore sapiente, Quod tota fortitudo huius magisterii non est nisi post putredinem. Ait enim, Si putridum non fuerit, ad nihilum reveretur. Et subdit, quod post putrefactionem Deus altissimus proficiet qua statum compositionem frigiditatem & calefactionem vera, id est excessum caliditatis & frigiditatis in temperantia, id est in medio persevera extremorum calorum, scil. non excessiuum. Et omne opus est extra modum id est cum excessu & superabundantia vera, ut non sit nimis sicca massa, nec nimis humida. Unde Bonellus in Turba. Scito quod si massae aquam multiplicaveris, non continet eam ignis, nec bene ardebit in camino. Et si nimis siccaveris, non conjungetur nec coquitur. Noli festinare. Unde Rasís in libro Luminum: Aqua dum misceatur cineri, ipsum interius dealbat, expecta igitur candorem. In hoc enim negotio, si agendi difficultas aut tædio aut satigatio opificem negligenter afficeret, ipsum expectatio gaudio privat, spem suffocat, aestimationem interimint. Sequitur: Esto patiens coquendi, et putrefaciendi, temporis non te pigeat, sedeat quamvis sit longinquum, tamen omni alio operi quia videt Senior propinquius. Et talenta semper praeparata, et nunquam prosperabuntur. Sequitur: propinquum vera, quod ut dixit Senior, non nisi multis diebus hoc opus perficitur, nec est necesse vitrei reticetur: prout dicit Hermes, sufficit homini per mille millia annorum, et si quovis die duo millia hominum pasceres, non ageres: tingit enim in infinitum, et tantum quod non potest comprehendi intellectu. Et in quinto libro de septem dicit: Et non scies effectum eius nisi postquam poecieris et compleveris, et totum hoc iam scis, quam infinitum etc. Sequitur: Et animalia, id est, colores, qui sunt per aquam vivam in terra, noli foetifiare, id est immundare feces, id est pulveres seu nigredine. Quia ut dicit Rasís in Libro Luminum: Nunquam in fine nigrum sit, quod si nigrum quod procedat imperfectum est medicamen. Et senior dicit: Si remanserit in ea nigredo post rubificationem eius, peccasti in praeparatione eius, et corrupisti quicquid operatus es, et memorie prae dolore peccati et inopia, quia haec sunt divitiae incomparabiles. Colores autem vivi sunt albus citrinus et rubicundus. Quia ut dicitur in Turba: Combure fecit dealbare et rubificare, et ideo dixit, animalia quorundum anima corpus colorat et vivificat.

Quidam tamen libri habent: Et animalia foetifiare, id est, producere non te pigeat, foetus enim lapidis est color semper vividus, et in perpetuum manens. Quidam libri habent animalia: noli foetifare, id est aperire, sit enim vas clausum. Sed in registro, illa animalia, id est colores poteris experiri. Sequitur: non te pigeat quod agis: rubifica donec aqua tota coagulatur vel coagulatur, et ignem non fugiat, id est, fixum sit, quae est probatio super omnes probationes, si firmum super laminam ferream et ignem non emiserit et fluxerit sicut cera, et firmiter metallo adhaeserit.

Sequitur: Scit enim aqua pugnam ignis, et prolixitatem coquendi, et putrefaciendi, et inspissandi. Opus enim quodlibet sibi met est duplex, & artifex sequitur naturam eorum, donec ad suum ordinem perveniat igne coctuque. Sequitur: Deinde scil. post coagulationem in humido stercore, id est, igne sapientum, vas circunda & latonem, per aliquot menses, id est novem, sicut & in vulva sperma moratur, ut dicitur in aenigmatibus Turbae, Fac ipsum morari vel volare, id est, ascendere. Ascendit enim & descendit in arbore Solis donec fiat Quelles, id est, Elixir. Quod dicit per aliquot menses, hoc Mundus in Turba dicit per quadraginta dies, & subdit quae sint ut in vulva sperma moratur, hoc est novem menses vel circa. Sequitur: Scito etiam quod nullum Quelles facit rubrum nisi id quod fit de scarabeis, id est pigmento rubeo, quod est auripigmentum. Sequitur: Nulla aqua sit Quelles, nisi illa quae fit de scarabeis aqua nostrae.

Haec enim sola aqua est aqua thesauri infiniti. Et bene dicis: Nulla aqua sit Elixir, nisi ista aqua olei rubei, quae est aqua singularis, & nulla alia, quia nulla alia totaliter cognoscitur. Unde Rasis omnium lapidum genus, hoc nostro exceptu liquidam producit aquam, quia ex quibus elementis constituitur nostra natura cognoscitur, & illa est temperantissimae complexionis, & compositionis fortissimae. Aliorum autem lapidum aqua est simplex liquida, debilis compositionis. Senior: Et si quis studeret invenire aliam medicinam huius operationes, non posset. Et alibi dicit: Et post Deum non habes aliam medicinam, Ipsa est enim ars sapientum, quod fugat paupertatem. Unde subdit: Praeteriit nec praesentes possunt tingere aurum, nisi cum auro, & quod non est aurum, scilicet lapis eorum, ex ipso procedit aurum? Et benedictus Assiduius, Cum vero de substantia dicimus, non dicimus aurum, quousque nobis peragatur scilicet aureum, quoniam non est aurum dictum, sed aqua caelestis gloriosa scil. aes nostrum, ac argentum nostrum, ac sericum nostrum, totas orationes extra, quod est unum & idem, scil. sapientia, quam Deus obtulit quibus voluit. Et subdit Assiduius praedictis unde sermo venit, vade ad fontem sc. sitiens, & perveniens in terram nigrorum vel fuscorum, quia oportet quod terra denigretur in primo opere, sicut in secundo & novem. Nec opus est pluribus quam novem partibus aceti secundum Seniorem & Mosen in Turba. Et Hamuel 9 aquilas ponit. Sequitur: Etiam suffoca illas, id est, coclude in vase bene obstruso, & accipe eorum sanguinem, id est, rubedinem pinguiem quae est eorum venenum, occidens, id est, Icorem omnium imperfectiorum corporum quorum lepram occidit, & quod Mercurius competiti in aurum perfectum reducit. Non enim convertit nisi quod suae naturae est, & competit ei. Sequitur: Quod est ascendens ad superiora, & in continenti fluit ad receptaculum, coque ipsum donec fiat rubeum, id est donec tota tinctura extrahatur, quod sit post summam nigredinem, quam dealbatio sum sequitur. Et subdit statim: Ego autem dictum lapidem tibi significabo. Nisi hic vapor ascenderit nihil habes ex eo, quia ipse est opus, & absque quo nihil. Et sicut anima corpori, ita est ipse, qui sit Quelles. Ne igitur dicas quod invidiam scripsi aquam non nominaverim, licet nominaverim, inspice, & crede mihi quod hic lapis est non lapis.

Nunquam aliquem Philosophorum audisti dicere, hunc lapidem esse aquam fontis vivi. Et Rasis in libro Luminum: Lapis noster in quo totus noster effectus & gratia est, aereus visio quidem aqua, ignis natura, colore comburens, naturarum proprietate integer, nec durus, humidus: substantia etiam liquefacit, multorum etiam medicamentorum usui aptus existens, & vilis, ut in omni apparatu suo, speciem aquae suscipit.

Deinde sequuntur alia praecepta Assidui dicentis, Quod in hoc libro est literarum velliborum perfectio, & opus perfectissimum ac certissimum in medio generis sui: Qui Sol est in medio Planetarum, id est metallorum mediae & temperantiae complexionis, & in medio generis inter Mercurium & vinam, & in medio aetatis suae quoad secundum opus vel primam dealbationem, quia tunc tingit album perfectum. Est et aptissimae putredinis, id est incinerationis, & tractationis animae a corpore per putrefactionem, & excaecando putrescit, & in aptitudine bonitatis, aut positionis suae, id est partium in tota situatione bona quiescit. Et cum hoc fuerit immundum sc. Sol aut permitium scilicet Luna, aut turbatum, scilicet Jupiter, vel non accipitur in tempore opportuno, id est senex vel juvenis, nondum notus, id est, regularus transmutatione in aquam suam. Et aptitudo putredinis, sit cum aptitudine bonitatis positionis, quod ad positionem ignis fortis, & vasorum debita proportione. De Senio dicit Moses in Turba: Et si ovum compositum ultra quam debeat regitur; id est, magno igne profecto extinguitur lumen eius a pelago sumptum, quia ascedit ad latera, nec solvitur, & per consequens non congelaretur nec tingeret. De opportuno tempore dicit idem, Regite ipsum, & coquite, donec appareat album, & tunc videbitis unum à tribus sociis derelictum, id est: aquam vitæ, in qua sunt tria, ignis, aqua, & aer, vel aqua vitæ a corpore in quo sunt similiter tria, & dicit Limerus circa 12. vel 18. dies, quam diu non est signum, & quando est in nigredine etiam summa. Et Morienus dicit, quod sanguis frangendus est, ne impediat, qua fractio, id est separatio, fiat postquam dealbatum fuerit. Et nota, quod si ulterioris quæ debeat regatur, tunc corpus subintrabit, & ideo in tempore opportuno debet accipi. Et sequitur: Vel si accipiatur ab inferiori parte sui generis, id est, ex planetis perfectis aliis. Et nota, quod Pandulphus in Turba dicit: Quod ovum Philosophorum cum eversum est, scilicet contra maiorem mundum, quia ovum nostrum secundum medium suum dicitur altius, scilicet à Sole: & secundum extremitates dicitur inferius, id est, alias duas partes, quia ovum mundi, secundum polos dicitur altius, & secundum suum medium inferius, & in medio est Solis punctus, sicut pullus, & secundò hoc superius. In ovo vero mundi è converso est, scilicet, medium suum inferius est, exempli gratia: In mundo ignis est subtilius levius & altius elementum, sed in ovo illius ignis est infimum elementum, quia in medio constitutum, & in mundo terra est grossius & gravius & infimum elementum, sed in ovo, scilicet cortices exteriores sunt terra & altius elementum & sic de cæteris. Ergo est verum, quod ovum habet se per contrarium ovo mundi. De ovo mundi contrarium est, quia ovum mundi secundum polos dicitur altius, & secundum suum medium inferius, vel secundum extremitates, id est Saturnum & Lunam, quæ in mundo sunt inferiores & superiores. Saturnus superior & altior, & Luna inferior, & sex planetarum. Sequitur: Ecce in ovo sunt quatuor scilicet terra, aer, aqua & ignis, & punctus Solis in medio rubeus, qui est pullus. Et hæc est causa, quod philosophi artem hanc ovum nominarunt. Sequitur dictum Assidui: Nec in igne operatur alieno, vel extraneo spiritu, quia ut dicit Senior: Nec facias super ipsum ingredi aliquid alienum, corrumpere enim ipsum, & destruet totum. Vel sic & melius, quod in igne non operatur alieno, sed in suo igne, qui est humidus: Extraneus enim ignis inæqualis est & excessivus carens temperantia. Tota enim huius operis efficacia in suo consistit igne, ut dicit Mori. & Geber. Solus calor Solaris est generans complexionem bonam, quem calorem ignis scilicet natura imitatur. Sequitur: quoniam cum digeritur aliud istud, id est, aquæ vitæ avis, quæ est animata tinctura, incorruptibus eiusque forma perficitur, scilicet postquam dealbatum fuerit, tunc operationi aptum est, unde non debet sumi, antequam melancholia, id est, nigredo in eo non abundet, nec postquam abundet, vel sumatur antequam aer, id est, vapor aeris in eo gignitur id est, in corpore immundo non spirituato, & senscat in postremum, vel expone postquam formatius perficitur, aptum est operationi antequam melancholia in eo abundet, quia sic operaretur in nigrum & non in rubeum vel in album.

Et antequam aer, id est, anima vitae, gignitur in eo scilicet immundo & grosso existente non spirituato corpore, & senscat, id est, morbidum fiat & melancholicum, antequam melancholia abundet, & aer gignitur alienus. Nota quod hoc fit dimetiarut stare aqua quando operationi apta fuerit, qua coagulum eius cadit in suum coagularum, per frigidum aeris & siccum congelans: quod cuidam sociorum meorum contigit qui per annum si invenit, sed non fuerat destillata. Dein de dicit, quod in his decem praeceptis erraverit nullus. Et de isto opere quidam sapiens, pulcherrimam similitudinem de viro scilicet & muliere artis locutus est, dicens: Qui me miserecalum offenderit, & a quiete me disfererit, do plagam in faciem suam, per quam fugam capiam, per hoc tagit evitare excessum caloris, miserculam, id est, humiditatem teneram Lunarem, & qui me de loco meo abstulerit, id est, de aere meo, & dilectum meum mecum vinclaverit, id est, coniunxerit Solem cum Luna in uno corpore, in aqua sua, sagittae ex pharetra nostra, id est, humores vaporis nostri corporis vindicabunt nos, & vitam regenerabunt, & nunquam de caetero moriemur, & si praeter dominum nostrum mobilitatis, id est, sine excessu transmutationis inclusi creati fuerimus, scilicet igne lento, propugnatores nostri, vel propagatores, id est, parentes nostri peribunt; id est, morientur, tradentes animas filio, id est, aquae vivae, & nos amentes, id est, sine mente, scilicet sine spiritu, iacebimus scilicet in terra, & vestibus vilibus denudati, id est, coloribus, & tincturis nostris, quae ex natura sunt vilia, quia in stercore & in limo terrae, & in opacis locis naturaliter volunt latere, & sola opinione hominum pretiosa fiunt. Vel sic expone, vestibus vilibus id est, nigredine secundi operis, & balneari sumus in aqua nostra, tunc sequitur anima nostra, id est, tinctura mortua, id est, extincta in corporibus nostris apparebunt. Unde quidam dixit: Et si nudus in caelos ascendero; tunc vestitus in terram veniam, & complebo omnes mineras.

Et si in fonte auri & argenti baptizati fuerimus, & spiritus corporis nostri cum patre & filio in coelum ascenderit & descenderit, animae nostrae reviviscent & corpus meum animale candidum permanebit, scilicet, Luna: Corpus vero dilecti mei, id est, Solis delectabile, & rubricundum & roseum relucebit, significat secundum opus, & si parentes dilecti mei, id est, corpora mortua, de vite gustaverint, & de aqua vitae sapientiae, & lacte meo lactati fuerint, & metalorum inebriati fuerint, & in lecto meo, id est, vase, nupsierint, generabunt filium Lunae, id est, tincturam Lunarem, qui totam parentelam suam praevalebit, id est, omnes progenitores. Et si dilectus meus, de rivulo rubetae praece potaverit, & sonteem matris suae gustaverit, & mihi tunc copulatus fuerit, & vino rubeo affinis nostri, mecum inebriatus fuerit, & multiplicia biberit, & in lecto suo mihi amicaliter accubuerit, & in amore meo per sperma suum, cellullam meam subintraverit, concipiam, & ero pragnans, & tempore meo pariam filium potentissimum, dominantem & regnantem prae cunctis rebus, regibus & principibus terrae, coronatum aurea corona victoriae, a Domino Deo altissimo, qui vivit & regnat in saeculorum saeculorum, Amen.

Explicít liber primus.



INCIPIT LIBER SECUNDUS, DE EXPOSITIONE FIGURARUM, de massa Solis.



Expositio epistolae Solis ad Lunam crescentem, in anno Solari, quae incipit: In tenuitate sua, seu reneritate, id est novitate sua nimia, scilicet coniugii cum Sole, id est, illuminationis ab eo. Dicit ei Sol, Dabo tibi de pulchritudine mea lumen, scilicet solare, quo pervenitur ad perfectionem tincturae, exaltatur enim lumen solare. Omne enim altum, id est, omnis planeta per ipsum perficitur.

Dixit primo Luna Soli, O Sol, tu mei indiges, sicut gallus indiget gallinae, quae sunt aves homogenae duae in sphaera una, de qua prius dictum est. Et ego Luna indigeo ope tua, O Sol, sicut primum passivum suo activo, ad quod est in potentia propinqua, scilicet transformandi sine importunitate, id est, sine festinantia, de Luna plena, id est, aqua perfecta, quia Luna est domina humorum, ponit efficiens perfecte.

Quia ut dicit Morien, radix huius scientiae est in hora compositionis suae, & expectes die noctuque super fixationem eius. Omnis igitur festinantia procul pellatur ab artifice, & providentia, & ratio, & firma expectatio adhibeatur. Quapropter ignis blandus diutius apponi debet, quin in diebus suis semper equaliter perduret, ne festina combustione corpus consumatur.

Sequitur: Cum sis Sol perfectus in omnibus partibus luminarium, tu es lumen, dominus excelsus & magnus, quia per te complentur res minerales, vegetabiles & animales. Ego Luna crescens in lumine solari, frigida & humida, quia sum mater humorum, & tu Sol calidus & siccus, quod est principium generationis omnium, quando copulati fuerimus, id est, coniuncti in aequalitate status, id est in proportione, & in mansione, & in vase, ubi non sit aliud, id est, alias res extraneas, nisi leve habens secum grave, id est, spiritus proprius cum suo corpore vel intelligit quatuor elementa, per leve, ignem & aërem, per grave, terram & aquam, sicut per rarum & densum, antiqui significaverunt haec quatuor. Sequitur:

In qua mansione, id est, domo vasis vacabimus commanendo, & erimus similes, sicut vacat mulier & vir eius in generatione partus, & hoc est verum ex ipsa locutione. Et ego Sol cum coniuncti fuerimus, vacaturi in ventre domus clausa, ex omni parte recipiam à te animam, id est, pinguedinem olei, quae est tinctura vivificans omnia, adulado, id est, blando, modo, quia natura gaudet propter vicinitatem eorum in natura conformi in aqua sua, vel cum aqua sua, & natura naturam vincit, & natura naturam continet. Ut in Turba: Et si abstuleris pulchritudinem meam, id est, Lunae, per decorem linitionem, intendis nigredinem primam, quia decolorat eam Sol, & exaltabuntur, id est, sublimabuntur exaltatione spirituum, id est, ad modum spirituum sublimatorum, cum ascenderimus ordinem, id est, ordinatam dispositionem Senioris, id est, Saturni, Iovis, & Martis, & his nominibus nominaverunt nigredinem illam, scilicet, Saturnum albedinem, Iovem rubedinem, Martem rubiginosum, vel æruginosum, unde a principio conceptionis, usque ad medietatem infantis, quilibet planeta dat suam imaginem, virtute divina faciente.

Ita etiam in hoc opere quilibet Planeta suo loco facit impressionem suam, usque ad complementum operis, ut dicitur in libro trium verborum. Et ideo dictum est prius sine importunitate, qui enim importunus & festinus voluerit, sua vehementia opus confundit, quia non est opus opificis, sed opus naturae ministrante artifice, & adiuvante eam.

Sequitur: Lucerna Lucis, scilicet, Solaris, infundetur lucernae meae, id est, lunari ex re, scilicet, Sole, & ex me Luna, fiet infusio Lucis luminosae, sicut commixtio vini cum aqua dulci, sic ex me atque te sit commixtio luminum, est enim utrobique similitudinis proportio, vinum enim & Sol, calida, Luna & aqua frigida, confluens. Sed postquam lucerna Solis infusa est lucernae Lunae, cessat humor fluere, qui quod indurat denigrat lumen. Ideo sequitur: Et ego scilicet Luna, prohibebo fluxum meum, & potest littera sequens esse connexa praecedenti dicendo; Ego Luna prohibebo fluxum meum, postquam Sol indutus fuerit nigredine mea, colore atramenti: & tunc innuit primam nigredinem, de qua dictum est, quae est argentum vivum de argento. Vel potest esse spiritus aliis versus continuus sequenti, innuendo secundam nigredinem, sic post solutionem atque coagulationem humorum mei, cum intraverimus templum amoris, scilicet, in Secundo opere, postquam indutus fuerit nigredine mea, colore atramenti, tunc coagulabitur corpus meum, in nativitate mea fieri Sol orien., in Luna crescente, & convertetur in decorem Solarem. Dixit Sol Lunae, si feceris hoc quod dixi tibi, non invenies in me nocamentum, id est contrarium, & reveretur postea corpus novum. Quia dicit Gratianus: Cum Mercurium fermentaverimus, quid ultra quarimus? nisi decoctionem ignis cum sulphure, quia ignis & Azoth sufficiunt tibi, ut dicit Elbo. Dealbate igitur Latonem cum Mercurio, hic nota secundam dealbationem, quia Lato est ex Sole & Luna compositum corpus citrinum, quod cum dealbaveris per diuturnam decoctionem, id est, longam, ad pristinam unitatem perduxeris, habes iterum latonem eodem modo ductibilem ad quantum tibi placuerit, quia in infinitum virtus eius extenditur, & tunc intrasti per ostium, & habes artis principium, & tunc calcina, dissolve, distilla, coagula & incera, & ita procede per medium, & resultatum facis penetrabile, & tunc ad finem pervenisti. & Sen. dicit de eo, Est enim hoc minerale, quod cum misceris aquam super terram, vincit album super citrinum & rubeum, & dealbificata est in album. Diinde vincit citrinum super album & rubeum, ita quod citrinaceea faciat, super citrinitate auri. Deinde vincit rubeum super citrinum & album, & rubificat ea in rubeidinem Alkazel marini, & tyrii, vel Ostrae, quibus tingitur Ostrum, vel praeparatur & meliius. Et cum videris haec, gaude. Sed si manserit in eo nigredo, corruptisit quicquid operatus es, & morieris prae dolore, quia sunt divitiae incomparabiles. Et alibi non est differentia inter ipsum, & argentum, vel aurum, nisi quod citius funditur.

Sequitur: Dabo virtutem penetrationis, scilicet tincturae, per quam potens eris in praelio ignis, praelio liquefactionis & purgationis, ex qua exibis sine diminutione, sicut firmus Sol: non impugnaberis de caetero sicut aes & plumbum.

Sequitur: Leo, id est, Sol inferioris, viliscit per carnem, hic est metaphora, sicut Leo fortis & rex animalium, viliscit per infirmam carnem suam, die enim quarto in quartum, quartanam naturaliter patitur. Ita Leo natura, per carnem suam sibi contemporaneam lunarem viliscit & eclipsatur. Luna enim est umbra Solis, & cum corporibus corruptibilibus consumitur, & per ipsius corruptionem mediante Mercurii humiditate Leo eclipsatur, sed eius eclipsis in meliorem convertitur naturam & perfectiorem priore.

Sequitur: Quod autem successit mihi, id est, in meam transmutaris naturam & dignitatem: Deinde ostendit, quomodo Sol vilificet per carnem infirmam, dicens: Apud augmentum plumbi nigri, apud augmentum, id est, ad abundantiam nigredinis plumbii, id est, aeris nostri deficit lux mea, id est, Solis, & extinctus est decor meus. Quia ut dicitur in Turba: Coquitur donec exeat nigredo, quam nigredinem alii nummos nigros, alii plumbum sapientum vocaverunt. Dum reddit causam, quare sit lux Solis extincta circa angulum nigredinis, dicit, quoniam alia duo principalia luminaria capient pinguedinem, id est, humiditatem meam metallicam mercurialem fixam, de aere meo mundi corporis existentis, & de plumbo verificato, id est, de plumbo sapientum, quod scilicet aes vel plumbum est verificatum in syllogismo, id est, in ratione scientiae, ex parte apud philosophos.

Aliter potest punctari versus iste. Pondus, id est, compositio eorum, in syllogismo, id est, in ratione, dicitur, sine seu in intellectu componente de sanguine Solis, & in humiditate Lunae, absque sanguine hircinorum, & aliorum animalium, quae nihil ad propositum faciunt, ut pondus, id est, compositio sapientum in suo Elixirio discernat verum compositum a falso composito & e converso. Quia haec est magnesia vera & non falsa. Sequitur; Ego, scilicet Sol, ferrum, durum & siccum. Et dicitur ferrum propter rubiginem, quam florem vocant aëris. Ergo foras, quem ignis non superat, nec sulphura vastant, putans, id est, condies omne bonum. Per me enim lux generatur, & secretum secretorum philosophorum, id est, tinctura perpetua corporum consistitur, nec est res in mundo alia agens actionem quam meam. Et Senior dicit: Si quis studeret invenire aliam rem facientem ejus operationes, non posset, & non est, qui inveniat aliam operationem. Est enim Sol radix incorruptibilis, & ab igne, & a sulphuribus & ideo extrahitur tinctura vera fixa ab eo. Alia autem omnia opera & spiritus corruptibilia sunt, & quomodo potest tinctura incorruptibilis extrahi a radice corruptibili? Et iam tot sunt & fuerunt vanarum rerum praeparatores, qui nunquam perfecerunt: Imo non est aliud fundamentum artis, quam Sol & eius umbra, sicut dictum est prius, & nunc sermo processit, de radicibus sapientiae majoris. Sequitur: Quod habet lucem, id est, Sol lucens factus est, habens obscuritatem, id est, nigredinem, postquam non est ad perfectionem deductus, id est, dum modo est in fieri:

Intelligit nigredinem secundam in secundo opere: Convalescit alanguoribus, id est, tenuitate, id est, infirmaturibus & debilitatis, & habebit vitam leonis rugientis vel resurgentis post nativitatem. Metaphora potens est, quia dicit Lucas in Turba: Disinitio huius artis est liquefactio, & animae a corpore divisio, & iterum, animae cum corpore coniunctio. Est sicque resurrectio corporis nunquam de caetero moritura. Haec est causa, quare aes nostrum vocatur Leo, quia sicut Leo rugiendo se suscitat prolem mortuam, ita vim mittendo, sic corpus aries mortuum resurgit, coniuncta sibi anima per aquam vivæ. Sequitur: Et apparebit illud magnum fluxibile, id est, oleum in mensuris, & tinctura philosophorum currens in altitudine oculi sicut cera super laminam.

Capitis & caudae sunt duae proprietates, scilicet, dealbandi & rubificandi corporeum, & spirituale, vel mortuum & vivum, tamen prima glossa est melior. Unde Senior in fine dicit: Haec est aqua, in qua congregatae sunt potentiae albedinis & rubedinis. Unde assimilaverunt eam ovo, quia circundat totum quod est in eo, habet enim totum in se quod indiget, & praeparatur in praeparatione sua. Et subdit: Erhe hic est draco, qui devorat caudam suam. Draco est aqua divina, & cauda est sulphur eius, & cinis, qui est inter cinerem, & de isto cinere descendit pluvia viva, vivificans terram &c. Et cinis iste est semen aquae, quem cinerem Morienus vocavit coagulationem, cum sit coagulas aqua in terram.

Alia glossa Capitis & Caudae, sicut dicitur in Turba: Sume viperam, & priva eam capite, & cauda, in his enim duobus locis quiescit eius venenum, id est, tinctura: ex quo scilicet veneno, procedit spiritus, scilicet, tingens. Deinde caudam & caput, id est, principium operis, & finem eius, & est unum & idem, a quo incipit, & cum quo finit: Omnia enim operatur aqua ista caelestis, sume igitur residuum corporis viperae, id est, terram, & coque lento igne, scilicet Philosophico, quousque ab ossibus secernatur, id est, donec fiat durum, & splendium sit gladius denudatus, & pone eam super laminas, id est, in vasis, & ram diu unde, scil. igne & pistillo, donec vertatur corpus in spiritum, & auferetur ab eo flexibilitas. Non enim potest attenuari, id est, spirituali corpus, quando flexibilitas in eo consistit. Intendit quod incineretur corpus residuum, quod vocatur terra, a qua est extracta tinctura per aquam. Sicca corpus huius ad Solem, id est ad lentum ignem, intendit aequalitate ignis. Deinde capiti suo iunge & caudae, & cum eis tere, scilicet igne qui omnia terit, donec videas quod inquiris. Hoc itaque completo, scias quod habes corpus corporatura perforans, & naturam naturæ continentem, & naturam naturæ latrantem, quod profecto Theriaca Philosophorum vocatur, & dicitur vipera, quia sicut vipera concipiendo prælibidinis ardore caput secat masculi, & pariendō moritur, & per medium secatur: sic lunaris humor concipiens lumen Solarem, sibi convenientem, Solem necat, & pariendō progeniem Philosophorum, ipsa similiter moritur, & uterque parens moriendo animas filio tradunt, & moriuntur & pereunt. Et parentes sunt cibus filii, & naturam eorum accipit, & cum ære roboratur ad pugnam ignis. Hic aut filius laudabitur in omnibus libris Philosophorum: Et est lapis Indus Babylonicos, & est æs combustum, ut Kalid dixit.

Sequitur: Septem sunt ordines ponderum ordinatorum corporum. Quinque partes ex eis sunt absque obscuritate, scilicet de umbra Solis duorum lucentium est pulchritudo, scilicet Sol, & hæc compositio est secundum numerum figurarum, scilicet terra dimidia Lunæ à minori computando numeri quinque mediatæ Lunæ, & duo Soles, unus cum duobus radiis, secundus cum uno radio. Expositio harum dabitur tibi expositione mea, & proprietas est radicis. Hoc dicit propter hoc, quia dixit duorum lucentium est pulchritudo. Sol est clavis cujuslibet januae, id est, omnis introitus artis, & quod restat ibi, id est, quod reliquimus, est absque dubietate, id est certitudinaliter. Sol est simplex clavis totius operis, cum firmamento & terrietate, id est, cum Luna terræ & opaca, inter cæteros Planetas secutior, quod post masculas quas habet dum in plenilunio est, & cum firmamento directo, id est regulato per artem. Et dicitur Luna firmamentum, quia dicit Hermes, Luna potens in firmamento est, & pauper luminis, & cum Mercurio lucentiorum, convertibilis natura, Solis umbra. Quidam libri habent, cum firmamento directo terreitari, directio enim in medietate ordinato terreitari, id est elementari corpori, & utraque litera est bona: Quia septem partes ponderis sunt, & per versum ipsum exponit præcedentem. Ideo dixit: Hæc est demonstratio, id est, expositio septem partium: hæc est divisio id est separatio spoliationis, id est tincturæ spoliatæ, hæc est divisio decoctionis, id est igne coquiente. Quam scilicet spoliationem nigredinem appellamus, quæ fit per decoctionem competentem, in qua indissolubile temperamentum dissolvitur, & Anima temperati extrahitur. Nota secundum Seniores, quod praeparatio haec vocatur conversio & divisio in subtilitate & attenuatione spirituum, ut tingant & imprimantur corporibus, & hoc propter conversionem suam in praeparatione de statu in statum, & de re in rem, & de infirmitate in potentiam, & de grossitie in tenuitatem & subtilitatem, sicut convertitur, semen solum in matrice praeparatione naturali de re in rem, donec formetur inde homo perfectus, ex quo sit radix eius, & principium eius & hoc sine ingressione alterius rei nisi sanguinis menstrualis ex quo fuit semen, & ex sanguine ei simili, & ex ipso fuit nutrimentum eius. Et similiter ovum sine ingressu alterius rei convertitur de statu in statum, & dividitur de re in rem, donec convertatur in pullum volantem, sicut illud a quo radix fuit & principium eius. Et similiter semina terra nascentium, putrescunt & mutantur, & ingreditur super eis corruptio, sicut ea ex quibus habuerunt radicem. Et propter hoc mineralia nostra non mutantur ut exeant a radice sua, si recidat ad id ex quo fuit, nec convertitur ex hoc in aliud. & qui dicit aliud, falsum dicit. Haec est ergo conversio & divisio quam audis in libro sapientiae. Hucusque Senior dixit. Sequitur: Haec est coagulatio absque divisione, id est, coniunctio maris & foeminae & absque dissolutione postquam feceris, id est praeparaveris, singulariter affirmando illa septem scilicet partes Lunae & duas Solis, quas septem divisis per septem stellas, id est, secundum numerum septem Planetarum, qui omnes Planetae operantur super istas septem partes Planetarum nostrorum, & hoc est tertium scilicet Mercurium amalgamare, cum septima parte ponderis, deinde mitte de albo humido novem partes, ita quod decima sit aeris pars. Et postquam purgaveris in praeparatione conversionis, donec videantur sicut Margaritae in similitudine, tunc errare non poteris de caetero. Haec est dealbario detegens dubium terrae tuae sitientis, & hoc per aquam nubium coelestium, in hoc scilicet dicto demonstrationis. Ostendi tibi flores aureos, id est tincturam solarem omnis floris, id est coloris conversi ad medium extremitatum scilicet albi & nigri, vel ut indumentum pavonis in similitudine. Hic enim est lapis cui insunt omnis color, secundum diversas conversiones eius in praeparatione sua. In hoc igitur opere, Sol ut rex & dominus coeli, immittit spiritum & vitam: Mercurius vero format spiracula. Est enim acetum acerrimum, quod aurum merum spiritum facit esse, ut dicit Pythagoras: Ipse est quo mediante fit corruptio & regeneratio eius: Luna vero sponsa Solis, spiritum seminis conceptum a sponso suo illuminat, & sua frigiditate & humiditate laborat ad expellendum foetum ex his productum. In introitu vero residui numeri stellarum scilicet quatuor detecta est tibi impressio & imago in decoctione, quibus Planeta facit virtutem Dei, & hoc est quod dicit, decoctum a qualibet stella singulariter. Sc. Saturnus constringendo & congelando sua frigiditate & siccitate, ipsam naturam in massa, Jupiter vero sua caliditate & humiditate digerendo, Mars vero sua caliditate & siccitate homogenea congregat, & heterogenea sequestrat: Venus vero frigiditate & humiditate membra & imagines disponit. Et sic nascitur Alchimia naturalis per principia naturalia, & per impressionem formae scilicet naturalis, substantialis ministrante artificie. Aes enim se non habet nisi formas accidentales, sed iuvat naturam, disponendo principia, inducit formas substantiales. Et locus generationis licet sit artificialis, tamen imitatur naturalem quia est conclusus, conclusus in quo sumps principiorum naturalium generatorum per naturam, ratione caloris diurni & continui, diu reflexus in se & vaporaliter commistus congelatur in metallum, cuius est vapor secundum speciem, & qua est radix. Ex his dictis patet solutio duorum argumentorum contra possibilitatem artis. Quorum unum est quod non habetas inducere formas substantiales, sed accidentales, secundum est quod locus naturalis debet esse principium generationis. Adducunt tamen dicentes, metalla generari secundum influentiam Planetarum, quae constellatio latet Alchimistas, quia oportet eos in illo incipere operari in quo natura coelestis incipit movere mineram. Quibus dicendum quod motores coelorum quandocunque & ubicunque inveniunt materiam dispositam habentem potentiam ad talem formam, tunc incipiunt movere per impressionem suas ad illam formam, dummodo artifex coniungat activa passivis. Sol enim & homo generant hominem, nec tamen oportet, quod homo generans hominem, praestari impressionem Solis: sed convenientibus principiis activis & passivis, cum habilitate materiae: Sol disponit & movet ut caeteri Planetae, secundum distantiam localem ad orbem, tum licet omni tempore possit incipere opus, unum tamen tempus habilis est altero. Quia dicit Hermes, in 2. lib. de septem. Quod hoc elementum est humidum in vere & aestate, oportet ergo ut sumatur inter istud & illud sc. 15. dies post introitum Solis in Arietem, usque ad introitum Tauri. Hoc enim tempore amplius augmentabitur, & oportet distillare hunc lapidem, Sole existente in Ariete & Tauro: Hæc, Hermes dixit. Sed Assiduus dicit, quod oportet poni lapidem illum in vase suo carente sectione in hyeme, æstate, autumno, vere, & omnibus anni diebus. Quia ut dicit Senior: Est semen in semine, mundum habens benedictionem ex potentissimo, n. masculo & fæmina generosa & castissima procedatur. Et huic semini nihil incongruum & commixtum, & existit altissima materia auri & argenti, ex purissimo Mercurio & sulphure incombustibili. Ideo quilibet Planeta imprimit suam imaginem & impressionem singulariter, sicut in seminum humano donec perficiatur. Sequitur: Hæc est perfectio coagulationis sine fallacia, & factus est Sol, id est Solaris minera, perfectis statibus. Principium eius ignis est, & in igne crevit, nec timet cinerem, i.e. testam cineris. Est & fixus non fugitivus, iungitur in corpore, sc. metalli usque ad cor, id est in profundum, quia ex radice fixa, sc. ex Sole, qui est fons totius caloris, & Planetarum rector, proficiscitur. Sequitur, hic est filius vilis & carior, id est, hic filius sc. lapis, cuius mater est virgo & non concubuit, & est vilissimus & carissimus. Et dicitur filius vilis, quia nullius pretii in oculis est omnis ignorantis, hæc femina est vilis, quia si diceretur ei hoc opus, videretur esse falsum sibi. Senior: Est et carissimus, quia sine hoc non operatur natura, sc. sine humido Lapis enim Philosophorum aqueus & humidus est, humor vero vilissimus, quia pedibus conculcatur, & est carissimus, quia principium est generationis naturalis. & est ænigma sapientium dictum illud. Præparatio ergo huius est difficilis, & occulta destruens, quæ multos sapientes nudavit, nec est super eo lapide iter in opinionibus laborantium & operantium, quia dicit, infiniti sumpserunt radicem eius, & homines in vanum abierunt a radice huius scientiæ, & simile ei non possederunt, quæ tamen nusquam currit in estimationem eorum. Est ita que difficilis errantibus, & mirabilis, facilis, scientibus, modicus, levis, delectabilis & propinquus: Intelligit autem ipsum ingeniosius. Est & subtilis, ex hoc arbitrando: cum clarificati fuerint eius animi, ex libris relictis a Græcis, quoniam nihil occultatur præter præparationem eius, quæ est difficilior omnibus. Hoc est quod coruscat in Elixiri, quod hic de tinctura incipit a potentia, id est, a materia potenti, aptissima ad talem formam, & prævenit ad actum, id est, formam auri & argenti, ad quam fuit in potentia.

In talem enim metallí speciem congelatur humor, cuius est sumus, & vapor: quia simile non generatur, nisi ex sibi simili per naturam. Deinde invehitur autor contra operarios vanos huius artis, ne radicem habentibus, nec praeparationes ad minus, dicens: Omnis praeparatio est bona illius rei, praeter hanc praeparationem occultam Philosophorum: Sed ipsi composuerunt prohibitionem eius in actu suo, quia ipsi semper praeparant, & nunquam prosperantur. Quia ut dicit Morienus ad regem: Scito quod terra, aut lapis, aut ovum, aut sanguis, aut acerum, aut omnia huius, ut sulphur, arg. vivum, auripigmentum, falsa, ad hoc magisterium inutilia, & malum exitum habentia, & homines saepe haec omnia tenent & coctum, & ex sua decoctione extrahunt, & extractum sepe illut, & iuxta suam opinionem benefacere credunt. Et ut error eorum magis confirmetur, & ne desperent hoc quod quaerunt nequeunt, sed sperant invenire. Et de compositione librorum falsorum dicit Senior. Composuit enim librum suum, opinans quod intellexit illud occultum mysticum, & ipse nec scit nec intelligit literam unam de his quae composuit in libro suo de libris Philosophorum remotus. Et si quaeratur ab eo, ex ipsis respondet per similitudinem, & si comprehenderi ei, defendit se per cavillationes & similitudines vanas. Sequitur: In re firmata, id est, in radice artis firma, praeparatio eorum facta est ignota, quia non habent esse, & si habent radicem, non habent eius praeparationem, propter hoc non cognoscunt. Omnis animus sequens conscientiam, id est opinionem suam vanam, fluit, id est fluctuat, & divagatur per diversas vias erroneas, ita quod ultimo dicant: Praeparavimus eum, cum omni praeparatione, nec adepti sumus, & cum scientia fecimus illum, & cum praeparationibus sapienter operati sumus. Et propter hoc sunt stultis stultiores, quia praeparant illud quod non habet tincturam in se, ex omnia quae tendit in nihilum & in finem, & credunt se bene facere, & nihil acquirunt praeter labores, & propter hoc sunt inflati in possibilitate artis, & excecati sunt a veritate. Dixerunt antiqui sapientes: Hic autor deridet superbiam Alchimistaram Philosophorum, operantium in rebus foetidis. Dixerunt antiqui sapientes de tali operatione: Hircus est, id est superbus & olens foetidior hirco, ex oleis capillorum, & stercorum, & menstruorum, & multorum talium foetidorum combustibilium, laborant & non recognoscunt radices scientiae, nec praeparationes eius: viles, non recognoscunt homines quod decipiunt in ignominiam illius. Talis operator convenit, id est aptus est, apud considerantem, id est Philosophum, & videntem, id est Prophetam, de quo cum se intromittit scientia talis, magis convenit, id est, aptus est, ad arandum, id est ad pascendum cum camelis, id est convenit ei rustico vel pastioni, quam Philosophiae huic; quatenus a Deo habet esse per inspirationem humilibus & iustis. Sequitur: Superbus enim scilicet ex eo hircus iste, quod dicitur sciens & tamen non est. Quibusdam enim magis operae pretium est videri sapiens esse, quam esse & non videri, ut dicitur in Elenchis; sic etiam iste superbit, quod creditur & dicitur esse sapiens & sciens, & quod omnis sciens novit quæritum erret in illo. Vulgus, id est operator vulgaris, habens oculos mentales, clausos, id est obnubilatos, dormit, id est somniat, quia imaginationes fantasticas & vanas habet in rebus vanis. Cuius scilicet vulgi barba, id est operis vas, convenit pueris, id est ludo puerorum. Dicitur enim in Seniore: Quod utilitas quam intendis non est nisi apud dominos barbae, id est domorum. Et iterum dicit, quod genitum eorum est in barba, id est in domo domorum. Vel potest esse alia derisio talis, quia antiqui sapientes, in signum maturitatis, barbati incedebant, cuius barba, id est sapientia, convenit pueris, id est stultis. Vel potest esse sensus ex simili, quod illudunt homines tales falsidici, sicut pueri trahunt barbas dormientium illudentes eis. Sequitur: Si habent rem, id est radicem scientiae, non inveniunt eius praeparationem, & res artis non perficitur, nisi cum praeparatione: Et hoc est quod quaerunt, & omnis opinio eorum, praeter illam, fallax est. Attraxerunt ignorantes in funiculis, id est per deceptiones, & demonstrationes suas vanas. Transmutant enim in apparentia Lunam in cuprum, & aurum in aliam speciem coloris fanaticam, & cum in ignem veniunt, revertuntur in formam Solis & Lunae sicut prius fuerant, & ignorantes credunt quod fecerunt eis aurum & argentum. Aut amalgamata faciunt Solis & Lunae cum Mercurio, & promittunt tingere Mercurium & coagulare in Solem & Lunam, & per immaturas auri & argenti, distillatores attrahunt, ignorantes & decipientes. Sequitur, Ignorans serit colocynthidam, & sperat inde comedere mel, sed quando quod speravit non viderit, redit ad agnitionem suam, & extendit, id est magnificat & confortat errorem suum, & dicit hoc esse ex infortunio. Similiter isti de capillis & de urina, & illi de stercore, & Illi de ovis, & ventribus conchaum, & sanguine, ea proserunt, & radicibus auri & argenti seminant, in quibus nulla proportio est, nec potentia parua ad eorum illorum, & reiterant operationes, insistentes diuerſis modis, & tamen nunquam proficiunt, dicentes hoc esse ex infortunio nostro, non ex materia rerum vanarum, nec operationibus suis falsis. Templa scilicet corpora Alchimistarum vulgarium, quae videntur esse templum sapientiae maioris, ornata, id est extilia indumentis, sicuti loci sunt de arte sulphuris & arsenici, & eorum decoctionibus, & in pigmentis & urinis. Et si loci fuerint de capiteellis ouorum & stercorum, & capillis, & multis quibus maculantur, ut dicimus hirci sunt, qui cum foetore montana conscendunt per devia. Sic isti philosophiantur, componentes libros foetidos, in quibus nulla est utilitas, nisi de perditione temporis & expensae, de quibus superbunt. Deinde inquisitive dicit autor, interrogando qua de re, id est ob quam causam, dictum est ab istis doctoribus, in multis, nunc in hoc nunc in illo labore, scilicet in testis capitis, id est in ossibus capitis, & carne, cerebro, capillis, & in ovis gallinarum, & scorpionum, & in urinis, & in testitudinibus conchilium, id est concharum, cum tamen veritas sit sine diuersitate in una re, & una dispositione, & una coctione, scilicet decoquendi. Unde Morienes ad regem. Hoc mysterium totum ex una re, & una via persistit, & unica dispositione perficitur, & autor respondet quaestioni, dicens: Nonne hoc est, ex paucitate aquitatis dictum ignorantium, & vituperatorum? Et reprobat eos per quandam quaestionem, & solutionem eius manifestam dicens: Si diceres, quod ouis peperit homines, aut grana tritici fructificabunt galbanos, aut palma portavit mala granata, aut volatilia coeli parturirunt pisces aquarum: Ipsi responderent falsum dicis & dixisti. Deinde soluit dicens: Aut non generant res nisi similia, aut non fructificant res nisi fructus suos, nonne convertentur ad sua ignorantia? Dixerunt quod pater auri & argenti, sit animal terrae & maris, vel homo, id est pars hominis, ut capilli, sanguis, menstruum, secundina.

Et quidam dixerunt in arboribus, id est plantis & herbis. Et quidam in lapidibus, ut arsenicis, & aliis mineralibus, alienati sunt à veritate scientiæ, ex his erroribus ex credulitate rerum incertarum, removerunt a se laudabilia nota, id est, desiderata, scilicet stationem scientiæ, id est stabilem scientiam & mineram eius, Etenim res eius est manifesta, in oculis virorum & mulierum rectis, de habentibus oculos iustos. Et quidam libri habent masculinos oculos, id est procaces & vagos, qui etiam cognoscuntur ex oculis perfectiorum hominum. Sic & in libris & in intellectibus virorum & mulierum hanc scientiam scientium per Prophetas suos, quorum intellectum nullus illorum audet exprotest exponere. Manifestae res quae est vagae mentis & instabilis intellectus super res vagas, non fixas, multi modus, cum tamen veritas artis sit sine diversitate. Probatio, quod sit sine diversitate, quia est res una. Unde Senior dicit inferius de lapide artis. Aqua non conglutinatur, nisi cum simili sulphure sui, nec coiungetur nisi aliquid simile sulphuris sui, nisi in hoc, quod ex eo est, scilicet, sole, qui est ex humido albo aquoso. Et Hermes: Non convenit, id est aquae, nisi quod propinquius est ei ex natura sua. Et generaliter nulla proles est similis ei, ex quo non est, humiditas autem est similis ex natura sua & est ex dominio Lunae: Pinguedo autem est ex dominio Solis. Et subdit Senior: Lapis ergo sapientum ex seipso & in seipso perficitur. Est, in arbore, cuius rami & folia, & flores & fructus, sunt ex ea, & per eam, & ad eam, & ipsa est tota, vel totum & non aliud. Et subdit: Et similiter dico vobis, quod unumquodque aliud non generatur, nisi cum eo, quod ex eo est, & specie sua, quod est homogeneum ipsius. Similiter Adam & Eva, & omnium hominum genus. Ergo omnis res convenit cum suo simili & propinquo, secundum speciem suam, & similiter carnes ex carnibus generantur, & tinctura metallorum in metallis. Et subdit: Incipe ergo in nomine domini nostri Iesu Christi, & cognosce naturam eius. Est enim a radice suae materia, quod est in eodem, & de eodem, nec ingreditur aliud super eo. Est et radix eius, sc. Mercurius. Similiter Mercurius est ab eo, & hoc est de quo extrahitur, & est in eo, & ex eo, & per eum. Omnia ista significant lapidem suum, qui unus est, id est, singularis, & non potest esse quin verba reperiantur frequenter eadem, propter expositionem, declarationem & testimonium philosophorum.

Ecce, quam lucide dicunt philosophi, & ignorantes, oblique ad illud intendunt oculos mentis. Et Geber dicit: Necesse est artificem constantis esse voluntatis, & non modo hoc, modico, attentare praesumat, quia in rerum multitudine ars nostra non perficitur.

Est enim lapis unus, medicina una, in quo magisterium totum consistit, cui non addimus rem extraneam aliquam, nec minuiumus, nisi quod in praeparatione superflua, i.e. frigidum & humidum removemus, quae denigrant opus & destruunt.

Sapientes doctrinam plene tradiderunt, pro posse suo demonstrantes, sed stulti non intellexerunt.

Sequitur: Per Deum, si consideraveris stellas, id est, planetas erraticos, id est, metallorum corpora, non est inter nos, scilicet, philosophos, differentia, id est, diversitas, in hoc quod opinantur, quia ex his metallis, & per hoc praeparant lapidem suum in quibus est Mercurius, & sulphur fixum incombustibile, per naturam rectificatum. Et propter hoc praeparatio nostra surgit per seras, & claves aperientes seraturas, id est, problemata obscurata. Per Deum si porrecta fuerit eadem scilicet, praeparationem sapientum, palma, id est, manualis operatio, non revertetur ad eundem vacua, sed locupletata, thesauro incomparabili, tamen pro se in mundo, id est, hominibus mundanis, scilicet absque vera praeparatione, perassumptum, id est, intellectum vituperatum, & assignationem erroneam sit, manus revertetur prorsus vacua.

Et praeparatio ignorantrum continuans artem, annihilat occupatum in eo, nec scit, nec sit proventio artis, nec claves, neque seras, id est, problemata sapientum, neque etiam scit, quod coagulans mittat tincturam, neque pervenit ad proventum. Est ista nostra praeparatio sapientum, est lapidum generis, habens labores solutionis. Et quicquid figurat ex duobus, id est, ex humiditate metallica duorum luminarium, sine alio extraneo ab iisdem fixatur, seu fix existens, suo scilicet genere. Unde Hermes: Tres facies in uno vidi parte, & bene dixit, quod ex uno sunt; licet habeant partes elementales, ut aquam & terram, ignem & aërem, quae tamen omnia ita sunt vehementissime complexionalia, quod minimum elementi unius, est cum minimo elementi alterius, quod per nullum artificium possent separari, propter compositiones tam fortes ipsorum. Unde subdit autor: Pars in scientia absque partibus, id est, sine diversitate, & factum est totum totius, id est, unum unius, quia totum est ex eo, & non ex alio. Sicut sartor ex ipso panno, partes format diversas, ut plicas & manicas, girones & thorale, quorum ipsa principalis materia est pannus; & textor cum iisdem filis pannum componit: de quibus est stamen; Sic & hoc magisterium est unum per se, nec alio indiget, ut dicitur in Moriene ibidem. Sequitur: Oculi scilicet intellectuales, accipiant a figuris Senioris, cum scientiam respicias ad radices, cum ramis separatam, duplicata coniunctione & ligatura duarum avium, in Causa qualiter prohibeatur una per aliam ab ascensu. Et una est sine plumis, propter pondus terræ, scilicet terræ, sed aqua habet plumas. Et vermunque est sulphur, & retinaculum alterius, & sunt duo argenta viva. Et subdit: Hoc est sulphur rubeum, scilicet aqua, quæ non habet in actu suo finem, quia tingit in infinitum, & nomina & cognomina, id est, pluralitas nominum in hac arte, exceca caernur videntes in libris suis, unde examinantur scientias erroris, excecant multitudine nominum, hoc scilicet sulphur nostrum, vel hæc aqua nostra, est tinctum, & tingens hoc, scilicet sulphur est, quod super quilibet ignem est durans, scilicet, semen in arbore, olivarum & aliarum quando vicinatur igni bestiarum continuo duranti est venenum, id est Ichor corporum. Omne venenum est in eo, id est, omnis medicina lætans, id est, omnem morbum corporum & hominum & metallorum corrigens. Est autem hoc sulphur velut Lunare, habens splendorem, scilicet solarem. Abscissæ sunt ab eo, scilicet sulphure cæteræ pennæ & alæ, id est, spiritus, & spiritus esse est manens, & non recedens, id est fixum. Ad superiora enim anima eius volat propter similitudinem suam, id est, humiditatem metalinam, conformem & unigenam sulphuri rubro. Tunc lucerna fixa cum habente scilicet alas, & cum lucerna Lunari, ascendit in astrum, id est in terminum. Ascendit ab eo anima eius, & exaltatur in coelum, id est, ad spiritum, & sit Sol oriens, id est, rubeus, in luna crescente in naturam solarem. Et tunc lucerna duorum luminum, id est, aqua vitæ, ad ipsum, unde orta fuerat, reuertetur, scilicet, in terram, & vivificit, & humiliatur & putrescit, & figuram amantium est, id est, sulphur terræi. Dispensa ergo duo luminaria, quæ aqua ex duobus corporibus & naturis est, vel sic, dispensa duo luminaria scilicet, Solem & Lunam, & utraque litera est bona, sed secunda est melior.

Et facta est illa aqua una, habens in se duo lumina: sicut videmus Solem cum duobus radiis in figura significantem coniunctionem duorum luminarium radiantium super cinere mortuo, & pluentes, & reviviscit quod fuerat morti deditum, sicut post magnam inopiam, quando mortuus est, id est, depauperatus resurget.

Huius consimile dixit alter: Si nudus ascendero in cælum, & velutis veniam in terram, complebo omnem mineram. Hæc est soror, & hic est frater, id est, masculus & fæmina sunt unius generis. Induraverunt aquam, & deposuerunt masculum & foeminam in aqua, & totum in terra, & tamen subtilitate praeparationis, id est, igne aequali, lento, non excedente calorem coelestem, fixerunt eos. Sed postquam facta est conceptio volare fecerunt, scilicet genitum, & fuerunt in domibus montium, scilicet, animae parentum; significat crescentem Lunam, crescente luminari maiori. Et duas aves significat ex eo, id est, duos spiritus, vel duas animas duorum luminarium, ex aere. Ut enim Morienes dicit: Opus hoc assimulatur creationi hominis, quia primo est coitus, deinde conceptio, deinde impraegnatio, postea ortus, ultimo nutritio.

Et inter alia quoque Marcus dicit: Concipiunt in balneis, significat calorem lentum & humidum balneorum, in quibus sudat lapis in principio dissolutionis suae paulatim, atque parient in aere, significat superiorem thalamum scilicet alembici, quia generatio huius tincturae est in aere alembici, superiori, & graduntur super mare, & manent in montibus & sepulchris suis. Et subdit idem: Et proiiciunt semen super marmore simulachrorum, & in aqua sibi simili Deifica, & veniunt corui volantes, & cadunt super illud simulachrum: intendit nigredinem, quae est a duos aris aures per coruos. Deinde volabant super cacumina montium, ad quae nemo potest ascendere, id est, ad superiorem partem alembici conclusam undique & dealbabunt ibidem. Respice praeparationem primam eius, & cognita hanc, quae est spirituum extractio omnium de corpore, & ipsorum mundificatio in aqua sua. Respice Solem, & Soles duos, id est, Solem cum uno radio & cum duobus radiis. Et haec est ultima praeparatio, scilicet, spirituum cum corpore suo, cum contritione & assatione multipliciter iteratis, donec videas illa, quae quaeris in ea. Et dicit quod secunda & ultima praeparatio est ex tribus sc. salatarius vel terris, sc. terra foliorum, terra margaritarum, & tertia terra auri, vel ex tribus, id est trinitate lapidis. Et sunt tres compositiones rubei lapidis habentis splendorem. Glossa: Gratianus dicit, quatuor sunt elementa, & triplex elementatum minerale. In terra tamen vegetabile, partim in terra secundum radicem, partim super terram secundum herbam: Et animale omnino super terram gradientes. Secundum Morienem, terrae sunt tres terrae huius artis. Prima est aquae vitae praeparatio post corporis putrefactionem: Secunda tertia est secunda dealbatio: Tertia, tertia est animae cum corpore coniunctio. Vel secundum Seniorem tres sunt terrae, scilicet, foliorum, margaritarum & auri. Quatuor sunt elementa, quia calidum, frigidum, humidum & siccum sunt in terra, & quinta essentia, nec calida, nec frigida, nec humida, nec sicca, sed medium horum. Et hoc iam prius expositum est de numero principiorum artis. Quidam enim in uno, quidam in duobus, quidam in tribus, quidam in quatuor, quidam in quinque dicunt & omnes bene dicunt. Haec a nemine non impelluntur, sed sponte sibi congaudent, quia sunt homogenae, unde natura naturam congaudet, natura naturam continet, & natura naturam vincit. Tertia est ex duobus corporibus principalib. & aqua triplex, aeris, & ignis, & aquae natura, & omnia unum, quia sunt ex uno, & Sol simplex, & Soles duo, id est cum radiis duobus contritis, in terram non ultra ascendunt, sed figuntur in ea. Triplex ex anima habens projectionem tingentem, scilicet, anima Solaris, & anima Lunaris, & tinctura sulphuris, albi, humidi, & sunt unum de eodem, virtus superioris, scilicet, aquae vitae, id est, tincturae, & virtus inferioris, scil. terrae, sunt simul similae naturae, quia eadem generatione generantur & corrumpuntur. Bonus autem corruptio, est ipsorum putrefactio, quae totam generans naturam in melius disponit. Quia ut dicit Morienus ad rem: Quod tota fortitudo huius magisterii, non est nisi post putredinem, quia nunquam fuit aliquid adimitatum, aut nativitate editum nisi post putrefactionem: Si enim putridum non fuerit non fundetur, neque solvitur, & si solutum non fuerit, ad nihilum reverterur. Sequitur, dicit Hermes: Corona factum est residuum, id est, reliquiae huius aquae divinae, quae non praetermittit rem, id est, terram, ratam & fixam, in qua sunt tenebrae, id est, nigredo.

Secunda in secundo opere, scilicet, per residuum huius aquae imbiendae, summe dealbabitur, & hoc est, quod dicit, scilicet, vivificet eam, scilicet, terram, occidens, id est, humor pluviar, & vivificat duo tertia terrae, scilicet album & rubeum, & tertium tertiae combustum. Notat tria terria terrae vivificandae, scilicet terram foliorum, & terram margaritarum, & terram auri. Et prima tertia est combustum quia flores tincturae, animae sunt extractae, cum illa aqua pura congregata est in illa terra, vt dicit Anaxagoras in libro quarto, quia spiritus omnium elementorum coagulatur in terra: Sicut videmus imaginem eius depictam in Sole, cum duobus radiis Planetarum super terram. Id vero, quod remansit de tinctura in terra congregata, non est in aperto, id est, non apparet eo modo, sicut ante praeparationem fuit, scilicet, ut non videamur in manibus puerorum de caetero, sed sit thesaurus inappreciabilis sapientium. Quia ut dicit Socrates: Dispositio operis est ludus puerorum, scilicet, ante praeparationem: In praeparatione autem, otium & opus mulierum, scil. coquere. Unde quidam philosophus dicit: quod hunc lapidem pueri portant in manibus quorum est silentium post clamores. Et in his dictis philosophorum, est sera, & sera infra seram aptata, id est, obscuritas obscuratur obscuritate, quia typus & figura in tropo, clavis unus & una ex eis, quia una via, una dispositio, una actio. Deinde ponit in carmine suo in tres, i.e. tertia dimidia Luna, cum eo scil. Sole, ad illud, id est, humidum aequum, hoc projiciitur ignorando, id est, occultando, quod in eo lapide est, ex operibus, quia nihil occultaverunt, nisi praeparationem eius. Unde ignorando non sumitur actio, quia magister tenetur scire operationem, scil. passivam, id est, non notisfo aliis indignis. Scit enim Deus protector hominis, cui vult inspirare, & a quo vult celare. Comparate igitur figuras expositioni: quia nó habemus imaginem praeter picturam tabulae Senioris, & videbit hoc habens considerationem, & discretionem clarius, quam Solem radiātem, cum iustitia, non cum iniustitia, in disputatione.

Nota, quod dicit Moriencs ad Regem in dialogo suo: Si sapientes, qui post antiquos philosophos & prophetas fuerunt, suas expositiones, de qualitate vasis suo cognoscerent, non invenissent, posteri nunquam ad huius ministerii perfectionem pervenissent. Igitur de qualitate vasis utile commenda memoriae: Gratianus dicit: In primo gradu expediunt vasa metallica, in secundo gradu vitrea, in tertio testea, id est, in primo opere sit vas metallicum, coagulationem veritum, in fixione testaeum. Forma autem omnium sit sphaerica inferiorius ad medium dimidiae Lunae, & altum secundum quantitatem materiae. Antiquorum tamen quidam in vitreis vasis perfecerunt, sed talia vitrea non sunt apud nos, nisi consimilia inveiantur. Quidam antiquorum in testeo vase totum terminaverunt opus: Ut Zenon: Debere enim esse vas lapideum molare, forte, non porosum, bene decoctum, quale habent vitrerarii, in quibus liquescunt vitra. Hoc enim vas quod eis durat sex hebdomadas, bene durat in arte sex annos: quia ars non habet calorem excessivum, spiritualem autem gleam habet, quae non liquescit in igne sicut communis glutis figulorum gleba, sed resistit igni, fortis existens compositionis, & densum non porosum, nec potest ex altero quolibet lapide vas artis fieri, quia alter lapis non maneret in igne, sed cinderetur paucis exceptis. Ergo debet esse ex lapide cocto. Sic autem fiat tale vas. Accipiatur gleba dicta, & exsicetur, deinde conteratur, & eiiciantur aqua & lapides, & terra aliena, & quicquid est alterius naturæ in ipsis, vel ab ipsis. Deinde pars fere media crementer igne, vel lapide seat, quam conter e molendo subtiliter, & cribando, & cum isto molito conficias glebam loco arenæ, & bene commisce quod sit satis tenax, & de isto fac vas, & decoquatur in igne, & deuiterari permittas intus viro forti quod non scindatur, nec debet deuiterari vitro plumbi, sed cineris, & fiat sibi coopertorium eiusdem generis sine spiraculo. Est enim vas, quod nec est cucurbita nec alembicus. Verum vas ex duobus lapidibus unius generis, ut Calid dicit filius Iesidís.

Nota, quod nullum metallum expedit pro vase nostro, nisi ferrum limpidum bene digestum, nullum enim aliud duraret. Aqua etenim nostra ferro non commiscetur. Unde Rasis in libro luminem dicit: Si in ferro exalatum fuerit, salutem conferet. Et prius dixit, quod non potest excogitari compendius instrumentum dicens: Potissimam autem ad destillandum administration, & inter cetera compendiosius vas ferrum exigit, & ex limpidissima factum materia, & in hoc vitrum praeellens, quod frangi non potest. Et potest certo breviter terminaretur primum opus in hoc vase, quia supra lampadis ignem cito absolvetur putrefactio, & corporis solutio.

Et sicut dictum est apud expertos, unum solum vas requiritur. Sed apud inquirentes, plura & singulariter praeparantur, & unum in reliquo vase experitur & examinatur, sed tunc nota: non debent esse eiusdem spissitudinis, & tantum in uno de materia, quantum in alio, & ponatur ut ignis equaliter agat in ea ipsa, & sit æqualis expositionis in furno, ut quatuor digitis aut paulo plus excedant, & intus æqualiter pendeant, vigini equaliter eis deseruiat lumen. Si autem sit vas vitreum, locetur æqualiter unum sicut alterum ex gleba priori & limo. Fornacem facias de gleba communi luti figurorum, communiter facta in spissitudine trium digitorum, & altitudine vlnæ capitalis, & latitudine palmæ bonæ, ita quod ignis flamma sua, non tangat fundum vasis, & quod Libere deserat calorem æqualiter ad omnes partes. Habens etiam respirationa trium vel quatuor foraminum. Sit a furnus æqualiter elatus, & in summo supposito erit rotam factam de bona gleba in spissitudine duorum digitorum, vel amplius paulo, quæ tota habeat in medio foram unius vel duo. Et nora, quod non totum simul ponatur in præparatione, sicut apud excerro, scilicet parte experietur, quod in toto errare non contingat, vel duo in quibus pendeant vasa tua. Et bona cautela est, quod non augeas ignis gradus duplo priores, sicut docet Nodanus, sed in medietate, vel scilicet in primo gradu sit libra, in secundo gradu sit libra & dimidia, &c. Perlentum enim ignem non erabis, sed per excessivum corrumpes, licet prolixiori tempore coquantur lento quam acuto. Tolerabilius est autem sub moderatione prorogare, quàm sub excessu irrevocabiliter peccare. Nota etiam, cum quibus partibus aceti, ejus solvitur Rebis in aquam, sed prolixius exiccatur & figur. Et hic communis est modus, & doctrina philosophorum. Experti vero superfundent aquam ut superemineret tribus digitis, secundum, quod eis videbatur bonum. Si vero septem partes, aut circa sumantur pauciores, sed tardius soluitur corpus æris. Plus enim agunt novem partes, quam sex vel septem, sed citius exsiccant aut pauciora quam plura, & citius figurant. Et quicquid potest virtus in uno opere, hoc potest duplex, virtus modico tempore secundum Philosophum, dummodo sit æqualis comparatio proportionis agentis ad passum. Ad ejus perfectionem producendam, unum est quod legitur venis 21. alius 61. dies habet, dies pro solutione, producatur primo 13. dies, pro complemento 40. dies, secundum quod natura & ignis te docebunt. Sequere naturam eius, secundum signa & claves traditas, & errare non permittent. Scit enim pugnam aquæ & ignis, prolixitatem coquendi, ut dicit Assiduius, donec visui patefiat, ita quod ipsius operis imitatio te doceat operari. Est enim rectissima norma & formula hujus artis. Sumatur ergo lapis humidus & albus, bene fermentatus, & cum una tertia de novem abluatur, & putrefiat paulatim & paulatim, pars post partem, donec dealbetur in 150 diebus id est, 21. diebus vini nomin is, & hoc secundum Seniorem. Dicit enim primum opus luminare est abluere, dealbare, & putrefacere 150. diebus, & hæc est dealbatio tetius, fuga tenebrarum ab ea. Et sorte apparebit albedo in 70. diebus, id est, 10. hebdomadis & duobus diebus, vel in 4. hebdomadis universaliter. Sed subdit: Nec approbatur apud eos hoc, sed primum est melius, quia significat temperantiam & bonitatem ignis. Secundum autem, & tertium intentionem ignis, & corruptionem operis. Nota, idem vult scilicet Morienus, quod albedo quae est primum opus & fundamentum rubedinis in 21. die pergatur & duobus diebus. Ultimo subitus & supra fortem ignem dando, & similiter erunt 23. dies, sicut Senior dicit. Et docet Morienus, cum 4. parte imbibere, in prima expositione, donec ad octavam partem tinctura redigantur, id est in tertium. Item dicit Antonius in Turba: Extinguit caloris tertiam partem, id est sit & de aceto si fuerit 24. et eiusdem aceti, & cum quarta parte per tres dies affare praecipit. Et erunt assationes, & iterum ulterius cum quarta parte, donec album & fixum fiat, per duos dies subitus & supra administrando ignem. Isti igitur duo concordant in opere, Eadem est intentio Rasís, 7. assat, & interim assat & humectat, donec candidum fiat & ignem non fugiat, & tunc cum aqua sua dissolvit, & coagulat & tingit. Et dicit in triduo scilicet unam fieri distillationem, & coctionem rectissimam & perfectam. Et subdit: Quamuis triduo eum tenere mandamus, dies aut pars diei sufficit: & in operis, cum tinctura completa est, dicitur numerum dierum inhumationis complevisse, tamen 21. dierum spatium & transmutation coctionem exsolvit promissam. Et iste tertius Philosophus cum praedictis concordat. Et nota si una tertia in tot dies compleatur, duae tertiae residuae in duplici tempore complebuntur, & in 42. diebus. Et hoc dicit Mundus & Antonius & Zenon & plures Philosophi, ita quod in octavo die totum terminatur opus, quia decoctio 21. die, ut dicit Hermes & multialii, & dealbatur terra in aliis viginti diebus & uno. Et in allegoriis; Anima decoquitur 40. diebus: sicut in vulva sperma moratur, & ita resurget propositum. Et eadem via est ad rubeum, sicut ad album, nisi prius dealbetur complete & fixe. Quae dealbatio est fundamentum secundi operis, & primum opus est extractio tincturarum, deseruit istis duobus operibus, quae sunt unum opus, & si non esset fixum post albedinem, iteretur decoctio, donec sic contingat in igne fortiori, quia quod fixum fuerit, fixum redibit. Et quanquam isti Spiritu Philosophi breviores aliis, posuerunt terminum dealbandi: tamen communiter Philosophi in turba 40. diebus iusserunt regi utrumque opus. Mundus scilicet docet primo 40. dieb. regere, & quando tota aqua est imbibita iterum docet 40 diebus spiritum incorporari, & cum corpore spirituari.

Idem docet Panophilus 40. diebus dealbare. Et Theophilus dicit: quod vorax sapientum aes liquefacit, & veluti in aquam fluxibilem vertit, eo quod oportet nos eos in tenues laminas producere. Deinde cum veneno coquere ad 7. in duobus 7. ad 7, id est per 21. dies, dicitur in enigmaticis Turbae. Et quia nigredo prima, secundum Pantophilum in Turba, nisi 40. diebus durat, subiunxit Theophilus. Et in sua aqua coquitur 42. diebus, deinde aperte vivas, & invenies aes in argentum vivum versum. Dividentes igitur hanc aquam in duo aequalia, alteram partem coque 40. diebus, donec fiat flos candidus, ut flos salis in suo splendore & coruscatione: & iterum docet aliam partem coquere, donec crocus fiat, & donec decoctione & aqua conuertatur, & fiat simile quiddam syrupo granatorum. Similiter Belus dicit, maiorem propinquitatem esse inter aes & aquam, quam inter magnetem & ferrum, & iubet posteros coquere aquam vivam quod est vis masculi cum corpore, donec liquefiat ut aqua flexibilis & aquam docet dividere in duas partes, quarum prima mediata ad liquefaciendum & coquendum vertitur: Secunda vero mediata, ad mundandum combustum, & suum socium, quae simul factae sunt imbibere septies, donec ab omni coniuratione mundentur, & fiat terra. Et subdit Sciote quod 40. diebus ipsum totum in terram vertitur. Similiter Victimerus dicit: Aquam divide in duas partes, quarum altera parte aes oportet comburere: Illud enim aes immissum in illam aquam, semenatum dicitur auri. Tunc oportet vas reliqua aqua septies imbibere, usque dum tota aqua, ac cum toto humore desiccato in terram vertatur aridam. Deinde in accenso ponantur igne, 40. diebus, quousque putrefiant, eiusque colores appareant. Idem dicit Bonellus: Aquam divide in duas partes, quarum altera parte corpus comburire, id est dealbare secundum Lucam in Turba, qui dicit, comburere est dealbare: Altera vero parte putrefacite. Sciote quod totum regimen non est nisi in aqua. Accipe ergo aes nostrum, & cum prima parte suam impone vasi, & coque 41. diebus, & ab omni immundicia mundare, & coque, donec finiantur dies eius, & lapis fiet humore carens. Deinde coque, donec non restet nisi fix. Deinde munda ablue aquas septies, aqua finita, dimittite ipsum putrefieri in suo vase, donec desiderabiliter vobis appareat propositum, & cavete ne ab aquis ipsum separare faciatis, ne inficiatur & pereat quod in vase est. Et ante hæc omnia, circa principium hujus capituli dicit Bonellus: Omnia decoquite lento igne, donec omnia quæ in vase sunt aquæ fiant. Namque calore ei adveniente, Dei natu aquæ fiunt. Videntes itaque nigredinem illam in minerali aqua, scito et corpus liquefactum esse jam, tunc suo vasi imponite, & 40. diebus decoquite, usque aceti & mellis bibat humores. Et quidem detergunt ipsum in quolibet 7. dierum, vel 10. noctibus transactis in quibus mera videtur aqua, usque in 40. dierum perfectionem. Tunc enim bibit amoris decoctionem. Iterum abluite ipsum & private nigredine usque terra fiat & humor pereat, & lapis tactu siccus existat. Item Ephisius ait: Jubeo, quod dealbatio non sit nisi decoctione Ætheliæ, terendo & imbibendo æs frequentissime tractando, non autem simul fundite aquam ne lixiv submergatur. Arescent igitur humores, & in pulverem verso, 40. diebus ipsum dimittite, donec appareant colores à Philosophis descripti. Et Pandulphus jubet coquere, donec totum nigrum sit, quæ nigredo quadraginta durat diebus, deinde in alumine fixo, & croco doce imbibere quadraginta diebus, donec tertia pars consumatur. Item Athanius 42. diebus jubet, & iterum à decima die Septembris, usque ad decimam diem Libræ, dicit opus secundum fieri. Senior vero vult, quod albedo resolvitur usque ultra 150. diebus. Et similiter Rasis, Morienus vero primo docet, 21. diebus fieri dealbationem completam, dicit, O rex, si in eo album firmatum conspexeris, si totum tuum regnum & homines vendidisses, opus hoc non compensares.

Rasis in libro luminum, dicit de operis regimine: sic tandem æstate alternatim, & adæquate convenit, ut nec fugiæ ignem nec fumum emittat. Et post pauca sic tradit regimen, dicit in humationem 21. diebus continuis absolvi, unde & si 21. dies expenderit, prius & posterius eosdem fœdum impendere oportebit: Sicut dicit Rasis in libro luminum: Artifici summè videtur necessarium, scrutari, æstimare, diligere nec in his aliquid dispendii impendere te pigebit. Cui autem hæc tria deficiunt, nec librorum deliciis ditari merebitur. Unde scrutationibus, duobus modis didici operis fieri complementum, primo modo in vitreo vase, sine manuum contritione, sicut in primo & ultimo, ita & in meo, operis ignis & aquæ ministerio tantum. Sicut seipsum dissolvit, ita copulat seipsum, albescit & rubore decorit, croceum facit, & nigrum seipsum desponsat, & à seipso accipit, quousque finem operis acceleret. Quia in ænigmatibus dicitur, lapis proprio iaculo interficit seipsum, macerat & desponsat seipsum, & rubificat seipsum, solvit & coagulat seipsum, figit & imbibit seipsum, & anima præparat corpus, & corpus animam, nec prius ut dixit mihi eruditor meus, videbis albedinem, donec totum coagulatum fuerit corpus, seipsum imbibendo, nec aquam ab ipso separando, nec tertiam nec mediam eius partem cum non sitat dispositio manibus humanis, ut dicit Morienus: Sed ignis & aqua ubi sufficiunt, & isti habent regimen, ut quando albedo apparuerit, procedant in 6. gradibus ignis, sicut a Philosophis est descriptum, & hanc viam probant sequentes. Primo Morienus dixit, Rex Kalid, cum hæc dispositio non fiat manib. hominum, quæ est ista dispositio, quæ totum perficit magisterium? Respondit magister ei, quod hæc dispositio est naturarum mutatio, calidi cum frigido, & humidi cum sicco mirabilis connexio. Iuxta quod ait sapiens, quod Azoth & ignis latonem abluunt atque mundificant, & eius obscuritas penitus ab eo aufertur. Quia sic recte ignis modum disposueris. Azoth & ignis hac dispositione tibi sufficiunt ad albedinem latonis & eius perfectionem. Et hæc dispositio est aquæ & terræ extractio, & ipsa eius aqua super terram dimissio, donec ipsa terra compureficiat. Et hæc aqua cum terra putrescet & mundatur, qua mundata totum magisterium Dei auxilio dirigitur. Quia tunc caret sœtore & obstinatione, & omni humilitate alba candida, & potens est recipere tincturam. Item Gratianus: Non enim possumus propriis manibus operari in Mercurium, sed cum 10. speciebus, quas manus nostras appellamus in hoc opere nostro, id est 9 partes aquæ & decima terra. Item Theophilus in Turba: Accipe magnesiam albam, & argento vivo masculo mixtam convertite coquendo in igne, & non manibus, quousque tenuis fiat aqua. Quia tunc seipsum conterit, donec decoctione & aqua conteratur, & fiat syrupo Granatorum similis. Iste tamen Philosophus vult quod aqua dividatur in duas partes, cum una dealbari, & altera rubificari, & sorte notat duo opera, album & rubrum: Quia quando album est durat frigiditas & humor. Et ut Belus dicit, quod tripliciter mediante aqua mundatur corpus ab omni inquinamento & dividitur, & fit terra dicens: “Efficiat, quod 40. diebus ipsum totum vertitur in terram.” Unde & subdit: Coquendo ipsum liquefacite, donec fiat aqua, deinde aquæ resolvite, donec fiat ut nummus liquefactus, deinde coquite donec coaguletur, & fiat stanno similis, coquite interum ipsum, & residua aqua imbibite, donec propositum inveniatur. Qui eodem modo dicunt aquam dividere, id est materiam, in duo opera sc. album & rubeum, est sophisma sapientum, & non verbum manifestum.

Item Locustes dicit: Aquam dividite in duas partes, quarum altera liquefactum est plumbum ut aqua, & coquite donec desiccetur & fiat terra. Deinde retineatur aqua adservata, donec rubeum induat colorem. Sed subdit, arg. vivum volentes congelare, cum suo mystico corpore, Deinde coquite, donec utrunque sit aqua permanens, deinde coquite illam aquam donec cogelatur. Hae autem aqua cum compari sibi desiccatur, eo quod in venis argentum vivum, iam coagulari a seipso, ac suo vasi imponite, & coquite ipsum, donec coteratur, & donec fiat crocus colori aureo similis. Et secundū Gregorium: Post splendore coruscantis regitur, usq; rubeus fiat, sic autè videntes, coquite usq; fiat aurum. Deinde iterate, & fiat aurū tyrii coloris. Et r Baxons: Coquite donec fiat niger, deinde albus, deinde rubeus. Et Zimen dicens quomodo corpora in no corpora vertantur, dicit: Ethelia conteratur quousq; pulvis fiat. Scitote quod no sit pulvis, nisi continua & fortissima decoctione, & contritione in igne, & no manibus, cum imbibitione & putrefactione & solutione & expositione & solutione Etheliae. Ité Assatos Philosophus: Nisi similetis res in initio coquendi, absq; manui contritione, donec aqua fiant, non opus invenisti. Sed isti plures aut omnes volunt pluries imbibere aut dividere aqua. Et dicent quod non simul conteritur, sed successione aqua & igne, non manibus.

Et Bonellus dicit: Manum aurè contritione vere inargent, cavete tamen ne ab aquas separari faciatis, ne ad vos venena perveniant, & ea quae in eo sunt pereant. Ephistius autem contrarium dicit, quia dicit: Iubeo autem non simul fundere, ne lixif submergatur; verù paulatim infundite, & conterite, & desiccate, & multoties facite, donec finiatur aqua & arescat. Deinde 40. diebus dimitite, donec varios emittat colores: Dixit ad hoc qui non simul funditur, id est, coquitur atque conteritur, sed successive. Quia secundù Rasin, fundere, mundare, manare, adaquare, coquere, abluere, idem est.

Item Baxons: Heu vobis, intelligente dicta Philosophis & qualiter op’ divisit, comiscere, coquere, similare, assare, calefacere, dealbare, terere, adaquare Etheliam, rubigine facere, & tingere: haec igitur plura sunt nomina, quasi veri tamen unū est, quia una aqua viva, & una decoctio est; sicut Est; sicut dicit Assiduns. Et statim cum videatur unam actionem continuam praetendere, &c. Subdit: Et si scirent Philosophi, quod una contritione, & una assatione, sive decoctione sufficeret, non tantum dicta eorum iterassent. Et ideo securentur, ut iteratur compositum & coquatur jugiter, & non suereunt ne vos illius taedeat. Et statim immediate subjungit, ad primam intentionem intendens, cum quibus dictis vos obscuraverunt, mihi autem sufficit, dicere simile. Ecce quod pro sophismate & obscuritate habet divisionem illam, & tamen subjungit, praecipiens multipliciter coqui, & ne taedeat decoctiones reiterare. Moriens enim vult, quod continue, & aequalis fiat ignis, ne maximum sequatur damnum. Et subdit, quod vas suo fornaci immobiliter adhaereat, donec totum tempus frigidae actionis auri compleatur. Sed tamen cum quarta parte rei mortificare, & irrigare, cavendo ne flamma vas attingat, nam omnia in damnum verterentur. Et tamen hoc divisum imbibere, & apponere aquam teriæ, & non omnia simul. Et idem: Est forte haec simul parare est apud expertos. Quia dicit Gratianus: Nota si praeparentur omnia simul, bonum est apud expertos, atamen maior experientia quaerentibus, ut cum singula singulariter praeparentur, & examinentur unum in reliquo. Subjungit enim quod in dissolutione omni, sit incorporatio dissoluti, vel dissolventis, & ibi potest fieri spiritus corpus, & corpus spiritus. Et ipse Gratianus singulariter praeparat, dicens Mercurius in omni sua dispositione sit Elixir, id est Mercurius sibi ipsi tingens, non fixus, in Leone sit Elixir, id est Mercurius praeparatus, & separatus, & tingens tinctura fixa, pro quantitate sua sed non ad plenum: cum fermento incertatus fit Elixir, id est Mercurius incertatus, tingens & mutans, inseparabiliter, & in infinitum, & ultra modum: ita quod principium attestatur supra suum finem, quod est calcina, dissolve, coagula, Mercurium incerta. Xir dicitur quaelibet medicina, stringens Mercurium Alchimice praeparata super ipsum. Extrahe ergo oleum de terra primum, & dissolve in eo medicinam stringentem, & coagulentem, id est terram, & iterum sublimaper alembicum, & calcina, & maneat expressa calcinatio, & dissolve, & distilla, & coagula, & incera oleo suo, & projice super Mercurium fermentatum illud Xir, & est Elixir aptum ad faciendum Elixir. Et scias pro certo quod corpus sic dissolvitur falsedine mediante ratione metalinae humiditatis, quia nisi corpus suum a quo extrahitur introibit &c.

Postea idem dicit Mercurius capiatur, & ponatur in custodia inter adurens & adustum, & committatur Soli Lunæque, quæ sunt fontes frigoris & caloris, & terra nostra propter germen candoris & ruboris fixum & suffusibile. Quæ ibi exponit, dicens de praeparatione fermenti. Nota, Mercurium sublima de fermento, & dissolvet eum in aqua aquilæ, & calcina fluvium rubrum & coagula cum eo Mercurium solutum, & sicca & hoc siccum in igne cum fermento, & totum calcina, & dissolvet iterum, & iterum coagula cum eo Mercurium dissolutum, & hoc est quod dicit adustum & adures. Et alias dicit: Dealbate latonem, quem cum adlabaveritis, & per diuturnam decoctionem ad pristinam claritatem perduxeritis, habebitis iterum &c. Et tunc calcina, dissolve, distilla, coagula, & incera, & ita procedere per mensem, & si resultaturn fuerit penetrabile, tunc ad finem pervenisti: Et pro ista parte omnes videntur consonare, Senior, Turba, Ænigmata Turbarum ut patet.

Explicit secunda Pars, de Massa Solis & Lunæ.



INCIPIT TERTIA PARS, LIBER TRIUM VERBORUM.

De Massa Solis & Luna.



Opus mirabile trium verborum, in quibus praeciosissimum arcanum, & donum Dei totaliter comprehenditur, de lapide pretioso, qui est corpus aëreum, volatile, frigidum & humidum, aquosum & adustivum. Cuius expositio sola delectatio illius secreti, & venerabilis societatis nostrae, me compulit declarare, ut scientes tantum arcanum, quod infinitis problematibus est celatum & a sapientibus & prudentibus huius mundi elongatum, gaudeant de dono Dei gloriosi, quod est thesaurus indeficiens. Nec exponam nisi difficulta libri appropriatando testimonis Philosophorum diversorum, vel expositionibus eorundem, nec quicquam novi adinvenire queo plus dictis Philosophorum, quia una res, una est via eius, & haec est secunda pars tractatus libri de Massa Solis & Luna, id est consilii congrui super demonstratione libri trium verborum. Dicunt igitur Philosophi, combinationes duarum contrariarum, quod est frigidum & humidum, quae sunt aquosa & adustiva, non sunt amicalia caliditati & siccitati; quia caliditas & siccitas destruunt frigidam & humidam virtute dominam, & tunc vertitur spiritus iste in nobilissimum corpus, & non fugit a igne, & currit ut oleum in igne, & est tinctura pulcherrima perpetua. Unde scire oportet, ut manifestemus eius occultum, id est calidum & siccum, & occultemus manifesta, sc. frigidum & humidum. Istud occultum est de natura solis, dignius & preciosissimum omnium occultorum, & tinctura una, id est singularis, & non est alia, quia est aqua permanens, quae semper vivit, & acetum philosophorum. Unde Mundus in turba: Gumma sc. nostra non emendantur nisi auro tantum. Dico quod Gumma nostra fortior est auro, qui no scit eam, auro pretiosiorem repenetra. Aurum quidem honoram cum Gumma nostra, quia sine ipsa aurum non emendatur. Et inde est quod philosophi scribentes de ea, nihil manifeste narrant, si enim plebei venditores cognoscerent eam non venderent tali viliprecio.

Et Aristotes dicit: Scito enim quod est omnibus naturis fortius & sublimius, apud philosophos: & apud insipientes vilius, sed nos hoc veneramur: Et si Reges hoc agnoscerent, non sinerent ipsum venire ad pauperes. O quam mirabiliter natura gummihoc vertit aurum in spiritum, & qua mirabili modo emicat cunctas superat. Et Pandophilus: Dico, quod non est dignius corpus & purius Sole, sine quo & eius umbra, id est, Luna, quae de se est tenebrosa, nullum venenum tingens generatur. Qui vero venenum philosophorum absque eius compositore nititur, totus errat, qui autem cum Sole & eius umbra, venenum novit tingere, venit ad arcanum, quod dicitur nummus, qui cum rubeus efficitur, vocatur aurum, & qui novit decambar philosophorum occultum novit totum opus.

Et dicitur Luna umbra Solis, cum Sol induitur nigredine Lunae, colore quiet est atramentum ut dicitur in Seniore, & dicitur de Cabarid est, filius ignis, quia in igne crevit, nec timet terminum ignis, & dicitur a canna, quod est incensio vel ignis, & bar quod est filius, vel dicitur de cambar, a deca, quod est decem, & barbarius, quasi filius decem specierum artis, sc. 9 margaritarum, & decima ars, de quo expositio iam praecessit in primo tractatu. Gratianus autem dicit, quod his decem speciebus capit ur Mercurius. Et in Seniore dicitur: Praeteriri nec praesenti possunt tingere auri, nisi cum auro. Idem dicit auctor, quod occultissimum est de natura Solis dignius, quia est spiritus Solaris, & sanguis Solis, & tinctura eius. Nota, quod lapis nonon est adustivus passivus, quia non aduritur: ignis enim ipsum non corrumpit, sed emedat, ut in sequenti probabitur. Sed dicitur adustivus active: quia sulphur sapientum, ut dicit Sapior, adurit combustion e albedinis, & meliorationis, quia cobusio sapientis est dealbatio tota totius. Satis securent autem philosophi hominibus, dicentes: Sulphur nostrum non est sulphur vulgi, quod comburitur combustion e nigredinis & corruptionis.

Et Floris dicit in Turba: Nonne videtis quod haec crucians, cum documento vel corruptione cruciat, imo cum utilitate & coadunatione. Si enim cruciatus hic esset noxius, non cōplecteretur ab eo, quousque variabiles colores extraherentur ab eo, vel ex eo. Et hanc unicam aquam sulphuris nominamur, quam etiam ad rubeas tincturas applicamus. De in corruptionem autem eius ab igne Geber eleganter declarat, dicens: Quod sulphur nostrum est fortissimae complexionis, & uniformis substantiae, quia in eo minimae partes terrae, et liter partes aeris, aqueis, & igneis commixta sunt, ut nulla ipsarum alteram in resolutione possit dimittere, sed qualibet cum qualibet resolvitur, per fortem unionem Solis calore, quam habuerunt in mineralibus, secundum debitum consensum naturae. Argentum quoque vivum, ut dicit Geber, est aqua viscosa, in visceribus terrae generata, substantiae subtilis terrestris, per calorem temperantissimum unita, totalium unione per minima quousque humidum temperetur a sicco, & siccum ab humido, aequaliter; imo fugit superficiem planam & facilem, propter suam humiditatem aquosam, non autem adhaeret, licet viscosam habeat humiditatem, propter siccitatem illius, quae illam temperat, & non adhaerere permittit, est enim amicale, & placabile metallis, & est medium coniungendi tincturas, & sine ipso nullum metallum deaurari potest, & non submergitur aliquid metallorum in argento vivo, nisi Sol. Ex quo maximum elicies secretum: figuratur etiam, & est tinctura rubedinis, & exuberantissimae reflexionis, & fulgidi splendoris, & non recedit a commixto: commiscetur cum auro, & figurit per ipsum maximo ingenio, quod non pervenit ad artificem durae cervicis vel petrae. Est etiam incombustibile, & incorruptibile, quia omnis corruptio metallorum, vel est per inclusionem sulphuris adurentis in illorum substantia, per inflammationem ipsa metalla diminuens & exterminans in summum, vel multiplicatio flammae exterioris penetrantis illa, & secum in summum resolventis, ut patet in calcinatione plumbi, ubi est partium rarefactio per calcinationem, tunc enim flamma in ea potest penetrare & exterminare. Si ergo omnes causae metallorum corruptionis conveniant, maxime corpora corrumpi necesse est. Quia igitur argentum vivum per nullas causas corruptionis, sc. in partes corruptionis suae dividi permittit, quia aut in tota sui substantia ex igne recedit, aut cum tota in illa manet stans, imo notatur necessaria perfectionis causa, propter enim bonam partium adhaerentiam, & fortitudinem suae complexionis & commixtionis, scilicet quando partes illius inspissantur per ignem, ulterius non se permittit corrumpi, nec per ingressiorem furiosae flammae, illud in summum elevantis, quoniam rarefactionem sui non patitur, propter densitatem compositionis suae. Et ideo ponderosum est. Et propter carentiam adustionis, quae sit per sulphur, non aduritur. Laudem igitur benedictus Deus gloriosus & altissimus, qui creavit illud & dedit illi substantiam, & substantiae proprietates, quas non contingit ullam ex rebus in natura possidere, & in illa possit huius perfectionem reperiri per aliquod artificium quod in illo venimus potentia propinqua. Ipsum enim est, quod ignem superat, & ab eo non superatur, sed in illo amicaliter quiescit & congaudet. Haec omnia Geber dicit, de Mercurio, & hic est sulphur artis. Unde Plato omne argentum vivum sulphur, non autem omne sulphur argentum vivum: Et omne aurum aes, non autem omne aes aurum. Et cum ista duo sunt bene regulata, ignis non separabitur in aeternum, scilicet quod similes sunt naturae, & temperantissimae & fortissimae compositionis sunt ambo. Haec sunt tria verba prae­mediatae intentionis, & sunt verba typica ad similitudinem foetus philosophorum. Aqua tribus mensibus foetum in matrice conservat. Aer tribus mensibus fovet: Ignis totidem custodit, quibus scilicet totidem expletis, sanguis, qui fovebatur in umbilico, à quo nutriebatur infans, pectus maternas mulieris conscendit mammas, ibique post angustias, nivis candorem assumpsit. Infanti vero nunquam patebit exitus, quousque omnes aëreos exhaluerit. Egressus tandem os aperit & lactatur. Ex ab istis verbis oportet nos cum acuto ingenio extrahere duo, & septem, quae ab istis verbis intelliguntur. Et Senior auctoritate Hermetis similiter idem dicit sic: Et scito quod aqua famulatur ei in ventre tribus mensibus primis: Deinde tribus mensibus Aer. Deinde ignis tribus sequentibus, & decoquit eum & perficit eum. Et cum completi fuerint novem menses, abscinditur sanguis quo nutriebatur in umbilico matricis, & ascendat ad pectus mulieris, ibi sit sicut corona, atque fit nutrimentum eius, post egressionem eius ab utero. Et hoc dictum est totum propter assignationem praeparationis lapidis, quemadmodum praeparaverunt antiqui sapientes. Per matricem intendit fundum cucurbitae, & per semen viri & mulieris, humorem Solis & Lunae, per sanguinem menstruum, album humidum, quo foetus fovetur & formatur in matrice vasis nostri: Per matricem clausam tempore conceptionis & impregnationis nota obstrutione vasis, & diligentissime confirmatione conjunctionis, ut quod intus est, non recipiat inspirationem ab aere. Sunt nam ibi ventus & spiritus, qui sex halarem nutrutoriū opus cassaretur. Per sanguinem, qui rubescit, & niger intendit nigredine apparente in principio operis, ex qua exortus est rubor tinctura: Per ascensum sanguinis ad matrem man, nota sublimatione eius ad aera, in superiori parte Alembici, ubi candorem nivis assumpsit, & tunc perfectus est lapis, qui est spiritus humidus & aqueus. Et Morienus dicit: Et non est tamen sicut aqua alia, sed est aqua quae ubique reperitur, & nullius est pretii, & est semper, quia est principium mundi. Ex aqua enim omnia facta sunt. Super aquam ferebatur spiritus Dei gloriosi & altissimi, & principium generationis hominis est ex ea. Cuius aqua pater est Sol, cuius mater est Luna: ut dicit Hermes pater philosophorum. Et Assiduis: Cuius mater est virgo, & pater non concubuit: & est unum & idem dictum. Et pro certo, Sol est principium generationis hominis in obliquo circulo. Unde philosophi de hac arte loquentes, alii naturaliter docent, ut de masculo & femina, de calido & humido, & aliis principiis naturalibus. Alii arithmetice disserunt dicentes de 9. & parte 10. & ut duo tria faciunt 6. unum & duo tria. Alii astronomice, ut de Sole, Luna & Planetis, quorum lux & motus est causa eorum, & ubique & semper sunt virtute, & in qualibet re subiecta, & nullius pretii, quia non videntur lux & motus horum. Sicut a lacte efficitur nutrimentum infantis, post eius egressum ab utero, sic terra nutritur, vivificatur & crescit, per hanc aquam divinam donec sibi met sufficiat. Unde per similitudinem spermatīs in matrice naturaliter docent philosophi praeparationem Mercurii philosophi. Unde Pythagoras in Turba. Et non sine causa confertur spermati vulvae, quib. recte assimilatur, quia in complexione sua, multoties facit apparere colores, prout in unoquoque ingenio gubernatur res. Et Bonel. in Turba dicit: Scito nihil absque complexione generari. Sperma quidem ex sanguine & libidine generatur, & nutritur caliditate & humiditate sanguinis, & post 40. vero dies foetus formatur, & nisi esset humiditas in utero, non solveretur sperma, nec procrearetur foetus. Illum vero sanguinem constituit ad nutriendum sperma, donec foetum producat, qui cum productus est, non nisi lacte nutritur, quam diu parvulus est, & quanto plus calore naturali exuritur tanto plus ossibus confortatur, in iuventutem ducitur, & cum venit ad senium, sibi ipsi sufficit. Simili modo oportet nos in hoc opere laborare, scientes nihil absque calore generari. Et quod intensus calor balnei facit exhalare frigidus vero perire. Si vero sit temperatus, tunc suavis est ei, & ita levificatur venæ, & calor totaliter augmentatur. Et iste philosophus pulcherrime docet praeparationem & generationem & nutritionem foetus. Et Arist. in Epistola ad Alexandrum regem.

Et scias quod nullus natus nascitur, nisi ex patre & matre. Infans vero quando omnis spiritus materiae suae, ad eius organisationem exigentibus, exhaurit, nascitur naturaliter sine suo nutrimento. Et sicut in 9. mensib. infans omnes flatous aereos exhaurit, & menstruum conversum est in lacteā formam: ita in novem mensib. conficitur primum opus sc. albedo secunda, qua totum coagulat opus, tamen solvitur circa sex mensib. secundum auctores experientiam. Sed secundū Balgū in Turba 180. diebus. Et secundū plures philosophos ut Rasim, Assiduum & seniorem & secundū auctore in turba in 20. dieb. & die eiusdem & mensis sumoli vaporis sit cessatio, cuius cadore sicitas suscipit, nullius suspicionis ambiguitas relinquitur. Ut dicit Rais in libro luminū. Corpore etenim mortuo, & ab eo argento vivo in ipso coagulario prius extracto in aqua sua, ex qua nutritur, & crescit illud corpus & reviviscit, nunquam de cætero moritur, quia est tinctura incorruptibilis & ex incorruptibili grano præcauti virtute divina. Et pro certo hic mercurius est vulgaris, non coagulari tamen dicto: Aqua igitur trib. mensib. fœtum conservat in matrice. Aer tribus mensib. fovet ipsum: Ignis totidem coquit. Hoc dicitur est persimilitudine de Mercurio nostro, quia infra sex menses perlenit continūum, & aequalem ignis philosophorum coletur aqua & aer, id est spiritus & vapor aris in aqua philosophica. Sicq; capitur Mercurius extractus, rubeus in occulto, sed in manifesto candidus est, & fortiter in 12. die solvetur, & in totidem coagulari latet diebus. Sediq; ins regimen in extractione huius Mercurii nota, secundum quod dicit Avicenna. Quod calor in humido corpore efficit nigredine prius; deinde ipsum ducit ad nigredinem, quia eius omnino finit humiditatem, & cui superfuit illa, calor ipsam albiscat, ut videtur in calore apud vulg. Primo enim in opere omnia denigrantur, secundo dealbantur, tertio per maiorem ignis intensiorem, oportet compositione incinerationem. Sic in nostro opere, ex abundantia humore in corpore, nigredo generatur in igne. Haec autem nigredo vocatur Ethel de Ethel, id est, Arg. vivū de arg. vivo. Et Pandulphus in Turba: Regite ipsum albo humido, quod est magnum secretum, donec operatur nigredine & ipsa nigredo fiat. Esti quidem dissolutio nigredinis, humiditas Lunae & pinguedo Solis, quibus nihil est affini, & appinqui. Et secundū Hermete, Haec autem nigredo secundū experientia Pandolphi, tanquam 40. diebus durat quia coepta apparebit albedo nobilissima postquam calor eius omnino finierit humiditatem, & suos flatus aereos exhaurit corpore interempto.

Ignis autem totidem custodit, id est totum opus complet, ut glossat autor, id est ignis primo corpus mortuum coagulat. Secundo incinerat, et iterum dissolutum in aqua sua conterendo pistetur, donec totum humidum fiat ut pinguedo spissa, et extinguetur aqua tum per pingem: iterum distilla, coagula incinera. Quia ut dicit Pandolphus in Turba: Scitote, quoties cinerem, id est, corpus imbiberitis incineratum: et quoties gummis sum imbibitis, toties oportet ipsum siccari, et iterum humectari donec vertatur color eius in id, quod quaeritur. Et Assid. Coque ipsum, donec aqua coadunetur, et coaguletur, et ignem non effugiat, significat temperantiam ignis, ne compositum sumigetur. Scit enim aqua pugnare contra ignem, pix litare coquendi et putrefaciendi et inspissandi. Deinde vas humido stercore et igne humido philosophorum circunda, et per quosdam menses fac illi vocare, donec aqua rubescat, et inspissietur, et fiat Elixir tingens. per quosdam menses, h.e. secundum Mundum philosophum, per 42 dies, i.e. septimanas, aut secundum quot in vulva sperma moratur, donec formetur inde homo, sicut ex radice sua, ex qua fuit. Gloss. Volare, quia ascendit et descendit in arbore aurea. Et sic interficit superiorem et inferiorem virtutem, donec fiat fixum. Et Athan. in Tur. dicit de eisdem mensibus: Coquite ipsum in Sole, i.e. calore Solari, quic est ignis continuus unius generis, et in terra nigra per 40 dies & duos dies, et forte hoc diutius continget coqui. Ideo subdit exponite illud tempus, dicens: Opus vero secundum a die mensis Septembris, usque ad decimum librae perficitur, i.e. per annum. Igitur expone: Ignis totidem custodit, id est 9 mensibus, vel per annum temperationi igne, quibus 9 mensibus fovebatur sanguis ab umbilico descendens ad pectus mulieris, ubi candorem lactis assumpsit, quiescit nutrimenti foetus post egressionem eius ab utero. Intelligitur per hoc, quia secundum hunc modum praeparaverunt lapidem, quod non ad temporis quantitatem sed qualitatem intelligi debet, de progenie philosophorum nutrienda vita sua se aqua divina spiritus igitur iste vertitur in spiritum, quia dupliciter exponitur in corpus, id est coagulator in terra, et corpus vertitur in spiritum, id est totum sublimatur in arbore aurea, aliter corpus vertitur in spiritum, id est amissa sua spissitudine & rigiditate sit spirituale. Unde in Turba dicit, certus esto, quod cum amiserit sua spissitudinem spirituale fiet. Et Gratianus dicit: Quod autem corpus fiat spiritus & spiritus corpus, intellige quod corpus & spiritus fiant unum, & cum corpus solutum in sal sedinem tingit, est spirituale. Corpus igitur istud vertitur in spiritum, id est, est spirituale, id est tingens, quia tingere est spiritus officium. Et secundo spiritus iste iterum vertitur in corpus, id est ad ultimum fixatur. Et primo fixatione Lunari, secundo fixatione Solari & virtute Dei, a quo haec sapientia suis quibus voluit emanabit, & moderantia patientia moderata terminorum ignis, quia quatuor sunt termini ut postea videbitur. Et haec logitudinis diuorum & septem. Haec sunt verba difficilia, quae longo tempore rimatus sum. Unde nota temperamen to ignis, quod debet esse aequalis in omnibus suis gradibus se suis persi persificata, ut dicit Gratianus. Et haec de longitudine duorum ignium, & septem graduum eius ignis. Nam a tribus duo intelliguntur non e converso, ut auctor dicit in litera. Et secundum autem duplex inventus est ignis qui est trium graduum. Gloss: Duplex ignis, id est simplex ut ovorum vel avium aut in statu febris, secundum Marcurum in primo opere, & secundus ignis gradatus aut duplar. Et iste ignis duplex est trium graduum in prima clave operis, & triplex in secunda clave operis, sunt duae claves artis, ut dicit auctor. Prima clavis est annus, & secunda clavis alter annus, & 7 dies ut postea per alios auctores probabitur. Et quaelibet clavis est trium graduum, sicut in processu patebit, testimonio aliorum sapientum: vel aliter potest exponi haec tria gradui, id est secundi tres gradus Solis in circulo. Primo dum Sol est in Ariete in exaltatione sua: Secundo dum Sol est in Leone. Tertio dum Sol est in Sagittario. Et huic dicto concordat Gratianus dicens: Quod calor artificialis imitatur naturalem in tribus gradibus: Primo in humido dissolvente, dum Sol est in Ariete ad Cancrum usque, in exaltatione sua in primo opere. Secundus gradus est in humido aggregante, quando Sol est in Leone, scilicet in dealbatione secundi operis secundi. Tertius gradus est in humido incorporato, ubi fixatur Sole intrante Sagittarium: ibi nam calcinatur substantialis humiditas. Primus gradus est debilis, qui est spirituum a corpore extractio. Et relinquitur terra foliorum. Secundus gradus est fumus, id est secunda dealbatio, quae est terra margaritarum. Tertius gradus est spectus quartum ad terram auri i.e. rubedinem. Unde auctor loquitur Arithmetice de opere, cum dicit, longitudinis duorum & septem. Et loquitur Astronomice, cum dicit de triplici gradu Solis. De quibus Gratianus dicit, Mercurius in omni dispositione sua, sit Elixir, in Leone incertatus sit Ixir in terra: In fermento inceratus sit Elixir. Ita quod principium attestatur super suum finem & e converso, quod est calcina, dissolve, distilla, coagula Mercurium, & incera. Mercurius namque trinomius efficitur in aptatione sua, primo sit Ixir, secundo Ixir, tertio Elixir. Ixir est Mercurius susibilis, & tingit tinctura non fixa, nec mutat. Ixir est Mercurius praeparatus, & separatus, & tingens fixa tinctura, pro quantitate sua, reddendo mutans, scilicet dum est in Leone. Elixir est Mercurius inceratus, tingens & mutans inseparabiliter, & ultra modum, scilicet Sole intrante in Sagittarium: in quo gradu & pluvia de coelo cadit in terram, & animam de est colores spirituum permutari, id est incinerantur, & fixantur, & reviviscunt. Triplex est ignis igitur, trium scilicet graduum, & est duplex, scilicet positivus & gradatus. A tribus enim duo intelliguntur, id est ab istis tribus gradibus ignis, duo ignes accipiuntur, simplex & duplicatus: & isti ignes sunt diversi, quia positivus non est gradatus, quia non est duplicatus. Isti autem tres gradus dividuntur per septem gradus, includendo primum cum sit fundamentum ad cujus additionem omnes ignes sequentes graduantur. Qui autem sunt septem ignes, intelliges per Gratianum, dicentem, Quod Mercurius non sit ponendus in aliquem gradum caloris, nisi prius capiatur cum Mercurio extracto, & fixo, in fermento Solis & Lunae, similis in uno corpore. De cujus aptatione sic dicit: Corpus dissolutum in humido superveniente Mercurio dissolvit ipsum, sed hoc non est opus humidi, sed falsedinis mediante humido, a quo consolociatur corpus cum Mercurio, ratione metalinae humiditatis, quae magis amica est corpori metallico, quare anima in suum corpus ingreditur, & quia duo corpora non habent unum locum, descendunt ad fundum, & aqua pristina supernatat, & dicitur secundario, in qua Mercurius simplex dissolutus non cadit, & hoc est bonum secretum, si causam noveris. Nota hujus expositionem in Epistola Aristot. ad Alexandrum, ubi enumerat species artis dicens: Scias igitur quod ignis sulphur est, id est Sol. Unde Parmenides in Turba: Quod hoc mare vertit aurum in rubeum ignem, Et Gratianus: Ita certa teneritudo Mercurii consuevit in igne cum Alkibrico, id est Sole, sa quo separabil substantiam rubicundissimam, cum beneficio servientis olivae, aut per animalium pinguedinem, de pascuis uberrimis assumptorum. Cujus verbi expositionem postea demonstrabo. Igitur sulphur ignis est, scilicet solaris splendor, & spiritus potens magnesia est terra, id est corpus mortuum duorum luminarium, quae alium locum obtinet quam corpus aquae, quia unumquodque secorsim ponitur scil. corpus & aqua, & aqua supernatans praesit Mercurius, qui prima dicitur aqua. Secunda est aer, id est vapor corporis. Et argentum vivum est aqua prima, apertorum fluens corpus. Sed spiritus est aqua secunda, in qua Lunaris humor & pinguedo Solaris, ratione metallinae humiditatis Mercurio sunt coniuncta. Sequitur: Quia omnia nutriuntur, & omne germen vegetatur, & omne lumen ascendit, & omnis fructus, Mercurius vero simplex, communis & vulgaris, non est operis nostri sed compositus, quia congelatur sub frigore, & figuris sicut illud, sed simplex Mercurius caret fermento, nec est nobis utilis, & hoc est magnum secretum. Unde de isto Mercurio composito dicit Enimerus in Turba: Moneo igitur vos argentum vivum quod ex pluribus rebus confusum, congelare, ut duo tria faciunt, id est, masculus & foemina faciunt aquam vitae, in qua sunt tria, aer, ignis & aqua, quatuor unum, scilicet quatuor elementa faciunt ut sit unum, & duo unum, scilicet spiritus & corpus coniunguntur. Vel sic, & quatuor unum, id est, 4. partes aeris & unà Solis & Lunae, tres fiant unum scil. continuatione, ut dicit Senior in Turba: Accipe de sincero corpore partem unam, & ex alio are tres & commisce aceto. Et Dardaris dicit: Quatuor vulgi numi tingunt aes. Et repetago verbum primum, quod Mercurius non est ponendus in aliquem gradum caloris, nisi prius capiatur cum Mercurio extracto, & fixo ab ere. Unde Rason: Si solveritis corpus album, ut fiat argentum vivum, extrahentur ab eo flores eius, & si scirent aurifabri, qui cum eo opus habent, lucrarentur per ipsum multum non suffione ignis, sed solutione eius, ut convertatur in id, ex quo fuit radix eius. Et ista est Glossa Senioris. Sed talis solutio non sit nisi per ignem simplicem, lentum, velut ovorum vel avium, nutriatur in primo opere. Deinde Gratianus de secundo opere dicit, significando 6. gradus ignis, Mercurius gradatim ducendus est ad fixionem. Primo igitur calcinatur eius venositas in primo gradu caloris, secundo caliditas in secundo gradu caloris, tertio substantialis humiditas in tertio gradu caloris. Et unum quodque calcinatum dissolvatur suo modo ut putrescat, scilicet conterendo, imbibendo & assando. Et ita tandem in unum conteruntum imbibendo cum uno fermento, id est aqua vina, quia aqua est fermentum aquae.

Et rursum ducatur per tres gradus caloris, & ita Mercurius agit in seipsum. Et sic pater 6. esse gradus ignis duplicati, & ignis simplex est septimus.

Gratianus vero non ponit nisi sex gradus vel modos, excludendo septimum, & positivum ignem, & positivus non dicitur gradus, sed quasi sit fundamentum graduum. Autor vero operis ponit 6. gradus ignis includendo simplicem primum: Ideo quia primus ignis positivus, & secundus qui est primus gradus, non differunt, nisi quia primus, scilicet primi operis est uniformis in primo, in medio, & in ultimo. Sed gradus primus secundi operis est difformis, quia ultimo acuitur, & per ipsum ignem fit coagulatio aquæ cum corpore, & corporis spiritualatio. Quomodo autem sit difformis, patet per plura testimonia Philosophorum. Lucas in Turba dicit, Ignis sit lenis in dealbando, donec coaguletur, postea faciat ignem aliquantulum fortiorem. Et Archiratuis ibidem dicit; Coquite ipsum donec in lapidem vertatur, postea coquatur igne fortiori, quousque lapis durior fiat, & consingatur, & in cinerem vertatur, postea imbiticpius donec humidus fiat, & coquitur igne fortiori. Et ut dictum est claudite os vasis, & coquitur, donec totum corpus consumatur & incineretur. Et versus finem libri dicit Autor Turbæ; Postea in vase vitreo ponite, dimittentes eum in loco tenebroso, donec videatis vas candescere, & velut Iacinthum lucere. Sed antequam ulterius exponatur, Notandum qua igne rubor primi operis & secundi extrahatur, Gratianus dicit: Sed non est redactus, quia dicitur spiritus fiat corpus, ut intelligas scilicet fixum, & corpus fiat spiritus, quod simili modo intelligendum est. Itaque tita tenentitudo Mercurii sicut dictum est prius. Glossa: Trita & contrita tenentitudo id est humiditate Mercurii, & exsiccata post restitutionem animæ corpori, consuevit sc. Mercurius in igne cum Alkibrie, id est sulphure incombustibili: manere, quia nec ignis nec sulphura vastant, sed ignis magis ipsum emendat, id est Sol. Et scito quod duplex est sulphur artis, Mobile aqueum, scilicet argentum vivum, de quo dicit Plato. Omne argentum vivum sulphur, & non e converso. Et aliud est sulphur ei simile in natura, sc. Sol & ista duo sulphura se consequuntur, sicut ferrum magnetem, a quo scilic. Sulphure, id est auro, separabis eius substantiam, rubricundissimam, id est coloratissimam purpureæ, & venenum tyrium, cum beneficio servetis olivæ, & animalium pinguedine, de pascuis uberrimis assumptorum. Et ideo dicit Morienus ad reg. Kal. de ignez. operis: Praecipitis enim ignem servare aequalem, ut nec augeatur, nec minuatur. Et subdit: Ignis autem Philosophicus talis est, quod eius materia sit cum viva partitione. Paritur autem eius materia ex stercore ovino, apponendo de foliis olearum. Nihil est enim aliud, quod ignis combustionem aequalem perdurare cogat. Assiduis dicit, Ignem Philosophicum esse ignem humidum, id est, in equorum & boum stercore, abscondere & putrefacere in igne lucernae. Dicit etiam, compone pacem inter spiritum & corpus, super igneum putrefaciendi de speciebus, id est floribus, sive corporibus quae a terra procedunt, vel quae aer generat, vel quae in animalium ventris nascuntur. Et in alio capitulo dicit, deigne secundum operis post aquae coagulationem in terra: Deinde vas humido stercore circunda, & per quosdam menses fac ipsum volare, donec fiat quellus. Et senior dicit quod putrefactio est corporis cum igne subtili bestiarum, & hunc ignem mensurati sunt & occultaverunt. Et per hunc ignem aqua congelata sit lapis, quietus fit aqua currens, & cum praeparata fuerit revertitur ad formam priorem suam & congelatur, & continuatur in patientiam & reductionem in praeparatione. Et notabiliter exponendo ignem bestiarum subtillem, & subiungit Senior dicens, quod primum luminare scilicet 150 dierum melius est quam secundum vel tertium, scilicet 120, vel 70 dierum, quod oportet esse intensum lumen, sed primum esse temperatum. Et Kaliid, Scito ore etiam ignes esse viius generis, ignes quoque coquentibus quaedam corruptio accidit, verum praestat unum genus habere in coquando. Et Aristoteles in Epist. ad Alexandrum: Cave ne ipsum sua flamma contingat, sed quemadmodum liquefacta ea liquefac. Et Rodarius in libro trium verborum dicit: Quod in solo igne, sine aliqua separatione possunt fieri omnes distillationes, & sublimationes & calcinationes, & rubificationes, & suffusiones, cum omnibus resolutionibus, & coagulationibus, sicut dicunt esse, donec amicitia fiat inter istum & illum: Tunc vincet omnem rem solidam, & curret oleum in iis itiu oculi. Et Gratianus dicit, quod ignis in omnibus suis gradibus debet esse aequalis donec inter ignis opus suum perficiat. Et Bonellus in Turba: Et quanto plures transeunt dies, tanto fortius coagulatur & non cohibitur. Solis enim beneficio, id est, igne solari, coagulatum & coagulatium est, vel congelatum est, & albedo illa potentissima facit eum ignem superare. Et Theophilus dicit, quod cum Philosophi vident lapidem versum in sanguinem, ponunt eum ad Solem, id est, ignem lentum continuum & mensuratum, quousque lentitudo cessat, sanguis arefacit, & tunc apparet venenum, & occultum manifestatur. Unde Rasis in libro luminum: Quod soli apponere mandamus, illuminationem aut ignem denotat. Et Casius: Rege ipsum Sole & rore, donec fiat lapis. Et Antonius in Sole & terra nigra iubet decoqui, dicens: Quod opus hoc citius & aliud tardius congelatur ex diversitate coquendi. Si enim locus ubi coquitur, roridus fuerit, congelatur citius: Si vero siccus tardius: servamus ignem humidiorum, citius perficere sicciorum. Et ad quid omnes Philosophos eloquar? unus & aequalis debetur in omnibus gradibus ignis. Ignis igitur & Azoth sufficient tibi in hac arte: Cera vero, oleum, & sebum ex dominio sunt Solis, & de rore coeli, in quibus multa sunt hominum secreta. Sed antequam de gradibus ignis dicatur, sciendum est prius, quomodo spiritus iste vertitur in corpus, & corpus in spiritum. Assiduis: Scito fili, quod naturarum omnium iterum, quaedam quidem perfectiores sunt, nec quidquam aliarum dirigitur absque aliis, nec totum iungitur nisi insit ei pars, nec pars nisi insit ei totum, quomodo liquefcit terra & in aere vertitur. Et subdit quomodo spiritus in corpus vertitur, dicens similiter: dum opus convertitur, dicis quod ignis coagulatur, & sit aer; Aer vero coagulatur & sit aqua. Aqua vero coagulatur & sit terra. Ecce in unam naturam inimica convenerunt, quae cum impulsantur, id est, coagulantur, fiunt amica, rarefiunt vero & fiunt inimica, scilicet in separatione elementorum. Oportet igitur totum examinare in terra, id est, terram spirituare, & tingentem facere, & iam peregisti. Et Gratianus consimile huic dicit: Ignis in aere sit lux. Unde deficiente humido, deficit splendor: Intendit coagulatio ne ad modum speculi, seu gladii denudati. Ex ossi fit calx, intendit exsiccatione illius humidi splendentis, ut vertatur in cinerem, de quo dicit Aziratus: Et quam preciosus est cinis iste. Aer in quo est spiritus, id est, spiritum aëris in vitro concluso, concidit in aquam, unde sibilia pellicula evaporat. Et Pandophilus: Et claudite os vasis diligenter, ne exeat flos, sed suo propinquo societur, & augmentet eius albedinem. Aqua in terra sit vitrum, unde sicca adunati semper sunt duriores. Intendit per hoc coagulationem aquae in terra, sicut dictum est. Quia principium huius rei attestatur super suum finem, quod est, calcina, dissolve, distilla, & coaguia, & iterum calcina, & incera. Socrates etiam dicit: Lapis mortuus est vitrum igne confectum, & viscositas eius, quia spiritus virtute ignis apertur. Spiritus ergo in viscositatem agit, quamuis enim perforare non possit, sed spiritus magis tingens, corpus penetrat, & non corpus corpus. Sequitur: Terra in igne, Sal: id est terra calcinatur in cinerem, sicut dicit Pandophilus: Quoties cinerem imbibis, toties oportet ipsum siccari, donec vertatur color eius in id quod quaeritur. Ideo sequitur: Et haec postea fiunt inter se variae res. De hac conversione spiritus in corpus dicit Plato in Turba: Scito te omnis Turba, quod omnis spiritus do in terra quiescit. Spiritum namque ignis in aërem cadit, & ipsum aërem & ignis in aquam & denique quod ex ignis & aëris & aquae spisso coadunatur cadit in terram. Unde subdit Gratianus, Quomodo corpus fit spiritus, dicens; Terra resoluitur in aquam, aquam in aërem, aer in ignem, & haec est via qua corpus fit spiritus. Haec enim aqua est calida, ignea, adurens, potens, sed fortioris caloris & adustionis quam ignis, ut dicit Senior, quod superat eum sic urdictum est. Et Parmenides dicit; O natura illa caelestis virtutis, naturas multiplicans, o vere fortis naturas vincens & superans, suasque naturas gaudere faciens. Haec est ista natura spiritualis, cui Deus posse dedit, quod ignis dare non potest. Sequitur, ignis per contritionem fit aer: Aer per contritionem fit aqua. Et haec est via qua spiritus fit corpus. De ista conversione spiritus in corpus, & e converso, Gratianus distinguit dicens; Quod Irion facit Xir nisi beneficio diuturni caloris, aequaliter & continue perdurantis, tunc sic diffundit minera in diuersos lapides, & postmodum separatur ab eis. Deinde exponit se dicens: Interpretatur manus seu mancipans. Non enim possimus propriis manibus operari in Mercurium, sed 10. speciebus quas manus nostras appellamus in hac arte, id est 9. partibus albi humidi, & 10. parte aëris: & pondus istud est omnium genere. Sed Rasis 7. partes terrae & tres aeris ignis nostri ponit in specie, quae sunt 10. species, quibus Mercurius capitur & fermentatur. Sequitur, Xir dicitur esse quaelibet medicina stringens Mercurium, Alchimistica praeparata super eum: sc. terra lapidis quae coagulat lac virginis, id est retinet Mercurium. Unde subdit modum dicens, Extrahe oleum id est Mercurium, primo de terra, id est ab aere, & dissolve in eo medicinam stringentem, & coagulantem, id est terram dissolutis ill. imbibendo, conterendo, donec fiat sicut spissa pinguedo, & disparat oleum longa contritione, triduo secundum Rasin, & postea assè simul, donec in unam transeat naturam. Et hoc est quod dicit: Et iterùm sublimata per albificum, id est, assata. Et dicit sublimata, quia igne sibi ministrando, surgit in altum acutum, quia eius natura spiritualis est, & ideo ascendit ut apparet in vase, & in coopertorio nodi parui, propter hoc ignis sit leuis in coagulando. Sequitur, calcina, id est in cinerem exsiccatum, & manet, id est, figitur expressa calcinatione, & iterum calcina, & incera oleo suo, & proiice super Mercurium fermentatum illud Xirid est terram calcinatam, & imbibe Mercurio fermentato, id est composito, & ad Xir sit aptum, ad faciendum Elixir. Glossa Xir interpretatur mancipatus, id est manibus, id est, speciebus captus est: quia extractus est de terra, vel à terra Mercurius fixus. Xir interpretatur emancipatus: vel exterata manus quasi Mercurius extractus, id est, in corpore suo albo mancipatus, id est, captus, & tunc tingit in album, quia Mercurius tinctus tingit. Lucas: Magnesia cum sit alba, omnia dealbat, Iungite ipsum seciei suae, donec coaguleur, & album fiat nix: & assate donec seipsum incinerare faciat. Magnesia quidem cum dealbatur non dimittit spiritus fugere, nec in eius umbram apparere, quo completo maximum habebis arcanum. Sulphur enim sulphure mixtum est. Et Enimidius dicit, sulphur sulphure continetur. Sulphura enim fugiunt, nisi vivo argento sui generis, id est, extracto ex aere detineantur. Et non credatis quod tingant, & postea fugiant. Et Rasis in libro luminum; Et Morienes, & Assidus volunt, quod terra cum sit dealbata & candida, sit fixa: supple fixione Lunae, sed non fixa fixione Solis, & ideo tingit in Lunam: Et haec secunda tertii operis, Elixir dicitur Abelon, quod est totum, & Xir mancipatus quasi totum captum, id est fixum, sc. tota anima & incorporatio & fixio perfecta longitudine duorum annorum & 7. dierum, secundum experientiam auctoris. Et ista est secunda Glossa libri duorum & septem. Et si nascitur Alkimia naturalis, secundum impressionem Planetarum, sicut in litera auctoris: quia in hoc opere est salus Lunae, id est sublimatio humiditatis Lunaris, & circulus Solis, quia post extractionem est gradus triplex sicut prius expositum est. Et bene dicit circulus Solis, quia post extractionem spiritus solaris, corpore suo mortuo, sit animae restitutio, & corporis vivificatio. Et in hoc verbo tangit auctor mineram Rebis, de qua sufficienter declaratum est in primo tractatu. Redeamus igitur ad expositionem trium verborum, in quibus tota ars consistit, scil. aqua tribus mensibus foetum in matrice conseruat.

Aër tribus mensibus fouet: Ignis totidem custodit. Hoc totum dictum est de Mercurio, secundum similitudinem aëris in matrice. Et duplex inventus ignis est, qui est trium graduum, et à tribus intelliguntur duo, sicut prius expositum est. Primus gradus ignis complet aquam et aërem: Secundus id est sequens gradus ignis in igne, complet totum opus, scilicet coagulat, calcinat, incerat et figit, hoc est quod diximus. Lapis autem est duplex frigidus et humidus. Et liquor Mercurialis de primo spermate facit globum, id est sphaeram, per pannum subtilem, quicquid continere non potest de humido, id est aqua secunda, et hoc transactò primo opere, quod completur per ignem primi gradus. Nota si non fiunt globi non natabit, sed submergetur ad latera vasis, nec constringetur dissolvendo etiam per annum, si assatur, hoc expertum est. Deinde per ignes sequentes gradus recipit ille globus carnem, id est coagulationem, et sanguinem, id est tincturam. Unde Assiduius: est enim lapis noster auro incarnatus, et recipit membra, id est partes integrales, notat incarnationem aquae residuae, et coagulationem, et incinerationem, et iterum dissolutionem, distillationem, coagulationem et calcinationem, ita quod principium attestatur super suum finem, et è converso, donec omnes partes membrales in unam transeant naturam. Et deinde per ignis administrationem recipit imaginem, secundum naturam, id est speciem suam, ex qua fuit radix eius, a Deo altissimo, et venit ad aureum, et lucebit colore purpureo, id est puniceo, unde in Allegoriis philosophorum de ultimo regimine. Postquam totum opus versum est in terram, in vas vitreum ponite, dimittentes eum in loco tenebroso, significat obstructionem vasis, donec videas vas candescere, et velut hyacinthum lucere. Et hic color tyrius quo tingitur purpura, extrahitur igne duorum et septem graduum, de quibus dictum est, et adhuc melius in specie dicetur. Quidam vero hoc dictum volunt intelligere de primo opere, et faciunt globum, et illum assant supponendo patellam per tres vel quatuor horas, in panno pendente infimo. Deinceps proiiciunt ipsum in totum humorem novem partium, et coquunt donec suam recipiat imaginem, et membra, id est, donec totum humorem lunae, et pinguedinem solaris, extraxerit acetum nostrum, quae sunt tinctura aëris. Sed mihi videtur esse dictum de opere secundo, et citius solia amalgamisata in massam sine tactu convertuntur per acetum nostrum, et magis agit in rebis, quia magis tangit agens patiens, & fortius in massa plana, quam compacta in globo, in quo non possunt partes aceti nostri ita libere permiscieri. Unde Aristeus, Accipite corpus quod magister sumit insit, facientes in tabulas. Deinde in aquam maris nostri imponite, & in suam Etheliam vertite, & coquite donec privetur nigredine, & appareat albedo. Item Bonellus in Turba dicit: Sumite de ervi seretu, facientes inde laminas, & aspergite eas veneno, & imponite in vas cuius os bene claudatur. Et Aristeus & Theophilus aiunt, vas debere fore concavum ad capacitatem librarum 30, licet magister operis non posuit plenius 25. libras corporis nescit, eius in laminas tenues coaptati, vel producti, puri, crudi, ameni & sinceri. Deinde facit primum opus, dicens: sed sperma simile est huic, quia aes & Mercurius sunt adhuc intransmutata in coagulatione & fixatione, sicut in secundo opere in se invicem transeunt. Et lapis hic est solus, & non alius in mundo, nec est alius similis in effectu vel natura, qui seipsum impraegnat & de seipso concipit, & seipsum parit, postquam hoc vivit moritur a rubea morte, &c. In Etymologiis sapientum, lapis noster proprio iaculo interficit seipsum, similiter maritat seipsum, & solvit seipsum & coagulat seipsum & figit seipsum, & imbibit seipsum, & anima praeparat corpus & corpus animam. Et postquam hoc vivum moritur a rubea morte hoc intelligi potest de corpore vivo aeris, postquam hoc rubrum mortuum est a rubra morte, i. postquam extractus est humor & tinctura sua rubea. Vel potest intelligi aliter de argento vivo composito & iam extracto in primo opere, postquam illud mortuum id est calcinatum & figitur a rubea morte, id est ab igne eius, frigiditatem & humiditatem corrumpendo, tunc est cura mortui, id est cuiuslibet corporis imperfecti, quae sunt corpora mortua, careantia tinctura, quae spiritus & anima sunt corporis vivi, & artis nostri, & ideo est cura corporis imperfecti, cum per caliditatem & siccitatem tingit, & non fugit ab igne, nec fumum emittit, & fluit sicut cera, & est sicut oleum. Quia siccitas Alchimia tingit & non fugit ab igne, & cum hac tinctura rectificatur omnes mortui, id est omnia corpora metallorum imperfecta, de tinctura vera rubea & alba, ut semper vivant.

Dehinc de clavibus, & terminis, & gradibus ignis est dicendum. Prima clavis, & primus terminus completur 12. mensibus, & si completum non fuerit, saltem coimplebitur hoc in fine quarti termini. Unde Autor in litera: Primus terminus mortificat frigiditatem & humiditatem extrahendo animas, & totum spiritum, & vertit in terram coagulando & calcinando &c. Secundus vero terminus est sequens annus, & loquitur de termino in genere quia sequens annus habet tres terminos. Et in hac secunda clave operis, terminus sequens, id est, annus, complet mortem primi mortui, id est, corporis nostri, cujus spissitudo & rigiditas in primo termino destructa est, & augmentatur rubedinem & facit massam calliginosam & pineatam, & ascendit in arborem crispata ad modum fructus primi, quasi conspersa pruina, & lucida fulgens & folia auri facit annus iste. Et haec est rectificatio Mercurii, quod est oleum fixum, quod desficcat omnia metalla corrupta & producit ea ad sanitatem, & ad naturam meliorem. Secundus terminus est quatuor mensium, & si completum tunc non fuerit, saltem in tertio termino hoc contingit, qui est etiam quatuor mensium. & si tunc similiter non perficitur, saltem in quarto termino hoc fiet, qui est quatuor mensium & 9 dierum. Dixit Rachay filius Dybeis; In fine primi termini, videtur fundari super laminas, fumum qui non dederit, nec crepitum, quod est signum perfecta concoctionis, quod si haec defuerint, reduc ad quartum ignem. Sequitur de ignibus. Primus terminus tribus regitur ignibus, primus ignis est in primordiis suus & debilis, & hoc regimen sit 6 mensibus, & hic ignis complet aquam, & aërem, id est, spiritum in aqua sua, qui est lapis solus; sicque capitur & Mercurius extractus, sit rubens in effectu, & occiditur corpus. Deinde ignis totidem custodit, feliciter sex mensibus cuius regimen sit duobus ignibus scilicet. Secundus qui est duplex respectu tribus primis mensibus, & sic completur primus terminus & prima clavis. Licet tamen auctor longum tempus consumpserit, in extrahendo frigiditatem & humiditatem lapidis in sua experientia. Kalid tamen filius Iesidis in 13 hebdomadis complevit totam coagulatonem, quia in tribus hebdomadis, id est, 21 diebus, unius nominis complevit aquam & aërem, lege in libro suo. Ista autem diversitas est secundum diversitatem ignis. Debet enim aqua dividi per medium mediam, & eius partem imbibere per 7 hebdomadas, super tepidum ignem, & ad gradum maiorem perveniet: deinde debet imbibere alia residua partem in sex hebdomadis & tunc substantia & calor eius resplendebunt. Secunda clavis est similiter 12 mensium, & 7 dierum, & habet tres terminos. In primo regat eum igne quarto, qui est duplum tertii, & sunt quatuor menses. Hic est secundus terminus 16 mensium.

Deinde rege cum igne quinto quatuor mensib. qui est duplus quarti, & hic est tertius terminus, scil. 20. mensium. Posthaec rege igne sexto, qui est duplus quinti, mensib. quatuor & 7. dieb. cum tribus gradib. ignis. Assiduus similiter spatium prolixum ponit. Dicit de quo varie philosophi dixerunt, sc. per 21. dies, & 40. dies & 80. dies, per 4. menses & 7. menses, & unam hebdomadam, & trib. diebus, & parte unius diei. & addiderunt, & diminu­erunt quod tibi ostendam absoluti, per annum eius perfectionem, sc. per quatuor temporum perfectione sc. hyemis cuius est frigiditas & humiditas, & veris cuius est occulta caliditas, & aestatis, cuius est caliditas apparens, & autumni cuius est siccitas apparens. Ergo post autumnum non oportet te cessare ab opere, & novum opus incipere quasi diceres, siccata materia oportet figi, & maturari altero anno. Et nota quod Morienes & Rasis & senior & alii plures primi opus in 21. dieb. i.e. hebdomadis terminarunt. Mundus & Pandoph. in 42. dieb. quia nigredo non nisi 40. dieb. durat. Quidam per 80. D. ut Rosinus & Socrates: Quidam per 4. menses, quidam 21. dies nominaverunt tres hebdomadas ut Rasis quod triduo tantum opus primum perficit. Et Kalid in trib. hebdomadis, & h.e. tribus mensib. philosophicis, & etiam per 21. hebdomada. Quidam vero opus secundum in 9. hebdomadis, i.e. mensib. terminarunt, ut dicitur in allegoris 40. dieb. sicut & in vulva sperma moratur, i.e. 40. hebdomadis. Et Antonius similiter per annum. Et quidam 7. mensib. i.e. 28. dieb. alias hebdomadis quidam per hebdomadam, i.e. 70. dieb. philosophicis, ut Zenon. Et sic debet intelligi dictum Assidui, qui etiam 40. diebus dicit totam aquam esse lucidam. Quidam per quatuor menses, & hoc est 120. diebus quam ad dealbationem secundam. Quidam per unum diem, dicunt quod intelligatur de distillatione & imbibitione. Tandem Rasis, quamvis triduo conterere mandamus, dies aut pars diei sufficit, id est per hebdomadam triduo, id est tribus hebdomadis. Unde Bachafaeus dicit: Non potestis ad utilitatem pervenire, absque prolixo termino & regimine continuo. Et senior dicit: Non perficitur haec medicina, nisi praeparatione longinqua, in multis diebus & noctibus. Unde patet quod philosophi diversum posuerunt huius coctionis terminum, forte propter diversitatem locorum. In calidis enim regionibus citius, quam in frigidis: Item in humido igne citius quam in sicco coagulatur. Constans dicit, quod hoc opus toties continue operatur, donec visui praefiat, id est, quod ipsum operis imitatio te doceat.

Scit enim aqua pugnam ignis & prolixitatem coquendi, ut dicit Assiduus, vel sequere cuiuslibet alterius dictum. Theophilus dixit quod in 100. diebus vertitur totum opus in terram Bonellus & Archanus & Myretis idem volunt. Et Aristeus dicit fieri complementum in 80. diebus, idem dicit Rosinus. Socrates in 150. diebus Balgus & Aziratus opus in 190. diebus decoqui, & magister operis ponit idem: Et dicit se perfecisse totum opus in 80. diebus. Et in Allegoriis in 40. diebus debet decoqui, & dicunt quod infra hebdomadam albescit, Item Antonius dicit decoctionem fieri 42. diebus. Item alibi in Allegoriis per 21. dies. Idem dicit Morsienes. Item Lucas quod assequitur, 7. diebus & sit album. Item Socrates dicit terite cum ratione, & sale & aqua maris, & pluvia per 21. dies, & aqua salsa per 10. dies, & aqua dulciper 10. dies, & invenieris. Item Mundus dicit quod oportet decoqui per 40. dies, & dicit idem, iterum debere decoqui 40. diebus hoc est 80. diebus unius nominis vel bis 9. mensibus, ita quod in 9. mensibus figatur. Item Pandulphus dicit quod in 7. diebus appareat nigredo. Item Rasis in libro Luminum dicit inhumationis terminum 21. dierum, ex solutio promissa. Et nota quod dies quandoque sumitur in arte pro die naturali, quandoque pro hebdomada, ut Rasis in libro Luminum de humatione 21. diem ponit, id est hebdomadas 21. Senior vero accipit diem naturalem dicens in 150. diebus, quod forte in idem incidit. Et quidam istos 20. dies & unum, vocant 3. hebdomadas, ut Kalid & Hermes in primo cap. Marinas testas, &c. Et Rasis tribus diebus quemadmodum ad assationem perfectam secundum Morienem. Et nota ad intellectum horum pleniorem, quaedam dicta terminorum debere intelligi de primo opere tantum quaedam de secundo tantum, quaedam de toto opere: quaedam de prima albedine vel nigredine, quaedam de nigredine & albedine secundi operis, secundum quod diligens studens in autoribus plenius & manifeste videre poterit: unde diversitas ignis prolongatur & breviatur. In 100. enim diebus unius somnis & 80. hebdomadis plures finierunt opus. Et haec omnia natura rei quae coquitur & ignis te docebit.

Quia ut dicitur in libro Etymologiarum noster proprio iaculo interficit seipsum, & similiter maritat seipsum, & deponit seipsum, & coagulat seipsum & figit seipsum, & imbibit & incerat seipsum, & anima praeparat corpus & corpus animam si autem maxime philosophini de 70 philosophorum, locum habeant in hoc opere, de proportione moventis, tunc in medio tempore poterit praeparari. Si enim aliquod movens movet aliquod mobile in uno opere, duplo fortius movens movebit ipsum, in medio tempore, dummodo aequaliter perficiant, & utrumque ignem non effugiat compositum artis. Sed tamen cavendum est deigne excessu propter periculum, quia ut dicit Rasis in libro Luminum: Et quia maximus qua mediocris ignis aequaliter efficiat, lentus tamen semper est adhibendus: Et sic continue spira donec in speciem pulchram convertatur. Nota non mireris aequivocasse dies, quia hoc philosophi fecerunt per inspirationem: Lege Danielem, qui dicit post 70. hebdomadas nascetur Christus, & post 60. hebdomadas occidetur Christus, &c. Daniel etiam dicit post 14. hebdomadas veniet filius iniquitatis, & alias dicit 14. dies. In ultimo capite huius tractatus, quandam quaestionem declarabo, cuius difficultas florida habet declarationem & lumen praestabit intelligendi secreta philosophorum in libris ipsorum.

Quaeritur igitur, utrum tota aqua tinctura coaguletur in corpore, vel solum tinctura existens in aqua coaguletur. Quod non probatur: primo per dictum Gratiani: In 6. facit Xir nisi beneficio diurni caloris aequaliter & continue perdurantis, sicut se diffundit minera in durissimos lapides, & postea separatur ab eis. Ideo videtur similiter quod tinctura artis se diffundat in aqua sua & postea separetur ab ea. Hoc idem videtur dicere Rasis in libro Luminum, dicens, quatuor sunt naturae: quae philosophicum constituunt hominem, quorum tres naturae, sc. terrestres gummi inficiunt rubicundo subiecto, nihil tamen ponderis praeterquam candidoreat, rubicundo addiciet, dum argentum solum in rubore mirabiliter transformatur. Hoc idem arg. 3. autoritate senioris, qui dicit spiritus est locus animae, & est aqua quae extrahit hanc animam a corporibus suis, & anima est tinctura soluta, in aqua, & portatur in ea, sicut portatur tinctura tinctorum nostrorum in aqua, qua tingunt pannos, & tinctura extenditur in panno: Deinde recedit aqua per exsiccationem, & remanet tinctura in panno, similiter aqua sapientum, in qua portatur tinctura, reducitur super terram suam benedictam scientem, & assimilaverunt & aquam nominaverunt animam, quam vocat Hermes aurum dicens: seminare aurum, in terrā albam foliatam, & haec terra tingit, deinde recedit aqua spiritualis & remanet anima, quae est tinctura in corpore, in quo manifestabit pulchritudinem suam; haec omnia dicit Senior, ad istam quaestionem dicendum, quod aqua cum tinctura coagulatur quod per experientiam vidi.

Unde Kalid filius Isidis: Quoniam vidi aquam coagulare seipsam, tunc ratificatus sum quod verae est res quae assignatur. Et alibi dicit: Est enim lapis non lapis, quoniam in ipso est fermentum, sine quo non coagularetur massa aquae. Et senior dicit aqua eorum est aurum, & est fermentum corporum, ad quod reducunt ea. Et de hoc lapide extractum est aurum quod sustinet paupertatem. & post Deum non habes aliam medicinam. De quo dixit Kalid: Praeterit nec praesentes possunt tingere aurum nisi cum auro, & hoc quod aurum, sc. lapis eorum tingens, ex ipso generati prodierit. Et de isto auro, quod est flores, qui fiunt aer sublimatus, omnis eorum intentio constituta est. Unde quod non diceretur lapis non lapis nisi quia est aqua congelabilis in lapidem. Et in quodam libro dicit Kalid filius Isidis, Quod quatuor sunt signa demonstrantia artem:

Primum est siccitatis & humiditatis coniunctio, & nigredinis apparitio, eo quod oportet te coniungere humidum cum sicco, & calidum cum frigido. Secundum signum est unguentum apparens in initio operis, & est similis liquefactio, cum fuerit super ignem, & cum aeris frigiditas ei succedit & accedit, coagulat: deinde in igne liquescit, quemadmodum unguentum. Et est venenum occidens, quod dissolvitur & fit potens odorosum, in inferiori parte instrumenti subsistens nigrum, & fit aqua, & tunc vocant ipsum spiritum & argentum vivum, qui multa sunt nomina.

Tertium signum est quod ipsum est minoris aquae post praeparationem, prout lac sc. virginis, i.e. sicut lac coagulatum, est minoris ponderis separatum a sero. Et huic signo tertio Pythagoras in Turba ponit simile. Dicit n. Accipite Etheliam, & more lactis quia corpora sunt ei sicut coagulum lactis. Et iterum dicit: Id ipsum suo vasi imponite & coagulate donec fiat pulvis & coquite cum sputo lunae & coagulate & dirigite, & invenietis lapidem fractum, & aqua imbibitum. Iste est lapis quem cunctis nominib. nominamus qui opus recipit & bibit seipsum & est lapis a quo procedit omnis color. Quartum signum est quod suam spissat naturam, haec igitur est via praeparationis. Huius autem operis fundamentum est patientia, suavitas, mora, & aptitudo instrumentorum ad ea assitanda. Ecce in istis 4. signis patet eius coagulatio cum tinctura. Ex his ad rationes. Ad primam cum dicitur sicut minerae se diffundit in durissimos lapides, &c. Dicendum quod est simile & dissimile: simile est in hoc quod sicut metalla generantur in concavo loci obtusi & clausi in lapidib. duris vel similib. taliter quod a materialib. elevatur fumus sive evaporatione caloris scilicet fumus, diu in se reflexus, & vaporabiliter commixtus congelatur in metallum, illud quod est sibi congruum, & in talis metalli speciem terminatur, cuius est vapor, secundum proprietates coeli, quae influunt a stellis, & a materia. Qui si esset locus apertus, nullibi ibi metallum generaretur, sed tota eius materia expiraret, sicut in plantis & in animalibus locum habet. Ita a similitudine, si vas in arte nostra non esset clausum ad inclusionem spiritus, tota vis eius exhalaret. Dissimile autem est in hoc, quod lapides sunt materia inconveniens ad commixtionem metallorum. Ideo ab ipsis separatur metallum ab inconverso & heterogeneo. Ignis enim heterogenea separat & homogenea congregat, sed in huius artis mixtione omnia sunt homogenea, ideo fit universalis commixtio, ita quod minimum illius elementi unius est cum minimo alterius. Ideo ignis non separat inter ea, sed totum congelatur in talis metalli speciem, cuius vapor est, quod autem coniungantur per minima, patet per Hermetem dicentem. Nisi lapis noster esset aereus, non coniungeretur ei Anhauric: ita quod ignis non separet inter ea.

Et Gratianus dicit, solaris splendor transit in aërem, & ubi transit splendor, transit & aër. Lapis igitur noster aëreus est, quando obstat et nec visu, odore tamen sentitur, nec tactu facit vestigium, & coagulat Mercurium dissolutum ut ipsum est. Lapis igitur invisibilis est. Haec omnia Gratianus dicit. Et dicitur lapis aëreus, quia per evaporationem sui in aërem transit, & spiritus efficitur potentissimus, usum extans cum Mercurio ex quo fuit primo. Unde Rosen: Si suderitis corpus album ut fiat argentum vivum, extrahentur ab eo flores eius non autem mutaretur in Mercurium, si non essent homogeneae naturae.

Unde Kalid filius Isidis, Dixerunt sapientes huius artis, plures sunt res quibus adiuvatur opus, quae non proxime sunt, tamen sunt ex progenie generis sui. Et idem dicit, Masculus & foemina & quatuor naturae sunt unum, eo quod alterum generatum est ex altero ex cavernis suis, & ex genere suo, sunt ergo unum & ad unum revertuntur. Igitur ignis non superat inter tincturam & aquam, sed magis coagulatur lac virginis, id est Mercurium, ut ipsa sit coagulata. Ad secundam rationem dicendum, quod processit ex falso intellectu. Unde triplicem habet expositionem. Prima est expositio, quatuor sunt elementa lapidis optime proportionata, Philosophicum constituentia hominem, id est Elixir perfectum humanum, quia multas infirmitates & plurimos defectus humanos fugat ab homine, & lapis dicitur homo, quia nisi ratione & scientia humana ad eum pervenitur. Unde in allegoriis, Accipe hominem &c. Et Assiduus, Benedictus qui tendit ad hunc lapidem, gratiasque Deo agit, quia in nullo propinquorum vel extraneorum opera indiget: Et Morienes: sed haec est scientia quae maxime inter alios inquiri debet, cum & per illam, ad aliam magis admirabilem pervenire possimus scilicet Medicinam. Philosophi cum utebantur hoc lapide, vixerunt 160. tempore. Nam ut dicitur in Etymologiis Philosophorum, quod in hoc convenerunt omnes Philosophi, quod lapis noster Haematies quando facit rubificatus, quod est completus, tunc faciet diversas operationes, non solum in corporibus solidis, sed etiam in humanis, lapidibus pretiosis & gemmis: Et non est res mirabilior in hoc mundo, quam ipse est in omnibus operationibus suis. Ipse vero non solum curat metalla, sed etiam corpora humana conservat ab infirmitatibus suis.

Et subdit ibidem: Recipe lapidem haematitem, & da bibere cum aqua paralytico, hydropico, phrenetico, omnibus leprosis & praecipuis infirmitatibus, viz. internis & externis, maculis malis, quaecunque fuerint in corpore delet, & valet ad visum proculdubio oculorum, & quicquid tale est, maxime confortat naturam. Et scias, qui utitur eo omni die hilaris erit ad modum, & faciem lucidum reddit omnibus ipsum utentibus: Et Melancholiam omnes malos humores, indifferenter a corpore expellit. Et quid mirum, nonne aurum curat multas aegritudines? Si facies aurum nobilius auro, spiritualiter & attenuatum attenuatione spirituum, curat solida corpora & humana. Est enim Theriaca Philosophorum, ut dicitur in Allegoriis ipsorum.

Istae igitur quatuor naturae lapidis constituunt Philosophicum hominem quorum tres naturae, id est terra in aqua sunt tria, scil. duo argenti vivi cum sulphure suo, & quarta natura est aqua lapidis, scilicet aurum viscosum quod vocatur gummi rubicundum, quo insigniuntur illae tres naturae terrestres insigniuntur, id est, tinguntur & desponsantur in tinctura perenni. Quia ista aqua omnia facit, scil. per eum dissolvitur, coagularur, calcinatur terra, & incineratur & per eum retinetur omne volatile. Tres igitur naturae insigniuntur gummi rubicundo, id est aqua aurea superiata, quae est aqua simplex in essentia.

Et consimile huic dixit Moses in Turba, de primo opere: Decoquite ipsum levi igne donec appareat album: Deinde extinguite, & videbitis unum, id est aquam vitae; a tribus scilicet divisum, id est a corpore in quo sunt tres naturae, quia duo Masculi, scilicet Sol & Mercurius coagulatus, & Luna ista in terra insigniuntur gummi rubicundo superiecto: Nil tamen ponderis id est metallinae humiditatis accedit praeter quam in candido erat, & in aqua viva rubicunda, & aere nostro rubificando, quia naturaliter aes nostrum licet mortuum sit, est rubicundum. Et licet extrinsecus sit album, intrinsecus tamen rubicundum est, adiicias solummodo argentum vivum, id est substantiam metallinam argenti vivi, tunc in ruborem id est, tincturam auream mirabiliter transformatur. Est enim ut dicit Kalid minoris aquae post praeparationem sicut lac, quasi diceret non plus ponderis adiciet aqua corpori, quam de humiditate metallina in se habet. Quia licet humiditas aquea transeat, sed metallina manet dum solummodo argentum scilicet vivum in ruborem mirabiliter transformat.

Unde in Mottiene dicitur: Quod Azoth nequit substantialiter Latoni auferre suum calorem, nisi quantum ad visum, sed Latona ab Azoth suam aufert albedinem, & ei dominatur, & rubicundum reddit eum, quoniam Latoni inest naturalis fortitudo, quae super omnes colores apparet. Ergo bene dixi dummodo solum argentum vivum in ruborem mirabiliter transformatur. Est enim color Latonis perseverans, & quod seminas in Mercurio, merces ex eo. Unde Gratianus, omne metallum est in Mercurio, unde quale seminas in eum, tale & metes ex eo, habet enim fixum incorruptibile semen, id est humiditatem metallinam incorruptibilem, quia aut totaliter incombustus ab igne recedit, aut totus in eo manet, sicut dicit Geber. Et habet in se humidum aqueum superabundans, cum quo transit fixum.

Alia Glossa, Tres naturae gummi insigniuntur rubicundo, nihil tamen ponderis id est, augmenti praeterquam in candido erat, id est in lacte virginis, quia mater eius virgo est, & pater non concubuit, ut dicit Assiduus. Et Hermes, Cuius pater Sol & mater Luna, &c. Ideo bene dicitur lac virginis, & adiiciet rubicundo & Soli, quia Sol non augmentatur, non enim manet sed corrumpitur in melius. Augmentum enim est praexistentis quantitatis additamentum, sed Sol effectus est Azima seu fermentum corruptum.

Diffinitio enim mortis est, anima a corpore separatio, & anima mundo corpori coniunctio, & hoc fit dum gummi rubicundum solummodo argentum, terram albam argenteam, quia argentum in ruborem mirabiliter transformat, id est in colorem proprium, & sic Sol non augmentatur sed ipso corrupto Luna nostra viva in tincturam solarem virtute aceti mirabiliter transformat.

Unde Morien, sine stultos in omnibus aliis errare, qui ad hoc propositum nunquam pervenient, donec Sol & Luna in unum corpus coniungantur, quod nisi Deus altissimus voluerit nunquam fiet: Est enim donum Dei & secretum altissimi. Haec autem coniunctio Solis & Lunae non fiet nisi post illorum corruptionem. Unde in allegoriis: Oportet enim utrumque occidi gladio proprio, inhibendo sibi animas permanentes, donec anima interius occultissima extinguatur, quia ex homine non exit nisi homo, nec ex brutis nisi similia suis. Similiter nulla erit via ad rubedinem & albedinem, nisi si argentum vivum ignem patiens, Soli & Lunae coniunxeris, nec aliter animam penetrantem & tingentem el poteris extrahere quam in ventre corporis occultatur: Igitur nullum corpus manet incorruptum corporum.

Ideo non sit ibi augmentum, sed genera tincturae perennis, quia corruptio unius est generatio alterius, secundum Philosophos, sed haec dictio solummodo non excludit coagulationem argenti vivi. Quia dicit Rosen: Et memoratus sum coagulationis corporis quod vocatur corpus igneum, & Cambar, & argentum vivum & sulphur rubeum. Ex his nominibus nominaverunt animam ab ipso corpore egredientem.

Aliter posse exponi, deinde multum ponderis, &c. id est, quantitate non augmentat tinctura in tingendo, dum solummodo argentum in aurum mirabiliter convertit. Ita quod humiditas metallina cum aqua sociatur, corpus metallinum, id est, pinguedo Solaris & humor Lunaris coagulatur, id est fixatur. Unde Assuberes in Turba: in urina puerorum & aqua munda permanente, coquite ipsum lento igne, antequam tingat, donec tota nigredo ab eo recedat, postea de facili confirmetur.

Si autem recederent sicut aqua tincturum nostrorum non dicerent aqua perpetua aut permanens, nec dicerent quod de facili confirmetur, id est, coagularentur. Hoc enim argentum vivum est perfectio rei, ideo non transit, ut dicit Geber. Consideratio vero rei quae perficit, est consideratio electionis purae substantiae argenti vivi, & est materia, quae ex materia illa sumpsit originem, & est ex illa creata. Non est autem ista materia argentum vivum in sua natura, nec in tota substantia sui, sed fuit pars illius. Nec est modo cum lapis noster factus est, sed pars eius. Ipse enim illustrat & abstinentie conservat, perfectionisque significatio est. Laudetor igitur Deus omnipotens, qui creat carissimum ex re vilissima, qui est lapis noster, de quo fit opus istud habens in se omnes colores.

Est enim albus, rubeus, rubicundus, citrinus, citrinissimus, caelestinus, viridis gravis. In lapide isto sunt quatuor Elementa. Est enim aquaticus, aereus, igneus, & terreus. In occulto eius est caliditas & siccitas, & in manifesto frigiditas & humiditas, & est oleum, & istud est siccum, & illa siccitas tingit Alchimice, quia siccitas tingit & non aliud. Humiditas autem aquosa & adustiva corrumpit hoc opus & tingit in nigredinem. Istas igitur infirmitates oportet destruere per gradus ignis, de quibus hoc melius censendum est; ut quod post coagulationem suam in tali gradu ignis teneatur quod fugere non possit, donec maiorem possit sustinere gradum ignis, in quo teneatur iterum per dies dummodo ipsum non effugiat, quoad triplam maiorem possit sustinere ignem; & sic manu ducatur de gradu in gradum, donec ignitione perfectam in corpore patiatur & ignem non effugiat, & in ultimis tribus gradibus expedit vas lapideum non porosum, ignem pariens, sicut praecessit sermo in fine libri primi.

Nec credo in vitro, mediante cinere, haec fieri posse igne Philosophico, quod non agere possit actiones in gradibus ignis, per tot media removentia fixationem medicinae scilicet per testam & cinerem, nisi pendet lutatum in rota super ignem aequalem in gradibus suis. Unde Gratianus, in primo gradu expediunt vasa metallica scilicet in primo opere: In secundo gradu vitrea, scilicet ad coagulationem, & terrae dealbationem, & donec tota vis aquae incineretur: In tertio gradu expediunt vasa testea, scil. quod ad fixionem eius pleniariam, &c. Amen.

Explicit studium consilii coniugii de massa Solis & Luna artis completa, &c.