LITTLE TREATISE OF ARISTOTLE ON THE PRACTICE OF THE PHILOSOPHER'S STONE begins.
Since every body, according to the Philosopher, is either an element or generated from elements, in our Art the generation is most necessary. But this can consist only of the four natures, which are the four elements.
Notes: Four natures.
Now the four elements are air, water, fire, and earth, without which all generation is deprived of effect. Two of the elements are stony, and two are watery: stony indeed are fire and earth, watery are air and water. And of them, two are friendly, and two are hostile. Earth and water are friendly; fire and water are hostile.
Therefore, make peace between the enemies, and you will have the whole magistery. But you cannot make peace between the elements unless by their mutual conversion. And their mutual conversion is indeed quite possible.
Because, as the Philosopher says: “The aptitude of all the elements is that they be changed into one another.” For fire is changed into air, and air into water. So fire is changed into water, and water into earth, and vice versa.
Convert therefore the elements, and you will find what you seek. For our composition, as Morienus says, is the mutation of natures and the mixable connection of hot with cold, moist with dry. For the coldness of water and the heat of fire, the moistness of air and the dryness of earth, when harmoniously bound together, constitute the complete, that is, the first generated thing.
For the elements, as the Philosopher says, are circularly convertible. And thus they are generated and corrupted among each other, but this is perfected only by operation and regulation.
Now the methods of operation are four, namely: the dissolution of the stone into spiritual water, the separation of the stone into a spiritual state, the reduction of the stone into natural earth, and the espousal of the stone into spiritual lime.
The dissolution of the stone is done by trituration, the separation by distillation, the reduction by incineration, and the espousal by fixation.
Therefore, the first degree of our regulation or work is the dissolution of the stone into spiritual water, as the Philosopher says. For the first mode of preparation is that the stone becomes Mercury. For he is the first body operating on coarse things, to render them according to his own manner. For if he left the coarse things in their coarseness and did not subtilize them, the stone would not be dissolved nor would it putrefy. And therefore, if we had no other benefit from Mercury than that he renders bodies subtle to his own nature, it ought to suffice for us.
Take therefore your most beloved son, and unite him equally to his white sister. Offer them the cup of love, because the agreement of goodwill joins things together.
Side Notes: Loving conjunction.
Pour upon them mead until they are intoxicated and divided into very small parts. Yet you must firmly remember that all clean things suit the clean; otherwise they generate offspring unlike themselves. And therefore, as Avicenna says: The first thing you must do in the work is to sublime Mercury. Then put pure bodies into pure Mercury, then grind, cook, repeat, and do not grow weary of doing so.
When you see blackness appearing on the surface of the water, collect it carefully and set it aside, knowing for certain that your stone is now partly dissolved. Then distill all the water through a cloth; what you find dissolved therein, keep the rest to be cooked again, until it all turns black like soot. All this is to be done with a moderate fire of the first degree, warm and moist.
Side Notes: The raven’s head.
For if excessive heat is present, it will turn the blackness to redness, and the heat of hasty redness is a sign of burning. Therefore, if you properly direct the beginning of the Art, there will be the raven’s head; for in this the body is dissolved and reduced to its first matter. And that is because, as Aristotle says, bodies are not altered unless they are first reduced to their prime matter. And therefore, as Plato says, you must labor in their dissolution, so that when the heavier parts are cast off, the work may be completed with the lighter parts — which is indeed done by sublimation.
Therefore, slay your sons, and collect their blood; cast their flesh to the dogs lest they bark at you. And that is because the blood is the soul, and the soul is life, and life is our stone. For nothing suits our stone that has not been alive and sought the celestial air.
Therefore, turn your stone into blood, and the blood into air, and the air into earth, and you will have the whole magistery.
The second degree of our regulation is the separation of the stone into a spiritual state. This separation is indeed made by the division of the elements and their full purification.
The purification of separation, as Rasis says: The nature of the stone is to be divided into four elements and to be individually purified through distillation. For fire extracts what consists within. For it consumes the impurities of the stone through distillation and subtilizes it through the levigation of air. And therefore our stone is divided into four elements, so that it may be more subtilized and more thoroughly purified from filth, and that it may be more firmly united afterward.
But because putrefied things are more digested and more easily divided, putrefaction must necessarily precede the division of the elements, so that the elemental parts may be dissolved in it and thus be rendered more suitable for extraction through the four elements.
Side Notes: Putrefaction before division
Take therefore, as was said, the dissolved matter, place it in a cucurbit, and pour over it the black powder previously collected. Close it with its alembic and receiver so that it cannot evaporate. Give it the most subtle fire for a philosophical month, so that it becomes more foul and corrupt.
For as the philosopher says: corruption is the putrefaction of the substance of a thing, caused by the retention of vapor and the action of fire. For if it disperses through the air, it does not putrefy at all. Therefore, seal your vessel so it cannot breathe. But when the philosophical month is completed, distill the four elements gently—namely water, earth, air, and fire—placing each one separately. Yet take great care not to burn the tincture with excessive heat during their separation. For the secret, as Rasis says, is to prepare the elements subtly so they are protected from burning in every distillation, until the tincture is drawn from them. For if the tincture is burned, its effect will be lost.
Therefore, continue the fire gently and collect the water as it first emerges. For the first thing that distills, as Avicenna says, is water, though it is not yet pure. Next distills fire mixed with air. Store these together until you separate them. What remains in the bottom is burnt matter—black and dry earth.
Thus you have the four elements partially separated, though not yet purified. The first element is pure water, cold and moist in nature, which must be distilled seven times, and it will become shining and clear, white like crystal. Interposing inhumation at the end between distillations greatly helps it to reach the sign of perfect rectification. That sign is the brilliance, crystalline clarity, without dregs—unless perhaps white ones. As for the dregs which water makes during its rectification, separate them each time and set them aside with the earth collected earlier.
Keep the rectified water aside, for it is the philosophers’ Mercury, sal ammoniac, making the marriage, the water of life, washing Laton, and with it the spirits are dissolved and coagulated, incerated and fixed. The second element is air, still mixed with fire, being in itself hot and moist. Place it in a flask with water or ashes, apply fire beneath until all has distilled. What distills is air, oil, sulfur, arsenic, alum, soul, gold, and tincture; and what remains at the bottom is dry and reddish fire, tending toward blackness and redness, which you should set aside.
The rectification of air is the same as that of water, and the signs are the same for both. This must be done by distilling the liquid seven times, or until it attains crystalline clarity, without dregs—unless perhaps white ones. The dregs the air makes during its distillation collect each time and store with the aforesaid fire. The rectified air, as said, keep sealed below, whose signs are a droplet, a thicker water, a more intense heat, and airy lightness—so that if you mix it with the aforementioned water, it floats above.
And so it is called air, oil, fat, and ointment, grease and butter, which colors, fixes, and hardens moist things; which colors unworthy stones; which even transforms a woman into a man, and makes the leprous clean, and stabilizes chattering teeth.
The third and fourth elements are fire and earth, which, as Rasis says, should be prepared together for the sake of shortening the time. And so, also, that their mixture may be good, and their preparation not confused, and that they are not burned in the struggle of fire, and so that one may dye the other well, it is safer and more fitting to prepare them together. Therefore, take the elements of earth and fire, join them, grind and calcine them with well-kindled fire, and carefully collect the air remaining in them. For as Rasis says: the air that separates more slowly from the earth is considered more precious.
When it has been well calcined and is free from all air, it will be of pale color, suitable for impregnation. But if any spirit remains in it, it will stay somewhat blackened and will be less suited to the operation. And so, as Plato says: you must, as much as you are able, carry out the separation of the elements until nothing of spirit remains in the body—unless what is not perceptible. And the sign of this will be when nothing evaporates from the body. When you have separated all four elements, with proper separation, it will be suitable for the air, bright and dyeing, and a dry body over which the substance of earth prevails.
Therefore, always combine part with part, and keep each separately, and this is the proper separation and complete purification of the elements. For no water is needed in our work unless it is white, nor air unless it is saffron-colored, nor earth unless pale and whitish. Then the water is fit for dissolving, effective for penetration, and the air superabundant for dyeing the oil. Divide your stone, therefore, into four elements, rectify them, and join them into one, and you will have the whole magistery.
The third stage of our work is the reduction of the stone into natural earth, which indeed is accomplished by the breaking down of the earth and the inceration of water over it. The inceration of water is to return the parts of the earth, deprived of moisture by calcination, into moisture, and to make them like earth. For a dry and clean body is suitable for drinking, since every dry thing seeks its own moisture. Therefore, tie the hands of the weaned woman behind her back, so that she cannot harm her child; place upon her hands a toad, so that she may suckle him until she dies; and when the woman is dead in the fire, the toad will be full of milk.
Therefore, place the calcined earth in its vessel, pour over it the rectified water as described, and cook it with gentle fire for a week, and afterward, again calcine the cooked matter.
Then pour over it another portion of water, as before; cook it gently for a week, gently calcine it, then once more place it with new water to cook. Thus do continuously, until the earth has consumed ten times its weight in water.
For all things desire water, since it provides nourishment both to fire and to other substances, and it encompasses a mystery worthy of admiration.
For in the vine it is wine, in the olive it is oil, and by it, diverse kinds of fruit are transformed in the tree. So also in our earth it is generated from water, for it is cold, and is called quicksilver, which is hidden in the body of the magnesia and must be congealed therein. And thus, when it is congealed, it becomes like ashes, because the earth dries, the water moistens. And therefore, the weight must always be carefully observed, lest excessive dryness or superfluous moisture by their administration corrupt the work: namely, that you may roast away only as much as the dissolution added, and in inhumation you dissolve only as much as roasting took away. And thus, each time after the calcination of the earth, pour over it the separated water—not too much, nor too little. For if too much, there will be a sea of confusion; but if too little, it will be burnt to ashes.
Therefore, after you have poured in the water, cook it for a week, and gently calcine the earth. And thus, week by week, you shall prepare it by grinding, irrigating, and roasting, until the whole is turned into whiteness.
Side Note: Slow Fire.
And know that slow fire in this disposition of the work promises hope of salvation; and because the earth bears no fruit without frequent watering, to irrigate, roast, and inhumate many times establishes the summit of success in this business. And whatsoever elements emerge unmixed, put them aside separately, else you will corrupt all.
Side Note: Nourishment.
The earth must be nourished first with little milk, later with more; thus it is seen in an infant. And therefore wash the earth, grind it, and cook it until it has drunk of its own water as much as it can drink, or until the earth itself has become like paste, adhering with the water.
Side Note: Whitening.
To accomplish this, fire and Azoth suffice for you.
Side Note: Impregnation.
And this because, as Morienus says, fire and Azoth impregnate Laton, they wash and cleanse it, and also remove darkness from it. For the more something has been washed, the more clearly and beautifully will it appear. Therefore, whiten Laton, and break your books, lest your hearts be broken.
Cook the dry black earth with the moistness of its water, until the dry drinks the moist, and you will possess the entire magistery. For when the water has thickened and coagulated, the earth will be impregnated with seed, and made ready for birth.
Burn it, therefore, with a dry fire, that it may bring forth a son; and guard it carefully, lest it flee into smoke.
And this is what the Philosopher says in the Turba: “Whiten the earth, and swiftly sublime it by fire, until there comes forth from it the spirit which you will find therein, who is called the Bird of Hermes.” Do not despise this ash, for it is the diadem of your heart, the ash of those who endure, the crown of victory, and the curd of milk.
To purify is, therefore, to sublime, to wash, and to whiten. For that which rises above is effective purification; that which falls to the bottom is dregs and corruption. This, then, is the ash extracted from ash, the offspring of the philosophers, the white foliated earth in which gold must be sown.
Whence Hermes says: “Draw from the ray its shadow and dryness, which kills it, and sow gold in the white foliated earth.” But this gold is not the gold of the vulgar, rather it is the gold of the soul, by which the gold of the foliated earth is tinged.
Wherefore Calid says: “No one has ever been able, nor shall ever be able, to tinge gold except with gold.” Plato also says: “When you have spoken each species from the parts of the work, bring back the spirit to the body, and sublime it. What is sublimed from it shall be clear and bright. Then return to it the approved soul, that they may be commingled. For the soul is the bond of the spirit, just as the body is the bond of the soul. And when it has stood firm through time, the stronger will prevail in it, so that the whole shall be converted—namely, the body into soul, and the soul into spirit.”
The fourth degree of our governance is the espousal of the stone into a bodily lime, that it may be fixed in that body from which it was originally taken. And this is because the spirit, when it has dissolved the body and the soul, so that they may exist in their own form, remains not fixed unless you capture it.
Occupation, indeed, is this: that thou join the spirit with the body from which thou preparedst it in the beginning, for therein it is detained from fleeing, by the persistence of the body. And therefore Plato saith: When the spirit dissolveth the soul together with the body, it remaineth not fixed. Join it therefore with the body, that it may generate its like. But join it not with just any body, as if it could unite with any; nay, only with that from which it was originally taken. If thou doest this, it shall become yccyr.
And know that the purpose of all operators shall fail after the completion of the work, if they neglect this secret. Mark well therefore the words, and seal the mysteries. For when the spirit hath washed the white foliated earth, naught of it shall remain fixed unless thou detain it with that body from which it was prepared in the beginning.
The spirit is Mercury, and its first body is white sulphur and red. Therefore, when the spirit dissolveth the sulphureous body in all things, as has been said above, it is not fixed unless thou occupiest it with new sulphur, from which it was prepared at the beginning.
For white and red sulphur, as Aristotle saith, congeal quicksilver into gold and silver. Join therefore thy work with the body, that it may generate its like; if thou doest this, yccyr shall be upon other bodies that which thou joinest. Otherwise it shall not be fixed, for nature is contained only within its own nature.
And this is because, as Plato saith: Nature followeth nature, and nature containeth nature, and teacheth it to do battle against fire. Make therefore a marriage between man and wife, and thou shalt possess the whole magistery. But their preparation, as Avicenna saith, is this: That first thou cleanse the man on one part, and the woman on the other part, so that, being purified from filth, they may more fitly be joined. For if thou prepare not the bodies, they shall not be able to love one another.
Make peace therefore among the elements, that they may lovingly embrace in mutual union. For the sharp magistery of the philosophers setteth the soul into the calxes of bodies; then the vigour of the spirits is diminished into the smallest calxes of lead-like substances.
Likewise, when thou wishest to cast the ferment into the elixir, first mix it with the spirits, for unless thou do this, its nature shall not be imprinted upon them. Mix therefore well the ferment with the elements, and thou shalt have the magistery.
THE END.
LATIN VERSION
TRACTATULUS ARISTOTELIS DE PRACTICA LAPIDIS PHILOSOPHICI incipit.
Cum omne corpus secundum philosophum aut est elementū, aut ab elementis generatū, nostro magisterio summe necessaria est generatio, ipsa aut nō nisi ex quatuor naturis qƺ sunt quatuor elementa consistere potest.
Notes : Quatuor naturae.
Elemēta vero quatuor sunt, aer, aqua, ignis & terra, sine quibus generatio omnis priuat effectu. Elementoru nanque duo sunt lapidea, & duo aquatica, lapidea quide sunt ignis & terra, aquatica vero, aer & aqua. Eoru quoqƺ duo sunt amica, & duo inimica. Terra & aqua sunt amica, ignis & aqua sunt inimica.
Fac ergo pacem inter inimicos, & totum habebis magisterium. Sed pacem inter elementa facere non potes, nisi per conuersionem eorum ad inuicem. Ea autem ad inuicem bene conuertere est bene possibile.
Quia vt dicit philosophus: De aptitudine omnium elementorum, est, vt mutentur adinuicem. Nam ignis mutatur in aerem, & aer in aquam. Sic ignis mutatur in aquam, & aqua in terram, & econuerso.
Conuerte ergo elementa, & quod quæris inuenies. Nam nostra compositio vt dicit Morienes, est naturarum mutatio, & earum, calidi cum frigido, humidi cum sicco admiscibilis connexio. Aquæ enim frigiditas, & ignis caliditas, aeris humiditas & terræ siccitas adinuicem concorditer ligata, integrum scilicet primum constituunt generatum.
Sunt nanqƺ elementa, vt dicit philosophus circulariter conuersiua. Et ideo generantur & corrumpuntur adinuicem, sed hoc quod non nisi operatione & regimine perficitur.
Modi vero operationum sunt quatuor, puta, lapidis dissolutio in aquam spiritualem, lapidis separatio in statum spiritualem, lapidis reductio in terram naturalem, & lapidis desponsatio in calcem spiritualem.
Lapidis dissolutio fit per contritionem, lapidis separatio per distillationem, lapidis reductio per incerationem, desponsatio per fixationem.
Primus igit gradus nostri regiminis siue operis est dissolutio lapidis in aquam spiritualem, vt dicit philosophus. Quoniam primus modus præparationis est, vt lapis fiat Mercurius. Ipse enim est primum corpus operans in grossis rebus, vt reddat eas ad modum suum. Si enim dimitteret res grossas in sua grossitie, & non subtiliaret eas, non dissolueretur lapis, nec putresceret, Et ideo si aliud beneficium non haberemus a Mercurio, nisi quod corpora reddit subtilia ad sui naturam, satis deberet nobis sufficere. Accipe ergo filium tuum charissimum, & sorori suę albæ æqualiter coniunge, propina illis poculum amoris, quia beneuolentiæ consensus res rebus adiungit.
Side Notes : Coniunctio amorosa.
Superfunde illis mulsum donec inebrientur, & in partes minimas diuidantur. Veruntamen memoriter teneas, quod omnia munda conueniunt mundis, alioquin sibi filios generant dissimiles. Et ideo vt dicit Auicenna. Primum quod debes facere in opere, est quod sublimes Mercurium. Deinde mitte in Mercurio mundo munda corpora, hinc contere, coque, reitera, & ne tedeat te hoc facere. Cum vero videris nigredinem in aquæ superficie apparentem, collige eam caute, & repone ad partem, sciens pro certo iam lapidem tuum in parte dissolutum esse. Aquam vero totam distilla per pannum, quod in eo reperies dissolutum, reliquum ad recoquendum repone, donec totum in fuliginis modum nigrescat. Hec omnia fiant temperato igne primi gradus calido & humido.
Side Notes : Caput corui.
Si enim nimius calor affuerit, nigredinem in ruborem conuertet, & calor festinæ rubedinis est signum combustionis. Et ideo si bene rexeris originem artis, erit caput corui, in illa nanqƺ corpus dissoluitur & in prima sui materiam redigitur. Et illud ideo, quia vt dicit Aristoteles. Corpora non alterantur nisi prius in primam materia reducantur. Et ideo vt dicit Plato, indiges, quod in solutione eorum labores, vt grauioribus partibus abiectis, opus cum leuioribus cōpleatur, Quod quide fit per sublimationem. Iugula ergo filios tuos, & sanguinem eoru recipe, carnes vero proijce canibus, ne latrent super te. Et illud ideo, quia sanguis est anima, & anima est vita, & vita lapis noster est. Nihil enim lapidi nostro conuenit, quod viuum non fuerit, & cœlū aeris non petierit. Conuerte ergo lapidē tuū in sanguinem, & sanguinem in aerem, & aerem in terram, & totum habebis magisterium.
Secundus gradus nostri regiminis est lapidis separatio in statum spiritualem, Quæ quidem separatio fit per elementorum diuisionem, & plenam eorum depurationem.
Depuratio separationis vt dicit Rasis: Natura lapidis est in quatuor elementa diuidere, & ea singulariter per distillationem mundare. Nam ignis extrahit, qđ in interioribus consistit. Comedit enim sordes lapidis per distillationem, & subtiliat ipsum per aeris leuigationem, & ideo lapis noster in quatuor elementis diuiditur, vt magis subtilietur, & a sordibus melius depuretur, & vt firmius postea coniungatur. Sed quia putrida vt magis digesta leuius diuiduntur.
Elementorum diuisionem debet Putrefactio præcedere necessario, vt dissoluantur in illo partes elementales, & sic aptior postea ad extrahendum per quatuor elemēta reddatur.
Side Notes : putrefactio ante diuisionem
Accipe ergo vt dictum est dissolutum, pone in cucurbitam, & superfunde puluerem nigrum superius collectum, claude cum alembico suo et recipiente, ne possit euaporare, da igne subtilissimum per mensem philosophicum, vt magis obscœnum fiat et corruptum.
Nam vt dicit philosophus: Corruptio est substantię rei putrefactio, ex vaporis retētionc, & ignis actione. Si enim per aera dispergat, minime putrescit. Claude ergo vas tuū ne respirare possit, peracto autem mense philosophico, distilla suauiter quatuor elementa, puta aquam, terram, aerem, & ignem, quodlibet seorsum ponendo. Veruntamen optime caueas, ne in eoru separatione nimio igne tincturam comburas, Secretum nanqƺ est, vt dicit Rasis, elementa subtiliter præparare, vt sint luta ab adustione in omni distillatione, donec tinctura sumatur ab eis. Si vero comburat tinctura, et eius finietur effectus, Continua ergo suauiter ignē & recipe primo aquā egrediente, Nam primum quod distillat, vt dicit Auicēna, est aqua, sed nondum est pura. Postea stillat ignis cũ aere mixtus. Seruant in simul illa, donec diuidas, Quod vero remanet in fundo cōbustum est terra nigra & sicca.
Et sic habes quatuor elementa in parte separata, sed nondum depurata. Primum ergo elementum est aqua pura, frigida & humida in natura, quæ quidem est septies distillanda, & erit splendida & clara, alba vt cristallus. Inhumatio autem in fine interposita inter distillationes multum iuuat, vt ad perfectæ rectificationis signum melius deueniat, quod quidem signum est splendor, cristallina serenitas, absqƺ fecibus, nisi forte albis. Feces vero quas facit aqua in rectificatione sua, omni vice, separa, & repone cum terra superius collecta.
Side Notes : Splendor cristallinus
Aquam vero rectificatam serua ad partem, quoniam ipsa est Mercurius philosophorum, sal armoniacus faciens matrimonium, aqua vitę, abluens latonem, & cum ipsa soluuntur spiritus & coagulantur, incerantur & figuntur. Secundum vero elemētum est aer, igne adhuc mixtum, existēs in se calidus & humidus. Pone ergo ipsum in cucurbita cũ aqua vel cinere, dans subtus ignem, donec distillauerit totū. Quod vero distillat, est aer, oleū, sulphur, arsenicum, alumen, anima, aurum, & tinctura, & quod in fundo remanet, est ignis siccus & ruffus, tendēs ad nigredinem & rubedine, quem ponas ad partē. Rectificatio autē aeris eadem est, sicut rectificatio aquę & eadem signa amborum. Quæ quidem in humido distillando septies habet fieri, vel donec ad cristallinam perueniat serenitatem, absqƺ fecibus, nisi forte albis Feces vero quas fecit aer in sua distilla tione omni vice collige, & cū supradicto igne ad partē repone, aerē autem vt dictū est rectificatū reserua deorsum, bene obturatum, cuius signa sunt, gutta, et spissior aqua, calor intensior, & leuitas aerea, qa si ipsum praedictae aque miscueris, superna labit.
Side Notes: Oleum.
Et ideo dicitur aer oleū, pinguedo, et vnguentū adeps, & butirū, quod colorat, figit, & indurat res humidas, quod colorat lapides non bonos, qđ etiā redigit mulierē in masculū, & leprosum efficit mundum, ac dentes concucientes facit stabiliri.
Side Notes : Mulier fit masculus.
Tertiu quoqƺ & quartum elementum sunt ignis & terra, que vt dicit Rasis, propter abbreuiationē temporis in simul sunt præparanda. Et ideo etiam vt bona sit eorū commixtio, & nō confundat præparatio, et ne adurantur super ignis pugnam, et vt vnus aliud bene tingat, et ideo preparare eos bene insimul est magis saluū & magis propinquū. Accipe ergo elemēta terræ & ignis, coniunge, & tere, & calcine bene accenso igni, recipe caute aerem illis remanente, quia vt dicit Rasis: Aer qui a terra tardius separatur preciofior habetur.
Side Notes : Nota bene.
Cu vero bene fuerit calcinata, & ab omni aere vacua, erit coloris pallidi, habilis ad pregnationē. Si vero spiritus in ea remanserit, subnigra manebit, & minus bene operationi conuenit. Et ideo vt dicit Plato: Oportet te pro posse tuo separationē elementorū exercere, donec non remaneat aliquid de spiritu in corpore, nisi quod nō sentiatur. Et signum huius erit, cum nihil a corpore euaporauerit. Cum autem separaueris omnia elementa quatuor, separatione recta erit appropriatum aeri, lucidum & tingens, & corpus siccum super quo vincit substātia terre. Cosequere ergo omni tempore parte cum parte, et serua singulariter eorū vnumquodqƺ, et hoc est elementorū separatio recta, & depuratio cōpleta, Qm nullo nostro operi necessaria est aqua, nisi candida, nec aer nisi croceus, nec terra, nisi pallida, & subalba. Tunc enim est habilis ad soluendū aqua, efficax ad ingrediendum, est aer superabundans ad tingēdum oleum. Diuide igitur lapidem tuum in quatuor elementa, rectifica ea, & coniunge invnum, & totum habebis magisterium.
Side Notes : Inceratio quomodo fiat.
Tertius ergo gradus nostri operis est reductio lapidis in terrā naturale, Quæ quide reductio fit per terre contritione, & aque super ipsam incerationē. Inceratio aut aque est partes terræ per calcinationē priuatas humiditate in humiditate reducere, & ad modum terræ facere. Nam corpus siccum & mundum est congruum ad potandum, quoniam omne siccum appetit suum humidum. Liga ergo mulieri ablactanti manus post tergū, vt non possit affligere filium, appone super manus eius bufonem, vt ablactet eum donec moriatur, et fuerit mulier mortua in igne, erit bufo grossus de lacte.
Pone ergo in vase suo terram superius calcinatam superfunde aquam rectificatam, vt dictum est, coque lento igne per hebdomadam, & postea sua iter calcina decoctam materiam.
Side Notes : Calcinatio leuis.
Hinc superinfunde aliam aquam, vt prius, leuiter coque per hebdomadam, leuiter calcina, iterum repone cum nua aqua ad coquendum. Sic iuigiter facito, donec terra exhauserit decuplum sui de aqua.
Nam omnes res aquam appetunt, quoniam ipsa tam igni quam alijs rebus præstat alimentum, & dignum admiratione complectitur arcanum.
Est namque ipsa in vite vinum, in oleastro oleum, & per ipsam in arbore fructus diuersi generis transformantur. Sic etiam in terra nostra ex aqua generatur, ipsa nanque et frigida, & dictur argentum viuum, quod in corpore magnesiae est occultatum & in eo gelandū. Itaqƺ cũ congeletur, cineri similis efficitur, quia terra dessiccat, aqua humectat. Et ideo pondus est vbiqƺ notandu, ne nimia siccitas aut superfluus humor administrando corrumpat, vt videlicet tantum assando decoquas, quantum dissolutio adiecit, & inhumando dissoluas, quantum assando defecit. Et ideo omni vice post calcinationē terræ superfunde aquam separate, nec multū videlicet nec parū, quia si multum fuerit, fiet pelagus conturbationis, si vero parum, comburetur in fauillam. Idcirco postquam infuderis aquam, decoque per hebdomadam, & calcina suauiter terram, & ita hebdomadatim præparabis conterendo, irrigando, & assando, donec totum redigatur in album.
Side Notes : Ignis lentus.
Et scito quod ignis lentus in hac dispositione operis spem salutis promittit, & quia terra fructum non gerit absqƺ irrigatione frequenti, Multoties irrigare, assare, inhumare huius negotij effectu summū constituit. Et quecunqƺ emanant incommixta, seorsum repone, alioquin omnia corrumpis.
Side Notes : Nutritio.
Oportet autem terram nutriri primo paruo lacte postea maiori, sic est videre in infante. Et ideo ablue terram, contere et coque eam donec de sua biberit aqua, quantum bibere possit, Vel donec ipsa terra fuerit sicut pasta, adhaerens cum aqua.
Side Notes : Dealbatio.
Ad hoc autem faciendum ignis & azoth tibi sufficiunt.
Side Notes : Impraegnatio.
Et istud ideo, quia vt dicit Morienes ignis & azoth latonem impregnant, abluunt & mundant, obscuritatem quoqƺ ab eo auferunt. Nam quanto magis aliquid ablutum fuerit, tanto magis limpidius apparebit & melius. Dealbate ergo latonem, & libros rumpite, ne & corda vestra rumpantur. Coquite siccum terre nigrū cum humido aquæ suæ, donec siccum bibat humidum, & totum habebis magisterium. Quia cum aqua fuerit inspissata, & coagulata, erit terra foetu impregnata, & ad pariendum prompta.
Combure ergo ipsum igne sicco, vt pariat filium, & custodi ipsum caute, ne effugiat in fumum.
Et hoc est quod dicit philosophus in turba: Terram dealbate, & igne cito sublimate, quousqƺ exeat ex ipsa spiritus quem in ea inuenies, qui dicitur auis Hermes. Hunc cinerem ne vilipendas, quoniam ipse est diadema cordis tui, & permanentium cinis, corona victoriæ, & coagulum lactis. Mundare ergo est sublimare, abluere & dealbare. Na quod superius ascendit est efficax munditia, quod vero ad ima labitur, fex & corruptio. Hic est ergo cinis extractus a cinere, & genitum philosophorum, terra alba foliata, in qua seminandum est aurum. Vnde dicit Hermes: Extrahe a radio suam vmbram & secem, quæ ipsum interficit, & seminate aurum in terra alba foliata, sed istud aurum non est aurum vulgi, imo est aurum animæ, quo tingitur aurum terræ foliatæ.
Vnde dicit Calidius: Nemo vnqƺ potuit nec de cætero poterit tingere aurum nisi cum auro. Plato quoque dicit. Cum dixeris vnamquanqƺ speciem ex partibus operis, reduc spiritus ad corpus, et sublima illud. Quod vero sublimatur ex illo erit clas rum & lucidum. Reduc super illa approbatum animæ post hoc vt commisceantur. Nam anima est vinculum spiritus, sicut corpus est vinculum animæ, Cumque steterit per moram, vincet in eo illud quod est fortius, vt conuertat totum videlicet corpus in animam & animam in spiritum.
Quartus gradus nostri regiminis est desponsatio lapidis in calcem corporalem, vt figatur in corpore illo vnde sumptu fuit ab initio. Et illud ideo quia spiritus cum soluerit corpus et animam, vt existant in forma sua, non permanet fixum, nisi occupaueris ipsum.
Occupatio vero est vt coniungas ipsum cum corpore de quo præparasti in principio, quoniam in eo occupatur a fuga spiritus, ad supersistentia corporis. Et ideo dicit Plato: Cum spiritus soluerit animam simul, & corpus non stat fixum: Coniunge ergo ipsum cum corpore, vt generet sibi simile. Nec coniungas ipsum cum quouis, vt constet ad se nisi cum eo, de quo fuit a principio. Si feceris hoc, fit yccyr. Et scito, quod ab omnibus operantibus deficit propositum post operis complementum, si omiserit hoc secretum. Notate ergo verba, signate misteria Quia spiritus cum lauerit terram albam foliatam, nō permanet aliquid eorum fixum, nisi occupaueris ipsum cum corpore illo, de quo præparatum erat in principio. Spiritus est Mercurius, & corpus suum primum est sulphur albū & rubeum. Ideo cum spiritus soluerit corpus sulphureū in omnibus, vt dictum est superius preparatum, non figitur, nisi occupaueris ipsum cum sulphure nouo, de quo præparatum erat in principio.
Nam sulphur album & rubeum, vt dicit Aristoteles, congelat argentum viuum in aurū & argentū. Coniunge ergo opus tuum cum corpore, vt generet sibi simile, si hoc feceris erit yccyr super alia corpora id quod cōiungis, alioquin nōn figetur, quia natura non continetur nisi in sua natura.
Et hoc ideo, quia vt dicit Plato: Natura naturam sequitur, et natura continet naturam, et docet eam contra ignem præliari. Fac ergo desponsationem in virum & vxorem, & totum habebis magisterium. Sed præparatio eorum vt dicit Auicenna est: Vt primo virum ex vna parte, & vxorem ex alia parte mundes, quatenus mūdati a sordibus melius coniungantur, quoniam si non præparas corpora non poterunt amari.
Fac ergo pacem inter elemēta, vt conuenienti amplexu se diligant. Nam acutum magisterium philosophorum imponit animam in calces corporum, tunc vigor spirituum comminuit in minimas calces plumborum. Item quando vis mittere fermentum in elixir, prius misce illud cum spiritibus, quoniam nisi hoc faceres, non imprimeretur sua natura in ipsis. Commisce ergo bene fermentum cum elementis, & magisterium habebis.
FINIS.