Two Beautiful Chymical Little Treatises - On the Mercury of the Alchemists - On the Light of Nature

Two Beautiful Chymical Little Treatises:

1. On the Mercury of the Alchemists.
2. On the Light of Nature.

Published for the benefit of the sons of Hermetic Wisdom by a practitioner of Spagyric Medicine.

Jena, printed by Weidner,

in the year 1612.




Translated from the book:
Zwei schöne chymische Tractetlein: De Mercurio alchimistarum. De lumine naturae

Preface.

Favorable dear reader, two years ago a little philosophical treatise on the Mercury of the Alchemists was printed in Nuremberg. It was included in the preface and mentioned that it came from a Spaniard. However, that little treatise was so greatly changed, and more than half of the best parts were left out, that it cannot be read with any profit or understanding.

It may well be that the person who had it printed received it in such a fragmented and incomprehensible state. Furthermore, the report that it came from a Spaniard is far too generous, for it has certainly never seen a Spaniard in its life.

It is quite frustrating when one buys a little book and cannot have it in its entirety, reading the beginning but being robbed of the end.

In the year 1588 in Prague, this magnificent little treatise was presented to me out of special friendship by Mr. Martin Faber of Königsberg in Prussia, a Doctor of Medicine and an excellent skilled chemist. He prepared it ex tempore, that is, immediately and on the spot, in my presence, along with another little treatise on the Light of Nature. Until now, no one besides myself has possessed these, except for those to whom I have shared them in writing out of friendship.

Now, so that the fame and honor of the aforementioned Doctor, who passed away long ago, are not taken away, or his work wrongly attributed to others to whom it does not belong, I could not neglect to arrange for these two complete little treatises, on the Mercury of the Chemists and the Light of Nature, to be put under the press, that is, printed. I have done this for the advancement of the beloved truth and for the benefit and detailed instruction of the sons of Hermetic wisdom. I present them exactly as the author himself gave them, without changing a single word. Thus, the true may be easily distinguished from the false, and the last may become the first and keep the prize.

And although the little treatise on the Light of Nature has been placed among the works of Paracelsus and attributed to him, I may write with truth that it does not fit the style of Theophrastus. Furthermore, this Doctor who wrote it was not yet in the nature of things, that is, not yet alive, when Paracelsus was still living.

And since Theophrastus never saw such a little treatise, I report this for the record and wanted to print both little treatises by one and the same author. Undoubtedly, the sons of spagyric wisdom will read these two little treatises with pleasure and profit, and find them to their liking. After this, if God grants the time, life, and health, an attentive listener may be expected.

Farewell.

On the Mercury of the Alchemists

The Mercury of the Alchemists is not common mercury, nor does it come from any body of imperfect metals, but it is the beginning and root of all of them. It is not a metallic body, but an essential metallic spirit, tempered in its qualities. And it is alone a subtle, clear, pure, eternal substance of Mercury, Sulfur, and Salt, and it is the Mercury of the Sun and the Moon.

For this philosophical mercury is the beginning of the Sun and Moon. In it, nature begins to work the Sun and Moon. And yet it is not mercury derived from the Sun or Moon, but a mercury that is found in the lesser Sun and Moon, and it dissolves the Sun and Moon into living mercury, but not the flowing kind.

To this mercury of ours, we add the gold and silver of the common people. For in no thing on earth can we have the metallic power that can awaken the proper sulfur of our mercury, by which it is coagulated; for this happens only in the Sun and Moon.

Therefore, without these two, it cannot be prepared or brought to its end or to a fixed nature. Therefore, in the Sun and Moon is the right astral influence to perfect the mercury. Note: in the first operation, we must add the Moon to our very volatile mercury, so that it awakens the mercury’s innate sulfur, whereby the mercury is coagulated into the Moon. For at first, it cannot endure great heat, which is why it must be done with very gentle warmth.

For if one were to add the Sun at the start, and gold desires only strong heat, the mercury would have to have heat according to the property of gold. Then the mercury would be changed into a red sulfur which would be neither liquid nor suitable for the art, for its radical moisture would be taken away. It would also be against the art to attempt to fix the red sulfur of the philosophers with gold before fixing the white with the Moon, because there is no passage from one extreme to the other except through a middle point.

Our mercury certainly has the metallic property throughout to give metallic perfection and form, but it does not have it in an active state within it, only potentially, until it is ripened through decoction with the addition of the Sun and Moon; then it first becomes active.

For if our metallic water is not colored with the Sun or Moon and made fixed by their fixed power, it also cannot color or mix permanently with the water of imperfect metals.

For our mercury is very volatile and an incorporeal water, but when it is fixed, it takes the metallic root of the metals into itself and becomes a permanent substance.

Thus also with this mercury of ours, the Sun and Moon are dissolved into their first matter. Just as the mercury is not coagulated without them, only then can it color through its power, which has been made spiritual. For the Sun and Moon in their bodily form can never do this; even if one makes them flow in a strong fire for a long time, they do not mix correctly with the metals, or color them in a uniform and permanent way in their essence. Therefore, one cannot be without the other or achieve anything.

What our mercury is has been said, but it is not yet known where it is to be found. For it is indeed in the Sun and Moon, but one cannot dissolve them to get the mercury out of them; therefore, it must be done with this mercury.

Therefore, where it is to be sought, the philosophers have kept very secret, so that among many thousands it is revealed to hardly one. I will, however, indicate it through a special discourse, though still hidden.

First, the earth was created by God without valleys, mountains, stones, or ore; it was level and fatty, and was first transformed by the heat of the sun into many kinds of types, colors, ores, and minerals, and also into the nature of the roots of the seven metals.

First, through the constant heat of the sun, a sweltering, vaporous warmth was created, which permeated the entire earth into the abyss along with the qualities of the four elements. And because the earth had its innate watery moisture within it, the heat combined with it and became a cloudy smoke, or a vapor enclosed within the earth, along with the qualities of the four elements. At last, this vapor increased so much that it sought to rise upward. It threw the earth about and thus created mountains and hills. In such mountains, this vaporous quality was most tempered and best mixed through time, and therein best enclosed.

However, in level earth, such vapors did not accumulate as strongly or in such quantity; therefore, not as much good ore is found in level earth. The soil of the mountains is particularly slimy, clayey, and fatty in its depths. When this mentioned vapor catches a watery mist that is mixed with subtle, pure earth, nature works from this the Mercury of the Philosophers. But when this compound is digested and cooked for a time, a subtle fiery dry substance is generated from it, and that is the Sulfur of the Philosophers.

This discourse indicates to you the right way to seek our Mercury, or the beginning of our Art.

And although this Mercury is found in sufficient quantity where one digs, it is recognized by very few people. It is not gold or silver, or common mercury; nor is it any of the other metals. It is also not common sulfur, arsenic, vitriol, marcasite, spar, talc, etc. Rather, the philosophers say it is a vaporous, watery, pure substance composed of the four elements. Although it is found with all metals or ores, it is not mature in the imperfect ones. Therefore, it is most certainly to be sought in the mine of the Sun and Moon, that is, of gold and silver.

For silver is of the same matter as gold, only that it still has certain superfluities with it. If these are taken from it, it becomes compact like gold. From this compaction gold has its weight. This density comes from the great purity of the entire substance of gold, which is purified into the highest perfection through the operation of nature.

Secondly, it must receive perfect digestion or maturation, so that the element of fire, which is still hidden in the Moon, that is, in silver, comes into activity and becomes visible. From this, the beautiful gold color with which gold is colored now becomes manifest and visible.

To speak similarly of the other metals: copper, iron, tin, and lead are all of one first matter from which gold is born. But lead and tin are still very crude and undigested. The first matter in copper and iron is more digested, but they have many impurities and foreign sulfur with them. Iron has much more than copper; therefore, its flowing also proceeds more difficultly.

If they are now to be transplanted into the perfect substance of gold, then the external sulfur must be separated from them. However, this impure and superfluous sulfur is mixed with the first matter in such a way that they cannot be divided and separated from each other except through a special secret artifice. If that does not happen, and they both come into the power of the fire, then the impure cannot remain standing in the strength of the fire, but flies away into the air and is consumed. Because of the strong mixture, it takes the pure substance with it, and both are consumed and lost in the fire.

Therefore, for the work of transplantation, namely, that the perishable body may be altered, there belongs the fiery philosophical instrument. This is nothing other than an essential fire of a fixed nature and perpetual duration. That separates the superfluous and external from the pure, and digests the pure to its perfection in one hour, which nature in the bowels of the earth is hardly able to do in a thousand years.

The reason is that the heat of nature, which digests the matter of metals in the veins of the mountains, is like a chaos and flying wind. Therefore, its digestion goes very gradually and slowly. But in our Mastery, it is in a corporeal nature; therefore, its operation is very fast and with great power. If we now pay attention to the differences of metals, it will now be very easy to understand which metal gives itself more easily than others into transmutation and is fit for it.

So it now becomes manifest that silver stands closest in substance and power to the generation of gold. This can happen through a particular way, a light way, provided that only the concordance of its essential anatomy be observed. For it lacks only a little help in purification and digestion. However, this cannot happen in the other imperfect metals, for that alteration may not well happen without the universal secret.

Since the possibility of the transplantation of metals has thus been briefly demonstrated, it did not seem unadvisable to me to also speak something of the Universal Secret. All philosophers have held this as such a treasure that nothing higher is to be found in this perishable world. For it not only transforms the unclean and leprous bodies of the metals into the purity and constancy of gold and silver, but also delivers human bodies from all sickness and adversity, such as from leprosy, stroke, gout, dropsy, epilepsy, stone, and contractions.

It maintains the human body in constant health until the predestined end of death without any ailment. Furthermore, the organs of the understanding are so enlightened that a person can very easily achieve knowledge of all natural wisdom and arts through this means without any effort. It brings other more wonderful effects that might be considered a miracle of nature and a heavenly gift rather than being believed to be human.

Additionally, not only the transmutation of metals but also that of gems can occur. This happens in great abundance without any toil or labor. For the force and power of this secret increases to such an excellent degree that it can hardly be believed or expressed.

Therefore Raymond Lull says: “You shall consider all the riches of this world as nothing, indeed as dung, in comparison to this divine and most excellent mastery.”

For this reason, this most sacred science has also been kept so deeply hidden.

The science was kept hidden because if they had written it so openly that every shoemaker or tooth-puller could understand it, that would be a great sacrilege. It would no longer be a human secret. Much evil could be caused by it. This would be acting openly against the will of God. For God wills that pearls should not be cast before swine. Therefore, the authors have written only for their sons of doctrine and philosophy. These are the ones to whom the light of nature is known. These people can be instructed by their writings, but the others cannot.

However, so that I may also mention something of the Universal Mystery as briefly as possible, not for deception but for the instruction and teaching of those who love philosophy, the mystery is contained in a total of three chapters. Namely:

1. To know the true matter of this secret thoroughly and truthfully.

2. The preparation of this matter, through which it is brought to its ripening and timing.

3. The multiplication of this secret, to bring the secret into its perfect and infinite number.

Whoever well understands these three chapters may say that he has reached the end in this mystical philosophy. But where he fails in one, he is still very far from the right goal. He is blind in this mastery.

However, it does not happen so easily that one should come to the unchanging recognition of these three main points through the own industry of his wit. This is impossible unless he receives instruction orally from a faithful master. Otherwise, it goes very badly. A long experience is required, along with a great knowledge of all natural creatures.

For how many are there who enter the profession and yet spend many years before they can find the right matter of this secret? And even if they find it at once, a wind easily comes that strikes them down in their speculations. It leads them astray so that they cannot well decide their way out. After they have already conquered the first chapter, it still goes difficultly with the fathoming of the second chapter. For then the real storm winds first begin. “Because nothing is hidden in this art except the method of the work and working.”

The philosophers are nowhere so confusing as when it comes to the preparation. Upon that lies the handle and the entire foundation of this building. The more diligently one looks at the bare letter in this chapter, the more he will be led into a labyrinth. Therefore, Count Bernard also testifies that he knew many who had known the matter of this secret, but the method of preparation was hidden from them. For this reason, Raymond also says: “That it is rather angelic than human to arrive at the knowledge of this divine secret.”

And thus Count Bernard also says of the third chapter that he knew one who had the secret of the tincture, but he did not know its multiplication. For this reason he followed after him for seven years, but could obtain nothing from him until he finally discovered it through his own diligence.

As one sees in a child that is first born into the world. It does not yet have its perfect strength in its limbs as a strong man should have. Therefore, one must raise it with great diligence and great care until it reaches the same age that a perfect man should have. For that reason, it is no small secret to bring this secret into its degrees of multiplication.

To specify the secrets of these three chapters can be done no better than orally. They cannot be made public to everyone by mouth as easily as one might think. Although enough has been said to an understanding person in the preceding things, it is still not enough. He may only grasp the understanding through a long experience.

Of the Light of Nature.

If we wish to treat the studies of secret philosophy with profit, we must pay very diligent attention to learning to recognize the light of nature. For this same light opens our eyes so that we can look into the invisible and hidden nature, as if it stood completely visible and manifest before our eyes.

For in this way we can recognize the possibility of nature, so that we do not labor in vain things, consuming our goods and property. For whatever nature does not grant us, it is impossible for us to bring into activity, even if one labors at it for a thousand years. This is now one of the primary reasons that such a great number of you err, and are led into a perpetual labyrinth, those who involve themselves in our philosophy and yet have not observed this rule.

Therefore, since so much depends on us observing the Light of Nature, it is necessary to explain what it is, and how one should direct oneself according to it in this secret philosophy.

It is nothing other than this: when we observe the generations, together with their degrees, of natural creatures in the greater world, the Light of Nature shows us that every species among created things is produced and born from the seed of its own kind, and not from a foreign seed. Likewise, no plant can be produced except in accordance with its anatomy, or in the essential unity of its duality.

Thus, from a human, a human is born, and this occurs in the concordance of the duality of its essential anatomy. Otherwise monsters are born, which appear completely contrary and misshapen to the species of that same seed.

In the same way, the apple tree brings apples, the pear tree brings pears, the fig tree gives its figs, but no pomegranates, for that would be against the power of nature. For all things have their predestined womb from which they are born, and in no foreign one. That is the duality which the female seed brings with it, and which is united with the male seed into an indivisible being.

Thirdly and fourthly, the power of nature requires a certain period until the seed is perfectly formed into a human, namely the nine months. After that, it has its time again to grow into its perfect strength. Likewise, the grain has its time for growing until the term of its harvest. But if an ignorant person wished to come before the time, and cut before the set period, he would find an unready crop and accomplish little of use.

Thus one sees how the roses and the carnations have their predestined time. Likewise, the growth of wine. Likewise, the juniper bushes, which first give their ripened fruit in three years.

Therefore, it is highly necessary to observe the changes of times very diligently, for much depends upon this. And thus the Light of Nature gives itself sufficiently to be recognized, so that it becomes quite visible when one brings the two spheres, namely the land-growth and water-growth, into a concordance or comparison, so that we might understand the philosophical writings which the wise have written concerning the transplantation of metals and minerals, and may understand them with easy comprehension.

The metaphors, similitudes, and allegories with which the wise have hidden the mystery of our secret philosophy will then become manifest to us and no longer be hidden. This is not to be considered a simple thing, for it is impossible to invent this secret out of one’s own subtle cleverness. Instead, we must go to school with the wise and learn from those who have known this mystery. For the wise ones have kept this mystery very highly and in great secrecy, and did not hasten to share it with everyone immediately, but only with those whom they found constant in upright loyalty, or they carried this secret so silently with them into the grave.

For he who understands the aforementioned rule well can very easily separate the false from the good and right, the good from the bad, and the kernel from the husks, just as the bees suck the honey from the flowers in the field.

He can very easily know what kind of end his work will gain, as perfectly as if it had run through his hands a hundred times, and as if he had everything standing visibly before him. And then he can come to the desired end of his work with all the greater joy. In this way, he can very easily understand all sophistry and guard himself against it, which has led many to unspeakable harm, those who did not understand it but nonetheless labored in this art.

However, so that the question may also be resolved and explained, as to whether the transplantation of metals can happen according to the course of nature, concerning which there is a great doubt among many, and they cannot understand according to the course of nature how that might be possible, the answer is this: the first matter of all metals is one and the same. All skilled practitioners of this philosophy testify to this. It can also be demonstrated through the flowing of metals in fire.

From this it is proven that transplantation is possible. The difference between metals consists of only two things: namely, in superfluity and sufficiency of digestion.

Because gold is nothing other than a Mercury that is most perfectly digested. So too is silver, but it has only reached half-digestion. This is shown by its color, which is the infallible sign of the thing signified. It still possesses a superfluity within it, and that is by reason of incomplete digestion. Likewise, the imperfect metals are born from the very same matter from which gold is nourished, but they are mixed with a superfluous matter which the philosophers call foreign sulfur. This superfluity hinders the digestion so that the matter cannot reach its perfection.

Now the art is that the superfluity be separated from the pure matter. Then the pure matter can be digested to its perfect maturation.

How this happens, however, is proven by the Light of Nature: namely, that there must be an essential fire. This is proven through the heat of Nature and of the Sun, which ripens all things generated in the greater world. It separates the impurities from the pure. To put it in a word, it is an essential fire of the same origin as the transmutable subject.

For everything that contributes to the generation and corruption of any natural individual must agree in matter of the same kind.

I have spoken.


Printed at Jehna by Johann Weidner,

at the expense of Thomas Schürer,

bookseller in Leipzig, 1612.