Hermes in a Nutshell - Hermes In Nuce,
that is:

The Concentrated Secret of Nature

in which the growth, improvement, and multiplication of all things
is set forth as clear as the sun and plainly,

inasmuch as Nature itself places all this in the hand of the diligent artist
and shows how the so highly-beloved and most precious
Philosopher’s Stone
is to be prepared,

by a lover of chymical truth.

Hamburg, printed and to be found with Georg König,

1705.




Translated from the German book:
Hermes In Nuce, Das ist: Das Concentrirte Geheimnüs der Natur, Worinnen Sonnen-klar und deutlich aller Dinge Wachsthum, Verbesserung und Vermehrung an den Tag geleget wird

Psalm 92, vv. 6–7.

How great are Thy works, Jehovah!
Thy thoughts are become very deep.

The foolish man does not discern it,
and the fool will not understand this.

In all things that are subjected to Nature, decay is felt and perceived, whereby first of all our misdeed is made known to us: in that our paradisiacal parents laid hands on GOD and transgressed His holy commandment; which we too, alas, still do daily, and yet so stubbornly presume to excuse ourselves, namely: we cannot do otherwise, for we are unfit and poor, sinful, frail human beings; we can do nothing but sin fie, what shame! just as if we had not been sanctified through Christ and made capable of all good works, to walk in the Spirit and to put to death the deeds of the flesh. O man, consider this, then you will no longer justify yourself with such bare and lying excuses.

Secondly, so that Nature might thereby prove her power: when the corruption did not exist, then no rebirth of those things could take place which, according to the will of Jehovah, who has created and made all this, are to be multiplied. For out of putrefaction there arises another form, shape and property of the decayed thing than it had before the putrefaction, as may be seen in the grain, which must through corruption come to multiplication; otherwise it could by no means pass over from its former state into another form and attain to it.

Thirdly, there is also set before us the new birth, in which the number of the multiplication is perceived; and thus one observes that corruption is the means of making much out of one, or of reaching from that which is generated back to the generant.

But corruption happens through such a being as is contrary in nature and property to the thing that is to be corrupted: thus the dry is corrupted by the moist, the moist by the dry; since corruption is nothing else than a destruction of the old body, a dissolution of the forms, and an abolition of the previous natural qualities, yet under preservation of the seminal power, so that a new and better form and being may come forth by virtue of the might and power of putrefaction.

For putrefaction is the highest and most powerful thing in and upon the earth, whereby all is destroyed, dissolved, laid waste, brought to nothing, changed, transformed and multiplied. It is nothing else than a constant warmth, always having the upper hand and joined with the medium of moisture; this opens things up, then what was hidden comes forth, and the manifest loses itself, namely: the body or the earth becomes water, the water becomes air, the air becomes fire, etc. From this it is evident that the body, which previously was so lovely and good, has through putrefaction been turned into a slimy water.

As an example the grain serves us, which is nothing more than an earth and aqua viscosa, because it has taken its origin from a mucilaginous, slimy earth. If this is to be multiplied, it can in no way attain thereto, except that through the help of putrefaction it is again reduced into an aqua viscosa, when it then through working digestion, maturation and resuscitation becomes living again; but it does not become again such a body as it was at first, but first there arises a new form, a stalk, an ear, and then the grain’s hundred-fold increase.

From this one now recognises the might and power of putrefaction: how it kills and makes alive again; how it purifies the low and exalts it; ennobles the base; makes earth into water, water into air, air into fire, and fire again into earth, and thus produces a complete body; or, to say it more clearly, it makes the body spiritual, the spiritual heavenly, the heavenly super-heavenly, and as it were almighty. Let this be accounted something great in nature: that multiplication proceeds solely out of corruption and putrefaction and from nothing else.

Yet it is to be noted that corruption must not take place with violence, nor through such things as would utterly destroy the growing, life-giving power and the calidum nativum; otherwise no new life would spring forth.

For example: if I were to cast the grain into a fire, it would indeed be destroyed, corrupted, ruined therein, yes, burned to ashes and dust. But then the power of multiplication and resurrection would be entirely taken from it; the reason is that the fire destroys in it the vegetative soul and the radical moisture and the true essence of new germination, which must, however, remain uncorrupted and undestroyed mark this well, you pseudo-chemists.

Therefore no new birth can follow, since the life or the soul has been driven out; for in all things it is not the anima, but only the corpus that is to be corrupted, so that through such corruption the anima may clarify, circulate and augment itself in itself, which previously, because of the density and grossness of the body, could not happen.

Thus, accordingly, every single thing must be corrupted by that from which it has sprung forth and into which it is to return again; for in that, and in nothing else, do corruption, regeneration and multiplication take place. The grain indeed comes out of the earth; if one wishes to kill it and make it alive again, then it must be cast back into the earth again; and so it is with all things.

The reason is: since it has its origin from the earth, therefore it can neither in water, nor in fire, nor in air be naturally killed and made alive again.

From this you and everyone may conclude that the natural destruction of one thing causes the sprouting and increase of another, which is like the former in powers and virtues and not something different. For a grain is naked and bare, and also alone, weak, small and held of little worth; then it dies, lies hidden, suffers injury, and yet becomes manifold, mighty and fruitful – all of which comes from corruption and, through the means of putrefaction, is directed toward a complete regeneration without end or cessation. For this has been thus appointed by Jehovah Himself and so ordered in the creation of the world, and also commanded to Nature by His almighty Word to accomplish.

Since it is now from this clear and evident – as all men, great and small, know this, daily see, grasp and feel it – that a single grain, when it is cast into its mother, that is, into the earth, and there rots and dies, grows forth again a hundred-fold.

How then? Should one not be able to treat all things in such a manner and make much out of one, since Jehovah in His almighty and blessing-full word has excepted nothing? Yes indeed! Yet this is the chief thing that must be observed: that every single thing must again be set back into its origin and genus and come into it, and that each, according to its kind, be digested, nourished, and regenerated. For every genus has its own particular matter from which it has come and sprung forth; namely, the vegetables from the earth; the animals from the seed, masculine and feminine; likewise also the minerals and metals from Mercury and Sulphur. And as each has its original state, so each will also have its own particular putrefaction, digestion, and nutrition.

The grain is nourished by rain, dew, by the sun; the animals by the warmth of the womb and by milk; the minerals by a strong digestion and a mucilaginous spiritual moisture.

Whoever now wishes to transform one thing into many must take care how he destroys it, so that by a digestion suitable to it it can and may come forth again.

But whoever wants to treat one thing just like another, to hold and regard one as the other, to destroy and to nourish one as the other, the end of his foolish undertaking will clearly show him how grossly he has erred.

How all this goes on, one thing with another, is shown in part among the vegetables, indeed openly before our eyes, as also in the generation of animals.

But concerning the minerals, which are the least known of all, there shall be indicated and treated here as much as is possible and as Jehovah allows.

How variously those who have dealt with the mineral arts, with their propagation, maturation and transmutation, and still deal with them, have been so irresponsibly accused, mocked and deceived, needs not much proof; it is known and manifest, and has been practised, partly knowingly, by those who put forward such lofty matters with false, flowery, ornamented words, yes, with deadly preparations, by which they have forced open people’s eyes and mouths, and promise golden mountains, so that they may come into great esteem by means of others, and wish to make merry with other men’s sweat and blood; yet such joy is in the end always turned into the saddest sorrow, and nevertheless, in order to excuse themselves (though in vain), they lay the blame now on this one, now on that one.

Others, on the contrary, do it unwittingly: they read, study, labour and imagine processes for themselves, taking them from old mouldering books; they persuade themselves and others of a happy outcome, but do not consider that the man who has been endowed by Jehovah with such wisdom does not write down such secrets, does not bring them plainly to light, nor cast the precious pearls before swine. And if such a one does indeed jot something down, he does it only for the sake of his own remembrance and for his children and descendants; but the best handling and the main point he suppresses and keeps hidden in his heart.

To be sure, some write great books compiled from others, which they themselves do not understand, and yet out of pride wish to appear to understand thinking themselves the wisest while, on the contrary, in their whose undertaking comes to nothing in deed and who in the end can accomplish nothing, becoming the greatest fool.

Then, dear friend (so that one may indeed learn the true foundation), let someone show me from what the metals take their origin and whence they come.

You say: from Mercury and Sulphur, and you confirm this from Arisleus, Arnoldus de Villa Nova, Raimundus Lullius, Rosinus, the Turba Sophorum. That is rightly spoken and answered.

But I further ask: what sort of Mercury and Sulphur is this?

You say: the common one. There you miss the mark by a great peasant’s stride and make your lack of understanding quite sufficiently plain; and such ignorance and error brings you and everyone into the greatest harm and misfortune. The reason: because you do not know the beginning, you attain neither the middle, still less the end.

If the peasant did not know that the grain comes out of the earth and that he must sow it again into the same, but wanted instead to cast it into water or into fire and air, how should he then attain multiplication? Thus, because you do not know the origin and mother of the metals, since you do not know the origin and mother of the metals,
how will you sow them and bring them to a profitable multiplication?

Learn therefore first to recognize the principia aright, and how Nature composes and generates the metals and minerals; then, if you follow her, you will, just as happens with the grain, reap a hundred-fold fruit.

The sages have indeed written and said rightly that the metals and minerals take their beginning from sulphur and mercury; but they do not mean the common kind which is bought from apothecaries and shopkeepers. No! they mean their own, that is, the metallic mercury and sulphur, which is a pure mercurial and sulphurous water, and is by them called mercury and sulphur – not that theirs and the common one are the same or have fellowship with one another, but because of the similarity.

For just as common sulphur is of a dry and hot nature and burns corporeally, so also is the sulphur of the wise of a hotter and drier nature, yet it burns spiritually. Likewise common mercury is moist, slippery, mobile, can take on any form, white and shining; for these reasons, and others besides for no other reason is it called by the wise Mercury and Sulphur for their own benefit and that of their future pupils, but in order to mislead you and those like you who lack understanding.

But that we may come to the true foundation, dear friend, tell me: has gold or any other metal ever been made into a tincture when it was treated in and with common sulphur?

Never! For although it is indeed said that common sulphur transmutes in a particular way, yet this is not the nature of common sulphur, still less its property, but rather that which at times lies hidden with, in, and by it of which you and your like are ignorant namely that which is called by Paracelsus the primum Ens Metallorum, though it might more fittingly be called the ultimum Ens spiritualium Metallorum.

This, I say, transmutes after it has obtained its fixation, and not the common sulphur, which in itself is a particular growth and nothing but a thick metallic dross. But if common sulphur really tinged and transmuted, then everyone would necessarily do so; experience, however, proves the opposite.

It is the same with mercury. How do you intend to make it into a tincture and by means of it transmute other metals, since it is still entirely imperfect and has not yet been brought to a fixed state? Yet a tincture must be plusquam perfect, that is, more than perfect or absolutely complete. See how far you still are from this; and even if common gold is united with it, it does nothing more than turn the mercury likewise into gold, namely, from an imperfect into a perfect metal, and nothing more.

Further, you may object that, since it is possible that gold, silver, and lead can be changed into mercury (although the mercurification of metals is very questionable), it must therefore follow that the metals originate from common, running mercury.

Answer: it is possible to turn gold and silver into sulphur, salt, vitriol, and iron, tin, and lead into mercury; must this therefore also be the prima materia? By no means; that is widely mistaken.

The metals have something in common with one another, namely that they all come from one matter, but in manifold forms; and thus it is possible to transmute one into another.

Therefore mercury is nothing other than a metal in itself, just as lead, tin, silver, and gold are in state and form only that it is fluid, or easily movable, as its planet also is. From this you can readily understand that it is false to regard common sulphur and mercury as the matter of the metals; for with these nothing stable can be accomplished. Rather, it is the sophic magistery from which all metals have and take their origin. This is not to be found for sale, nor is it otherwise at hand.

By art, however, one can discover and obtain it; namely, art draws from a natural, yet to the common man unknown, subject a thing called the prima materia. This it brings to the highest subtlety by separating and purifying, so that the impurity is parted from it; then it again sets together the purest parts and unites them by means of the soul as the proper medium. This this is then our prima materia, a mercury with sulphurous salt, which we must first make before we can find it.

In this prima materia the metal dissolves like butter, pleasantly, gently, amiably, not by compulsion but willingly. This is the true, God-wise and nature-pleasing solution which is required in order to separate matter and form, that is, the whole body, body, soul, and spirit, so that each thing may be clarified in itself and made new, in so far as you desire to augment it and to make much out of one.

Thereupon there follows the other member of the first degree, namely putrefaction: for just as the grain cannot putrefy unless it is first completely dissolved and consumed with a viscous (mucilaginous) water, so no metal can come to putrefaction before the solution, because before the solution it was dead, compact, and closed.

But as soon as it is dissolved, namely in the water that is proper to it and of its own nature, then you can at once, by means of warmth and moisture, penetrate and dissolve it, and then expect putrefaction.

In all this you follow Nature entirely, for you act in your firmament, in your furnace, with the stars and astronomical fire, with the metallic bodies; see how Nature, in the grain and in other vegetable things, by digesting, or as the womb does with the seed, corrupts that which Nature had previously brought to its state, brings it back from the ultima materia to the prima, and by a rotation or reversal makes it into a new form and matter, which before was dry, compact, and fixed.

Thus, in this way, corruption and digestion are to be understood as the noblest death, and are to be treated by every artist gently, pleasantly, and in a manner conformable and agreeable to the fire of Nature.

Upon this there follows the third degree of corruption, namely: when Nature has sufficiently dissolved the grain, she separates the impure body from it, casts it away, and purifies the vegetative soul, so that, after digestion, conjunction, and fixation have taken place, it may accomplish its projection.

This is now sufficient instruction for the artist, that in all these matters just recounted he may and must follow Nature, not cling to his self-willed head and thoughts, but carefully look to winter, spring, summer, and autumn and pay heed and carefully observe how Nature brings forth her fruit, and do likewise in your work.

When therefore, as has been said, the solution has taken place, then there follows the separation, that is, the end of the complete corruption: namely, that one separates sulphur and mercury, matter and form, body, soul and spirit, the pure from the impure, the heavenly from the earthly, the eternal from the perishable, and the mortal from the immortal. Then he will have a pure form, clear, transparent, red like a ruby, spiritual, fiery, shining, delightful – indeed a thing which far surpasses all elemental things.

He will have a spiritual matter, pure, clear, diaphanous, heavenly, eternal, indestructible, surpassing all the elements, pleasant, sweet-smelling, and eager to receive such a form as, as already mentioned, is very highly prepared by means of the Hermaphrodite, who has communion with both natures and is of the same property: he is spiritual and yet corporeal, warm and cold, moist and dry, heavenly and earthly, formal and material, animal – that is, both soul and body.

Corporeally: through such a mediator, I say, this form can be united with the matter, and the matter with the form.

To this there belongs great diligence, the most subtle understanding, and the true knowledge of separation, which is not single but threefold: the first earthly, the second firmamental, the third heavenly. There the lowest, middle, and highest elements are separated; there the coarse, middling, and volatile matters and forms are parted from one another until one possesses the pure. And thus the artist will have the sulphur and the mercury which Nature has in the earth, from which she is wont to make the most perfect metals; indeed, he will have the form and the matter from which Nature bears the metals, and the true spirit together with soul and body, from which all metals take their beginning.

In one thing, however, you should rejoice: that this sulphur and mercury, through manifold purgation, circulation, and elevation, can be brought so high that Nature will be your handmaid and you will be her master.

Now when Nature has purified all things, she again sets the parts together and binds them together with an indissoluble bond, so that no separation or dissolution can ever again be obtained or expected.

Just so, you artist or practitioner must proceed: after your form is pure, clear, and well prepared, and likewise your matter as is required, these two must be brought together again, so that the form may illumine the matter, bring it into its own nature, and give it life just as the soul gives the body a spirit and kindles in it an imperishable, immortal light.

And, conversely, the matter must hold fast the form, enclose it within itself, preserve it, and lead it into the place and goal where one wishes to have and use it. Now it follows that the mediator is taken as a guide for this, that is, the spirit or Hermaphrodite, who carries the anima, that is, the form, in his belly and keeps it shut up in him, yet afterwards it shines forth as a pure light in a bright lantern.

Through this mediator the soul is brought into the body, and all three are united and bound together, so that the lock and womb of the body will never again, to all eternity, let such corporeal seed depart from them, can ever be parted from it again, then nothing separates itself but only the vapour, and the body of the Hermaphrodite, which is to be regarded per accidens as a medium and has been used in order to obtain the firmamental Mercury.

In this manner, then, an equal union has now taken place through an exact mingling: for then the body wills what the anima desires; the anima wills what the spiritus demands; and the spiritus loves what the body wishes to have. For they are prepared alike, alike spiritual, alike heavenly, alike eternal and indestructible; only that the anima rules and is a living, burning fire, whereas the corpus is a dead one, which is first kindled by the anima and thereafter burns with it to eternity, so that it may be worthy of its nature and property, knows and recognizes no more its former species and origin, but, as regards its kind, is nothing but pure fire; while the anima and the form, in relation to this super-heavenly (fire), are nothing else than a truly bodily matter.

Thus in this conjunction and beginning of the regeneration you will have nothing but form, nothing but animas; for the anima is an anima with respect to its kind, the spiritus an anima according to its kind; and the corpus an anima according to its kind.

All three the highest beings, the best power have been drawn out and prepared from their body and origin by subtle handling; yet one is different from the other: for one rules, dominates and works, the other suffers, and the third binds and fixes the suffering and the working together.

And thus you will attain and possess a new spiritual body, a new creature, a new metal, which can nevermore be destroyed by Nature to all eternity.

Now follows the other degree of generation, namely the fixation. When Nature has purified the grain, cleansed and washed away all its parts, and has in like manner coagulated together what is perishable, then the grain hastens to its end, springs forth and gives its manifold fruits spiritually within itself.

Just so must and shall the artist also do with it: when his body has been put together, fixed with living dew, when the spagyric child has received the soul and, through the mediation of the hermaphroditic firmamental spirit, has been introduced into it, then it must remain in its little cells, like the child in its mother’s matrix, remain, and with gentle warmth, like a hen brooding her eggs, be constantly and perfectly completed together.

Here great diligence is needed, that this child may be given its metallic nourishment, so that it may also become accustomed to earthly food, and through the means of this nutriment may enter into fellowship with its friends. Otherwise there is reason to fear that, since it is so highly prepared and wanders through the highest regions of heaven and the firmament, it would despise the earthly and destroy its own proper friends.

Therefore, immediately after the conception of life, such a bit is put into its mouth, composed of two natures and made up of cold and warm, moist and dry, volatile and fixed parts, so that by means of this it may be tamed by the master all the sooner and in a much shorter time.

Therefore rejoice now, you master and artist, that the end is present, that autumn draws near, and that the beautiful, sweet-smelling roses are willing to ripen in due season.

Rejoice that you have a new regenerated child, a new firmamental creature, a heavenly astral being, a ruler over all natural things, and the fountain-source of this eternal life for all imperfect metallic bodies, which you have made and obtained. In this and in no other manner must you deal with your metal and handle it, if you wish to attain a blessed end.

When now the grain in the earth has come to its perfection, has attained its spirituality, has entered into regeneration and been shut up unto its final purpose, then there follows the last degree, namely, that it performs its projections upon the imperfect bodies, that is, upon those which through the manure have been killed and lie there in their putridity and mucilaginous moisture, loosened and dissolved, and with which previously the field or the earth has been dunged. Into this same the regenerated grain gives life, a new form, and transmutes them out of their own nature into its nature, performing hundred-thousandfold augmentations, inasmuch as it has beforehand been highly prepared by Nature.

These transmuted bodies then grow forth out of the earth, and in due time bring to light that very same [thing] which previously the form before their regeneration had been.

So follow this likewise, you artist: take your regenerated metal, which is heavenly, not earthly; spiritual, not corporeal; pure and clear, not turbid and dark; indestructible, not destructible; a purer form, a purer fire, a purer life. Take this, I say, and cast it upon its like, that is, upon the imperfect metallic bodies which have previously, in the dung, been brought into a mucilaginous matter, namely by being melted and dissolved in the crucible in the fire. Then you will see that such metals lose their form, substance, and quality; they become of another shape and nature, and come forth and grow out of the crucible in just that figure and form, power and might, which the previously regenerated metal had before its regeneration.

For example: if the regenerated metal has been gold, then you make good gold out of all metals, nobler and better than the natural. The reason is that in the preparation all impure earthly parts have been separated from it, and nothing has remained but a heavenly fiery being and a carbuncle-like shining power. And in just the same way it has also gone and happened with the materia, since all the corruptible part has been separated from it; nothing else remains but a pure crystalline, diaphanous nature.

Likewise, in the projection this pure seed and heavenly form has expelled the external and combustible sulphur and the coarse earthiness in the imperfect metals, has removed all impurities and set itself in their place; for where such purity is, no impurity can be, remain, or subsist – it must give way and leave its lodging.

How much such a thing tinges cannot be said, any more than one can say how much the regenerated grain will tinge. For if the earth is rich and clean, the heaven well-tempered, not too warm nor too cold, and the rain comes at the right time together with drying, then the grain tinges so much the more; the reason is that it has been very highly and well purified in its preparation. But if the earth is unclean, soft, sandy, or stony, and the heaven too hot or too cold, then the grain cannot be properly purged nor separated from its impurity, and therefore it tinges so much the less.

Thus also, if you prepare your form in a high and excellent manner, the matter must likewise be made like unto it, otherwise if it were lower by a single degree, then no perfect union could result from it; nor through the medium which must be just as highly prepared and equal to the two foregoing could their proper linking take place. Thus the whole work would be useless, defective, and perishable.

Therefore necessity requires that the form be as high as the matter, the matter as high as the form, and finally that the spirit of conjunction be equal to them both; then the projection will run not only upon a hundred, but upon several thousand parts, kindling, enlightening, and burning away the impurity of the imperfect metallic bodies.

Furthermore, it will cure and cleanse all animals and vegetables of their diseases, and pour into them a new and, as it were, fixed life. This is something great: that a mineral should also cure and restore animals and vegetables; and here one sees the power of regeneration, of which more will be said later.

Thus now, you artist, you may understand your profit and welfare; but if you are not diligent, do not remove all impediments, leave much impurity with it, are lazy and sullen, you cannot if you do not wait for the proper time and let yourself be hurried on by greed, then the profit is all the smaller – you must order yourself accordingly by this.

This, then, is the first part: how one is to regenerate the metals and minerals, and how the grain is to be newly created, brought forth, and to bear thousand-fold fruits.

The other part contains in itself a still higher and mightier work, indeed, so to speak, quite a supernatural work: namely, how this regenerated metal can be multiplied and exalted. Take for example such a possibility from Nature, how and in what manner so many thousands of men have come forth from a single man, or so many thousand grains from a single grain; and this comes solely from this, that when one grain brings forth a hundred grains, and these are sown again, then each one of them again produces a hundred, and such reiteration goes on without end, as one daily experiences.

Thus you also, artist and master of this high work, must do the same: take your perfected and regenerated metal, destroy it again, dissolve it, and by such labour bring it back into its first essence, from which it can then, in a short time, on account of its highly spiritual nature and property within itself will, with many thousands of parts of fruitful virtues, shoot forth, grow and increase, so that neither its end nor its power can be expressed or numbered.

But this you must know: the preparator which is to destroy this heavenly and regenerated metal once again cannot be the former one, but must be of a far higher power and essence, if this spiritual child is to be overcome, killed, cast into the outermost and deepest places of the world and brought to nothing that is, brought back into its first being from which it took its origin.

The first key does not open the gate; there must be another. The reason is that the first key was spiritual, a clarified, pure, twofold spirit, which could easily overcome and master the metallic body, for a spirit is more than a body. But now from this body a spirit has come forth which penetrates, shatters, and changes all things, and now has more might and power to act than before, beyond what its first key could achieve.

With what then will you overpower it?

Here art is necessary; here you must understanding and wisdom may not fall short; another preparator is required here, one that overcomes this body – not the first, but another. For if the first was natural, this one must be supernatural; if the first was heavenly, this one must be super-heavenly.

Therefore take care to loosen this tightly-knotted knot; otherwise it will go with you as it has with many who indeed knew the regeneration, but could not experience, much less obtain, the multiplication.

But if, through the inspiration of JEHOVAH, you recognize this key, then you will have not an earthly but a heavenly fire, which by its radiance overcomes the regenerated fire; and as the sun outshines and destroys a light or torch, so that it can no longer be seen – and this not slowly, but swiftly, in an instant, fiery, red, carbuncle-like – so will this heavenly fire clarify that suffering, regenerated metal to a higher state and awaken in it many thousand forms and souls, which unite with it and are enclosed in it, so that from this regenerated firmamental fire there arises a heavenly [fire], and furthermore, by many repetitions from repeated regeneration a super-heavenly one can be made and bestowed; and thus, in this way, the augmentatio in virtute et effectu will be raised a thousand times a thousand times higher.

Now hear the other part of this preparation. When your heart is filled with such desire for transmutation that you would gladly also see the tincture increase well in quantity, and grow as the grass in the field, then the matter must be undertaken otherwise than has been said, namely as follows: for example, if the tincture tinges a thousand parts, you will see and perceive that whereas previously one part tinged a thousand parts, you now have here a hundred parts, each of which will tinge a thousand parts; and this can be done by you without end.

Now the third part of this second part shall be shown to you as a secret, namely how and in what manner this regenerated body may be augmented not only in power and quantity, as has been said, one step after another, but also at one stroke and all together.

Then you will see what the power of Nature is, and how the seed, which from a single grain of mustard there comes, by reason of the great sum, what cannot be expressed; and besides, each single stalk will bring thee several thousand-fold fruit.

To attain this, proceed thus: first let quantity go before, and then virtue follow after; that is, that first in thy projection one part be set upon a hundred parts.

Thereupon shut up these hundred parts with thine inextinguishable fire and heavenly key, and proceed with reduction and retrogradation until the lowest becomes the highest and the circle of rotation, or multiplication, has run its course; then thou hast a hundred parts of tincture, of which one part tinges a thousand parts.

Further, concerning the other augmentation, that thou mayest recognise this high, unspeakable multiplication: take one part of these and cast it upon a thousand parts, and act as has been said; then thou hast 100,000 parts of tincture, of which one part tinges 1,000,000,000, always multiplied by 1000.

And in this manner thou canst ever rise higher and further with thy tincture, like him who has a fire and can share it with others, as much as they may ever desire.

Therefore say to almighty Jehovah, Creator of heaven and of the earth without distinction, your most heartfelt thanks, that He has communicated to you, who are unworthy, so high and unspeakable a treasure. And since you can never thank Jehovah enough for it, be therefore diligent and take pains to serve your poor neighbour with it, so that the name of the Almighty may be praised; then you will have good fortune and salvation in all things.

Know further this: when such a great tincture has come to so high a multiplication and, as it were, has attained the more-than-Plusquamperfection, it will despise the imperfect metals and refuse to mix with them. What will you then do with it? You know that the tincture has been rightly prepared, that the ingress or inceration, as it should come according to art, has been properly given, and yet its transmutation still will not take place.

Therefore act by means of a mediator.

For example: just as the Hermaphrodite was the medium that united the form with the matter, so you too must have here a medium, so that the plus-quam-perfect be united with the imperfect; that is, gold is the perfect, and the mean which here makes friendship between the heavenly and the earthly and brings it about that the tincture can accomplish its operation in the metals.

And in like manner, when the grain begins in due season to grow, the blossom first appears, as also happens with other plants; just so it goes when one melts the baser metals in the crucible and the tincture has been poured upon them: then the blossom or flower appears, that is, the sheen in the gold and silver, from which one can judge their perfection.

Now such a blossom is the third proof which follows the work. There you will perceive that, in the opening, a dark blackness will enter through the means of putrefaction; then, before Aurora truly begins to rise, the rainbow will show itself, and after this will follow the diamond-like radiance which, like a gleam from east to west, will stretch across.

Thereupon the bloody leonine heart, with the sweetness of the spiritual eagle, will [appear], and then further, through the constant fire and astral impression, be enlightened, matured, and finally perfected by Vulcan with firmamental radiance.

Thus what is farthest is cast into what is nearest, and what is nearest into what is farthest, so that the highest attains fellowship with the lowest and the lowest with the highest, in order thereby to bring about the Matrimony of Heaven and Earth.

In this way the highest virtues are sustained and attested by the lowest; likewise, by the highest the lowest are impregnated and transmuted through the seed and origin, so that from both parts they flow forth out of the deepest region, and from them there springs, like balm from a spring, that which is sought.

By such means and ways you, artist, can put an end to your seeking and, overcoming, attain the treasure, the Highest and the Lowest.

In conclusion know also that your mind must at all times be directed to behold yourself in the mirror of Nature and to follow her in your work. She will in turn rightly instruct and teach you, so that you fall into no error not that you may make Nature subject to you, but that in your work you may not wish to rule over Nature and bring about what Nature herself cannot accomplish.

Therefore follow her in this, as she has shown you:
when grain is sown, Nature gives grain;
when wheat is sown, she gives wheat.
If now you sow gold, you obtain gold;
if you sow silver, you reap silver;
and so proceed with all things.

This now, if you would know it, is the form, the working principle, the anima which revivifies the matter that lies dead and at rest in the earth. Since this is so, you are bound to such [things], and without gold or silver you can bring forth no tincture, neither for red nor for white.

But the gold, so long as it remains gold and is called gold by the common man and acknowledged as such, is of no use to you; for it is dead, a compact body that has reached its last term, and even Nature herself can make nothing further from it.

You, however since Nature regards such a thing as ultimate matter take it for your prima materia: you look closely at it, work within it with your instruments, anatomize it and examine all its members, separate from it skin, bone, and flesh, and take nothing but than the blood, in which the soul rests, and in which life sits.

This thou cleansest in the best and highest way, until thou hast brought it quite to its highest state, caused it many times to traverse heaven and earth by circulatio and physical rotatio, stripped it of its threefold unclean garment, and it has attained the very highest spirituality.

This now is the gold of the wise and no longer common gold; for it penetrates and passes through all spirits and bodies, traverses all places, illuminates them; it is the true sulphur of sulphur, compounded from the salt of sulphur and bound together with the mercury of sulphur; it is also the true soul and the ever-enduring form, to transform every formless matter into a better one and into a natural being, that is, into gold or silver according as the principle has been. Hæc de forma.

As for the other point, so far as it concerns the matter, thou hast complete freedom to take the same from whatever thou wilt, from what pleases thee and is agreeable to thee, whether from minerals, animals, or vegetables, purely according to thine own liking and will; and it is not at all to be listened to when it is said that it is namely not possible to make out of animals and vegetables a mineral, or out of a mineral or an animal a vegetable, and contrariwise.

Only consider that men of understanding prove the contrary through their experience: namely, that animals, vegetables and minerals spring from One, and that this One, at the creation of the world, was divided by Jehovah into three. And therefore they still, even to this hour, have a communion and kinship with one another, and for this reason it is also possible to change one into the other.

You should also know that the matter which you wish to take, through its preparation comes forth out of its kind, and is no longer animal, vegetable or mineral, but lies in the middle, and has no more to do with any of them; for regeneration has taken from it all recognisability.

It awaits only the form that is to be given to it, whereby it is changed into another genus. And just as that which the sun alone bestows on all things helps them to life and furthers their growth, as well in animals as in vegetables and minerals, so likewise does this matter [act] with our, [when it] is illumined by the philosophical seed, it will transform its whole nature into a solar kind, and from the animal and the vegetable it will make a mineral and a solar fire.

For every matter must act according to the form, since it is mobile like Mercury in the heavens, who, with whatever planet he makes a conjunction, takes upon himself that planet’s nature and property, and increases and strengthens its point in its good and in its evil undertakings.

Thus also every prepared and regenerated matter takes upon itself the property of the form, be it ☉ Sol, ☽ Luna, ♄ Saturn, 🜩 Jupiter, ☿ Mercury, ♂ Mars, ♀ Venus, or whatever it may be; it shines and shares its power with the form, and in turn is again, by the form, made into a natural body, that is, into either an animal, a vegetable, or a mineral.

For example: you see that we human beings all have the same flesh, bone, and skin; but in senses and in thoughts we are different. That is the form which, according to the astral spirit, has been imparted and implanted into us.

Thus also here, every matter takes its nature from the form: if it is warm, it becomes warm; if it is cold, it likewise becomes cold, red, white, black – in like manner the matter will also be.

From this you can readily understand that you are not bound to any one matter alone: you may take what you will and what pleases you; but you must prepare it in the same way as the Form, by means of the third separation and division. It must be obtained out of the heart, and then further received through the degree of circulation.

This matter, with respect to its own species, is the proper form, for this is the soul, the power, the life of its body. In respect, however, to the super-heavenly and astral Form, it is only a matter, and the passive thing, acted upon by a heavenly body which in all respects is like the Form spiritual, penetrating, and transmuting yet dead and without life; within it there is indeed life, but not a true life nor one that is useful to us.

But as soon as the Form comes to this matter prepared to be like it, then the true everlasting life is poured in; the true fire is brought de potentia ad actum and kindled. Thus Form and Matter are one, remain one, and do not separate; for the Form is heavenly, spiritual, and eternal, and so also is the Matter.

Therefore what the one wills, the other likewise wills; if the one goes up on high, the other follows it, then the other follows after; if it falls down, then that also follows it.

Thus the Form together with the Matter must be prepared, and furthermore be united by the third thing, namely by the Spiritus Regenerationis (Spirit of Regeneration); then the whole power of regeneration is present.

This Spirit of Regeneration (so that everything may be clearly revealed) is taken from whatever you will, from whatever pleases you: first from the air, the first separation of the elements, the forerunner and the Mercury, to proclaim this high fellowship and kinship of this spiritual, psychic, and human seed.

It is a heavenly astral fire, the Form in its kind, the taste and nourishment of all animals.

But in this operation it is the vinculum, the lock and the key which opens and shuts, the instrument for preparing, for destroying, and for making again alive everything that is committed to it: first it kills itself and is renewed again, as the snake casts off its skin; and it is obtained and brought about through the third separation, as has been said above concerning the Matter and the Form.

Then it is made living with the heavenly fire, and with the spirit of the Form and Matter, materia is clothed and surrounded, whence there then comes to it its strong power, so that common fire is, in comparison with it, as water is against common fire.

Here thou seest now clearly the composition of this tincture and new metal, that the same is put together out of three parts, namely out of soul, body, and spirit three, all three one, and one three; in essence one, in the name of the form three, everlasting, without end, to be reckoned in contrast with other corporeal things.

This is now to be for us a prefigurement and a comfort of the clarification and regeneration of our mortal bodies; namely, that after we have suffered death, this present body rots in the earth, dies away, dissolves therein and becomes earth again, since it has taken its origin from the earth and is made therefrom; and then, just as the grain, the seed of the future body, casts off all impurity from itself, so it will on the Last Day, through the sound of the divine trumpet, rise again, when it will then appear pure, clarified, diaphanous and spiritual, in all deed and being like a spirit, and yet have a body, which, however, is no longer so coarse and impure as the present one will be, but clear and shining like the sun, moon, and stars.

Then there is no longer any separation or passing away to be feared; rather, eternity is implanted there, since the body, after its revivification and resurrection, like the soul, is a spirit. What the one wills, that the other also wills; the one is as powerful as the other, and has no advantage over the other, except that the soul rules and enkindles the body and gives it eternal life.

We have an example of this in our Saviour Jesus Christ, who after His suffering and manifold torments rose again clarified, pure and spotless not that He had previously been impure, for He was without sin but that His body, after His resurrection, was made into a spirit, that is, a spiritual body.

This body first went forth through the closed grave, then through the closed doors entered twice to the Apostles; before the disciples at Emmaus He vanished from the table, and in all things He performed the works of the Spirit; and finally He also visibly ascended bodily into heaven, sitting at the right hand of JEHOVAH, where He has received all power and authority, to rule and to reign in eternity; not as though beforehand He had not ruled together with JEHOVAH, but in order that human nature might thereby be exalted and eternally united with the Godhead; so that He then, as the true JEHOVAH our righteousness, since heaven is His throne and the earth the footstool for His feet, is everywhere and in all places, to protect and to enlighten all who believe in Him and do the will of His heavenly Father.

These are those who were beforehand chosen by the Father, and who by the Holy Spirit, who proceeds from the Father and the Son, have been enlightened and tinged.

JEHOVAH JESUS SEBAOTH

May He, out of pure grace and mercy, make us also partakers of this overflowing and high tincture of His most precious blood through the sending of the Holy Spirit, so that we may come from imperfection to true perfection, and show this not only by faith but also through love toward our neighbour, and finally may receive eternal life as obedient, good, and newly-tinged creatures.

Amen.

Syrach chapter 50, verse 29.

Blessed is he who practises these sayings;
and whoever lays them in his heart
shall become wise.

and verse 30.

And when he brings them into work,
he shall be capable in all things;
for the light of JEHOVAH will be his footstep,
who gives wisdom to the godly.

and verse 31.

Praised be JEHOVAH for ever. Amen.

Let it be so! Let it be so!

Amen.