Count Bernhard’s
On the Great Physical Stone.

Of the two little flowers
from which the Stone of the Wise grows.

Translated to English from the book:
Des Hn. Bernhardi, Grafen von der Marck und Tervis Chymische Schrifften, von dem gebenedeiten Stein der Weisen 1717

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Once I was almost cast down with grief, that I and others, in the true and natural and likewise divine art of Alchymy, in so many years had learned nothing certain nor could attain it, and thus likewise stood in doubt whether the Almighty would let us poor sinners in this condition know this.

In such a state of speculation it happened that I travelled and, upon a mountain, met a man in the guise of a peasant, who maintained himself upon the mountain by the work of his hands.

This same peasant had in his hand two little flowers, the one of a male, the other of a female sex, of two different natures.

I asked the peasant what he intended to do with the flowers?

For I knew them both, but did not know that they were of male and female sex, of two different colours.

Then the peasant showed me that the flowers were in truth the Prima Materia in themselves, from which the great Stone of the Philosophers is made, and which, with the help of God, could still be made.

At this I marveled greatly, that from such a small growth so highly important a Stone, and through slight preparation, should be made; and still greater was the wonder that the work was so poor and slight that a peasant should understand it; and it rejoiced me from my heart that, before my end, I had seen a man who could have and understand such a treasure; and therefore I went to take counsel with him, how the matter might be set about, so that from this stone I might learn the right preparation and somewhat more.

But all my thoughts and speculation were at last [cautious/uncertain],
for the matter was too weighty / too important [utmost importance] — such that, rightly, no one should nor can desire it.

Therefore I said to the peasant with a sigh: Blessed is the man to whom God the Almighty reveals and entrusts such a secret and treasure.

Thereupon the peasant said:
If it is God’s will, then you also may obtain such from God; only pay heed to what is as much as possible in accord with Nature; for the work is very simple, and without any toil and slight.

With that I had to let it rest for this time.

At another time, not long thereafter, I set out again on the journey, and I went again to the peasant, and again began with further circling questions about the flowers, which again lay before the peasant on the table and, in the hot summer, had not withered; and I said how it could be that from such a poor thing the great Stone of the Philosophers should be produced.

Then the peasant asked whether I had not read in the philosophers’ writings those which
say that such a Stone from a mean and almost universally known base thing, with very little effort, could be made so would he entrust me with such a great secret;

I should thank God for it, assist the poor and the thirsty, and use such a treasure rightly.

This rejoiced me from my heart, and I did not know what answer I should give at once, and said: I praise God, and I also cannot thank Him sufficiently for such a great favor.

I was now eager to learn how indeed the matter was to be set to work, and I begged the peasant that he would declare to me the right ground and not mislead me.

Thereupon he said:
I would readily be able to judge that this is the right way to the Art; and whoever misses it, for him it would be impossible to come to this high treasure and the noble Stone; and he said furthermore: Have a sweating bath made, which inside is secured all around with stones and clear crystals.

And the crystals have them well set up of old, thick, oaken wood, high and firmly secured, and make an enclosure, so that the hot sun in the middle of summer does not
shine through the crystals into the sweating bath.

Around the wooden enclosure make a copper enclosure which lies smooth against the wood, as high as the wooden enclosure is, so that no foreign moisture may come into the woodwork.

Around such a well-secured bath, have a water-trench led, into which there leads a stream from a warm bath, so that in winter time it does not freeze, and the water in the trench remains constantly open.

Finally, around it build a good wall, so that the bath is well protected from mishap.

When now all this has been diligently carried out, then lay the one flower therein, of the male sex, chopped very finely, washed and again dried, into the middle of the crystalline bath; close the same with a crystal cover very firmly; likewise close the copper enclosure fast with its own wood, so that this artificial sweating bath is well guarded and safe from all foreign heat and moisture.

In such a bath, in steady warmth, let this same noble flower sweat until forty days, without ceasing, without rest; then you will obtain from such a flower the most noble scent, and the most subtle that lies hidden therein; yet the flower in the sweating-bath will not wither, and also its power and substance keep their power, that notwithstanding the above named tribulation it will nevertheless bear its seed and bring forth fruits, which is to be wondered at.

And the peasant further says: just as you have done with the flower of the male sex and dealt with it in the sweating bath, so do likewise with the flower of the female sex; and it likewise will not wither, and yet will give forth its scent and the most subtle part of itself; and after the sweating bath there will also be gathered from the flower
its natural seed and fruit.

Consequently, take in the name of God from the noble scent and the most subtle of the male sex one part, and of the female sex ten parts; put it again into the sweating bath, close it again beforehand quite well, so that no stranger thing can get in; then you will see how at first it turns into a black colour, and thereafter betakes itself into wondrous colours; there the king lies with the queen in his joy, and they unite with one another in unanimity.

Let it stand its time until the Philosophical Night is past; then you will find the king of all earthly riches, red as a ruby, alone; and the queen has fixed herself with the king into his essence, and two have become one body; and this king, he says, may be called the true quintum essence, the quintessence, above which there can be no wealth of the world.

Then I asked further, how I should understand that this Stone is to be esteemed so highly.

Thereupon the peasant informed me:
If I take one part of this thus prepared stone, and add that to the most subtle part of the flower of the female sex, two parts, and set it again into the sweating bath, then all of it, in a short time, after the consumption of all the colours (which again appear), will pass into the noble and greatest Stone; and once more two will become one body, so that by such a multiplication there after an infinite projection can be made
upon all metals, turning them into good, steadfast gold, in great quantity.

When I heard this, I praised and thanked God.

Then I asked further whether I might know the flower; for I did not know where it grew
in quantity, nor where he had obtained this flower.

Then the peasant told me:
These flowers grow in various lands and mountains (which he named to me), in very narrow and deep valleys, so that the sun from the beginning of the world had not shone upon them; nor had winter’s snow or cold harmed them; yet they were of pleasant and vigorous virtue, and with good skill, as he informed me, they must be broken off.

Therefore a certain Philosopher has not written amiss, or said, that from them the great
Stone of the Philosophers is made, be one single thing—that is, of male and female sex—reckoned as one body; and so common that the poor have it even more than the rich; that is to say, these flowers are broken off by the poor and brought to the rich for their pleasure for money.

I asked further how the sweating bath was warmed, whether it also had to be heated artificially?

Then he laughed and said: I use for that my farmhand, or a goose herd, or a maid it is
all one—for the furnace for this sweating bath is so formed that they cannot make the fire too strong, nor spoil anything therein, and yet it remains in a certain strong heat which is needed, so that even any hen’s egg might be hatched inside; the reason, as he
told me, was reasonable.

Finally I asked whether then there were no other flowers than just those which had such great virtues in them.

Then the peasant told me that of the male flowers there grow six kinds, and only one single kind in the whole world of the female sex. He set it before me, and said that from any one of them, when the female is added, a Stone of the Philosophers of the aforesaid form could be made, and each one begets its like.

He explained the reasons to me at length; they were also reasonable.

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To the reader.

Favourable reader, you will remember,
as was stated before, that the four books
of Bernhard were written in the French language
and from the same were first translated
into the Latin tongue by Garacolus.

It has now come into my hands that this is the
beginning of the fourth book in those
same languages; this I also wished to share
with you, so that this work may thus
come forth completely into the light of day.

Farewell.
J. T. D.

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Beginning of the fourth book of BERNHARD,
as it is written in the French language.

At last I found a great orchard, made by the aforesaid philosophers; there I went in to
amuse myself, because for I was weary from writing and studying.

And there was an old castle or fortress, in which dwelt two dragons: the one red and heavy of body, and the other was white, without wings; and they came together and embraced one another in the heat of the sun when it is in Aries, and they played together until the joined dragons perished, and together were transformed into a black
raven, which kept themselves busy with one another until they became white as snow in the
heat of the sun when it stands in Taurus; so long until the sun came into Leo, so that
the raven, which had become white, had become red in the last, like blood, in the heat; and in this work it is changed into a conjunction, and he called himself the richest in the world.

Thereat I was frightened and thought to go out of the orchard; then I found a fountain, very firmly walled about and guarded by an old white(-haired) man, whom I asked to whom
the fountain belonged, which was so well kept.

I was answered: this aforesaid king, well known in these lands, is of the fountain, and he never departs from the fountain; and afterwards he is dried by the fountain, in which thereafter he remains to bathe for 282 days, or nine and a half months; thereby the king becomes so highly united and rejuvenates himself that no one can overcome him.

Therefore the king himself made the fountain, and he rattles first in a white, clear and translucent stone, and rattles therein clear as the moon, sky-blue; and so that no animal might come therein and gnaw the same, a hollow oak is cut round about through the middle, and that protects it and makes the heats of the sun; and likewise outside around it the Hat of Venus is contrived into the walls; and the fountain is well guarded, because it is of wondrous powers and natures, so that it does not penetrate through, nor open itself from the heat—otherwise we should be utterly lost, if it should happen
that the fountain ran out.

I asked: have you seen the king?

Answer: yes, I have seen him go in; but after his entrance I have not seen him again—he keeps himself shut in and lets himself not be seen for one hundred and thirty-five days; and thereafter he begins to reveal himself and to appear white as snow; meanwhile the doorkeeper serves him and keeps his bath constantly warm, to preserve his natural heat, hidden in his clear water, as prescribed, which bath is maintained day and night.

Then I asked him: how is the king’s clothing?

He answered: a coat beaten of gold, and a doublet black as velvet, and his shirt white as snow, and his body sanguine-red like blood.

Then I asked: what people conduct the king with him into the fountain—are they strangers or other common folk?

And thereupon I was answered, laughing thus: when the king finds it meet in his counsel to enter there, he dismisses all his people—there is then no one but the keeper; he too does not enter.

(As the used copy has it, and continues
further:)

Note: the fifth are from the fountain she is the sixth; from her they have everything they have, each his own, as the king; therefore the fountain draws after her, and harasses her to death; thereafter she appears through that same kingdom, and each takes his own: Saturn the coat of gold, forty days.

Thereafter, through the ruling power and nature of the king, Jupiter [takes] the doublet, black, likewise forty days; then Jupiter hands the doublet over to Luna, who is the third person; she keeps it 80 days or more; thereafter the keeping is under Mars, the fourth person, and under him the Wise will flourish greatly; he keeps it 80 days or more; thereafter, when a good artist or philosopher is [present], the king is stripped down to his shirt, white as snow, drying without redness; thereafter the king takes off his shirt and gives it to be kept by Venus, who is his fifth person; she keeps it forty days; then she gives it from herself to Sol, so that the king becomes quite naked; his body looks more like leprosy within, and without like sanguine red as blood.

I asked: who keeps (guards) all this?

Answer: and then the fountain goes out; for just as she has given them coat, doublet, and shirt, so she gives the youth his body, sanguine-red as blood, to eat—that is called our Sol Philosophorum, and our medicine, the true potable gold, and the quinta essentia, and the great Elixir and the Aqua vitae; and that is their utmost desire.

A question: Do they then wait for the time?

When they have the white shirt, they make four good vessels of it; yet it is scarcely half the kingdom; therefore they wait a little time for the crown of their king.

Do his physicians camp there, or other people?

Only the keeper, who guards it, and under it he causes the heat to follow steadily, without any other things standing out.

Question: Does this watchman have much work?

More at the end than at the beginning; for then the fountain grows hotter.

Question: Have many people seen him?

The fountain answers: all the world has seen it with their eyes, without understanding.

One more question: What do they do thereafter?

Answer: if the six wish to become king, then they purge themselves and keep all that pertains thereto.

May God be praised for His wondrous gifts and benefactions.

The End.