TRACTATUS DE QUINTA ESSENTIA VINI

OR

Treatise on the Fifth Essence of Wine - Treatise on the Quintessence of Wine

First, in the name of God, take clear Rhenish wine, or another beautiful clear wine that has grown from the mother vine, for there must be no impurity in it. For the philosophers say that one must draw our stone from a single thing, without adding any foreign thing to it. So take beautiful clear wine that is good in smell and taste, and from it separate its four elements, as far as possible. For the elements must be perfectly separated, that is, distinctly extracted — the air from the fire — which is impossible, for air is hot and moist. So the moisture cannot be perfectly separated from the heat, and water is cold and moist — so one cannot perfectly separate the cold from the moisture. Thus fire is hot and dry — so the heat cannot be separated from the dryness. Therefore, it is impossible to separate the elements completely from one another; instead, they must be mingled together and remain so, for in every element there are two natures — one is manifest, the other hidden.

Example: water is cold and moist — the moisture is manifest, the cold is hidden and invisible, and is a soul without body — and is hidden beneath the moisture. The air is hot and moist; the moisture is manifest and visible, but the heat is a spirit and hidden. Fire is hot and dry and clear, and is both subtle and spiritual. The clarity and redness are manifest, the heat is hidden as dryness; for when you see a light burning, you see the clarity and redness shining outward, but the heat that the fire has in it you cannot see — but touch it with your finger in the light, and you will perceive or feel the invisible heat.

The earth is cold and dry. Its dry body is visible and tangible, but its coldness is invisible and a spirit without a body.

Thus it is manifest that it is impossible to separate the elements from one another, unless they were mixed, yet we must do it, though it seems impossible to us. We want to separate them, as will be taught hereafter, and purify them from their imperfection, and make them pure, beautiful, hard, and firm, so that once united they may never be separated again — and shall be a clarified body for eternity, which cannot be destroyed by fire.

Aristotle says in a little book — everything that is on Earth is of two natures: one is hidden, the other manifest. What appears outwardly has an inward contrary; what is hot and dry outwardly is inwardly moist and cold. Therefore, let us turn all things around, and make their inside outside, and conversely — so may the work be perfect. And this must happen from one thing, without adding anything foreign to it.

Therefore says Aristotle: when you have water from the air, and the air from the fire, and the fire from the earth, and all these fully separated from all impurity, then you have the true art. And from this comes a stone — and it is not a stone of a coarse nature, but an eternally perfect body, enduring in eternity — and this is the secret that God has left to the world.

So take beautiful good clear wine, the best in scent and taste, put it in a large stone jug, 16 or 20 measures large, place a helmet on it well and tightly sealed, set it in the balneum Mariae (water bath), place a recipient in front, and distill it with gentle fire in 6 drops, as slowly as the clock ticks, and when you see droplets hanging on the helmet, just as if it were dew, then remove the recipient and take the edges from the balneum — and thus you have beautiful jugs — the larger, the better — pour your distilled vapor into them, place the alembic on the jugs, seal it very well, place a recipient in front, distill with gentle fire, in the 6th degree, and distill with this heat until you see the dew come into the helmet. Then remove the recipient and replace it with another, sealing well at the spout of the helmet; distill until you notice that a thin clear water is coming out.

Then take this recipient, seal it with wax, remove the helmet from the jug, and whatever remains in the jug, pour it into the first water that you have saved at the beginning. Prepare your jug well and wipe it clean with a fine linen cloth, so that no water remains in it. Then pour back everything you collected last into the jug, seal it well as before, until you see the dew come again into the helmet.

Then stop, take off the recipient lid, pour the distillate that you’ve collected into the first water, and what remains in the jug, pour again into the first water. Clean your flask with a fine cloth, pour in all the distilled vapor that you have collected, put the helmet back on, distill again with the same heat as before until you see dew forming in the helmet. Then remove the recipient and taste how it tastes — if it tastes watery, remove the helmet from the jug and pour the contents back into the first water. Dry the jug well, pour back the last collected water, put the helmet on again until you see dew begin to form again. Then place another recipient in front and distill again — continue in this manner until the helmet is removed and everything collected is poured into the first water.

Then take a fine glass, pour all your distilled vapor into it, place a helmet on it, distill it from the balneum Mariae with the same heat as previously taught. Repeat the distillation as often as needed until nothing remains in the glass, and no dew clings to the top of the helmet. Whatever remains at the bottom of the glass vessel, pour all of it into the first water, so that everything transfers clearly. When nothing more condenses in the helmet, and it remains as clear as it was when you first poured it in, and no more dew appears in the helmet, then you have rectified the vapor. Place it in a glass vial, seal it well and firmly with wax, and preserve it until you need it.

Then take your jug, in which the water is, set a helmet upon it, place it in the balneum, and distill with gentle heat, in the third degree, and distill in this way until the matter becomes dry, and so that you see that nothing more wants to distill, no matter how strongly the fire under the balneum Mariae boils the water. Keep it boiling for 24 hours — even if some fire remains in the fire and earth, let it be so — until everything has been distilled off and neatly separated. If you see that nothing more distills, no matter how strongly the balneum boils, then stop and let it cool. Remove the recipient and take a clean jug, into which you pour all the water from the jugs where the water and earth remain. Remove it from the bath and take off the helmet. Place it on the jugs where all your water was collected, set it back in the balneum, and distill with gentle fire — so that you might count 6 seconds between each drop falling from the spout of the alembic. Distill this way until nothing more drips. Then stop the fire under the balneum, which had been boiling for 4 or 5 hours. When you see that it no longer drips, stop and let it cool.

Take the recipient and the alembic off, and whatever you find at the bottom of the jugs — mix it well with the remaining fire and earth. Pour everything back together, including what remained after the first distillation, and wash the jugs very clean. Then pour all the water back into them, place the helmet on again, set it back in the balneum. Place the recipient in front, distill again with gentle fire as before. When it no longer drips, let it cool, and remove the recipient with all your water. Take the helmet off the jugs and whatever you find at the bottom — pour it again onto the fire and earth. Clean the jugs well again, wipe them with fine linen cloth, and pour the water back into them. Place the helmet back on and distill again.

Such distillation you must continue until nothing more remains at the bottom of the jugs, and everything has passed over as beautifully as when you first poured it in, and the jugs remain equally clean. Lift it out and remove the recipient, pour all your water into a well or beautifully made stone jug, seal it tightly and well with wax, and set it aside until you need it. In this way you have your air and fire, each by itself, in its own separate vessel, rectified and prepared, free from all their humors.

Now let us proceed further — that we may separate fire from fire and earth. First, take all the fire together with the earth out of the jugs, and place everything into a large earthen vessel, well sealed. Mix all together so that nothing remains behind. Then take bricks with which to cover it tightly; heat them glowing hot in a large fire for one or two hours, and then let it cool, and sift it to powder through a fine sieve. Mix the powder and fire with the earths in the pot, so that they become dry and crumbly. If you know how to handle such powder, then place the pot on a tripod, make fire beneath it, so the material becomes hot; otherwise, you will not be able to bring the powder to fire properly. When this is done, take a fine flask into which you place the material, and put a helmet on it. Seal it in such a way that it can withstand the heat.

The flask, however, should now be two-thirds full — thus one-third remains empty. Place the flask into an oven filled with ashes, put a recipient in place, seal the flask well in the ashes. Since fire is a subtle spirit, then make a fire in the oven: the first four hours very gentle, the next four somewhat stronger, the third four even stronger, and in the last four, the pot with the material should be glowing. Keep it that way until nothing more distills. If you see that it has stopped, let it remain in the glowing heat for another hour without disturbance — you must let it glow steadily. When it turns white, that would be the earth (which remains closed for now).

If you have let it remain glowing for an hour and it no longer drips, then let it cool and remove the recipient, also remove the helmet from the water. Then you will find at the bottom a black substance, like a coal — this is a precious stone, and it is the blood of the earth. Take it out and preserve it until you need it.

In the recipient, however, is a thick black matter or residue or terra, in which is the fire — but it is impure and still contains elements of the earth. Then take a stone jug, put into it one part of the clarified water — distill three times as much water as there is fire — that is, fire and water together are placed into the jug. Take a wooden spoon with a long handle and mix the water and fire well, about one or two hours without pause, so they strike through one another. Then place a helmet on it, seal it with luto sapientiae so that it can bear the fire, place it in the ashes and give it at first a gentle fire until the jug is well heated. Then apply the fire as strongly as the pipes of the helmet will allow.

In the third degree of heat, keep it so until it no longer distills — or then make the fire so strong for another hour to see whether anything more rises. Then you will have in the recipient a mixture of water and fire. Then remove the helmet, and what you find at the bottom of the jug, take it out and add it to your earth.

Then take a fine jug, put your water and fire into it, distill it in a balneum such that you can count six seconds between each drop — then the water comes over, and the fire remains at the bottom. Take the jug out of the bath, place it in the ashes, distill again. Whatever remains at the bottom, add to the earth. Take the water again with the fire, pour it back into the jug, stir it with a spoon for an hour so that it mixes well; set a helmet on it again, place it back in the ashes as before, distill until nothing more comes out, and then distill again from the balneum.

Repeat such distillation as often as necessary until nothing remains at the bottom, but everything comes out more clearly than what you originally poured in. Everything that remains each time — add always to the first earth. But if nothing more remains, then the fire is sufficiently purified and completely separated from its earth — it is red, clear, and subtle. Then place the fire into a vial of glass, seal it well with wax. Then your fire is well rectified and separated from all its earthiness and is pure — thus you have air, fire, and water, all three perfected; your work in this is completed.

Now let us look further — that we may bring the black earth to a crystalline stone, and separate this black earth for our work to use. Take all the black earth, crush it in a mortar, sift it through a small sieve, then take 5 or 6 parts of earth that have a smooth bottom and one part of calcined alum; fill a crucible up to a thumb’s height (about half a finger thick), place it on the coals in a hot oven, and calcine it until it is ready.

(That is:) Keep it for twelve hours steadily in a glowing heat — but only so that it glows and not more. Then let it cool, and take the pans with the earth out. Have a fine stone jug or glass, large — but the stone jugs are better. Crush all the earth into powder, sift it through a sieve, and take water from your recipient and pour it over the earth in the jugs. Stir it well with a wooden spoon with a long handle.

Then place the jug in the balneum, lay a piece of parchment over the opening, make a fire beneath the balneum so that the water gets as hot as your hand can endure within it. Stir it every hour with the spoon, and let it stand in such heat for 12 hours. Then let it cool, and after the fire has been extinguished by day and night, take another stone jug, pour the clear water from the feces, or filter it through a cloth as you know how, and pour it again Rectified water onto the earthy dregs, stir again with the spoon and put it into the bath, and treat it as before. Then let it clarify again as before, pour off the clear water through a filter and use it as the other water you previously separated.

Then take the jugs with the water in which your earth was dissolved, place the helmet on, place it in the bath, distill the water over so that the earth remains at the bottom of the jugs like gray salt. Take it out, pound it into fine powder, and place it again in an iron pan. Place it in a glowing oven and give it fire, so that it glows steadily — like fire — and leave it glowing for two hours. Pay close attention to the earth so that it does not melt, otherwise everything would be ruined.

Therefore, you must gently calcine it, just like peas that you want to dry — otherwise, the earth would melt and be ruined so that it cannot be distilled again. So glow it just enough to avoid melting, then let it cool, and place it in the pans. Pound it into subtle powder again and put it back into the jugs. Pour rectified water over it, stir again with the spoon, place it in the bath, and let it stand heated for 12 hours, stirring every hour with the spoon. Then let it cool, and let it sit and settle day and night.

Then pour off the clear liquid into another fine jug and distill it. Pour more rectified water onto the dregs, stir again, and place it back in the bath as before. Once done, pour it as before, place the helmet again on the jug and place it in the bath. Distill the water from the earth with gentle fire until the earth remains at the bottom of the jug and appears white. Then take the earth out of the jug, pound it into powder, or grind it into subtle powder on a stone, place it again into the pans, and repeat the calcination — first with gentle fire so that it glows steadily without melting. Do not leave it long in the glowing heat — just as long as three or four “Pater noster” prayers may take.

Then let it cool, and take the pans out. Grind the earth into a fine powder on a stone, put it again into the jugs, pour your rectified water back over it, stir, place it again into the bath, and proceed in every way as before. Let no dregs remain behind — namely, coagulate the powder, distill, remove, and calcine.

Now when the earth is dissolved, it is then pure, well rectified, and white as snow, and you now have the four elements, each rectified by itself. Therefore, rejoice — for you are now ready to complete your work.

Now let us see how the elements may be brought back together to make from them a perfect body, eternally enduring.

You should know that in the earth lies the perfection of the Stone and the Art. For Hermes the Philosopher says: In the earth lies the perfection of all works; for without the earth, nothing can be perfect. For the earth is firm and the foundation of all perfection. And without the earth, nothing can be fixed nor retain the force of things — for it is from the earth. And you should know that the earth is very small in quantity, but of great power.

From a small grain, many grains sprout. Then you can well see that it takes nothing foreign, but its own earth — then it is natural. Those who mix aquam vitae and produce aquam mortis — that is because they take foreign earth and say it is their own. Others say that the wine from the press or cold-pressed from grapes and stones is perfect earth. Others take wine-lees and ashes, and make lye from them that coagulates, and say it is terra vini.

They all err by mixing all together and calling it aquam vitae, though it becomes aquam mortis. But the philosophers say: from one thing, you must make the perfect being, and add nothing foreign to it.

But if you press grapes from the press that are useful to humans and use them, and extract the elements from them as previously taught, and the earth which also remains, it is its own earth and not foreign.

Example: when the wine comes from the press, it is foul and unclear, and throws up all its lees and dregs, which settle at the bottom. It also separates its tartar (wine stone) on the sides of the barrel — which are not feces either. Thus, the wine expels all feces and all evil humors both above and below, and on all sides. And when it becomes clear and beautiful, having cast off all its feces, it becomes of good scent and taste, and very pleasant to drink and take in — and only then is it one true thing.

But as long as it retains any feces or uncleanness, it is not a unified thing — for it still has something foreign with it that must be separated before it becomes lovely and clear. From this cause it is evident that one should neither use tartar, nor grapes, nor wine from the press, nor dregs, nor ashes of wine-lees — for all these are evil humors that wine casts off from itself, before it becomes pleasant to drink. And those who work with such impurities want to help themselves with such things — they all err by trying to make aqua vitae from them, but instead they make aqua mortis, because they use an imperfect thing — something that the wine, by its nature, casts out before it becomes pleasant to drink. It’s as if a doctor were to take the bad humors and matter that he removed from a person through medicine, and then take that same foul, putrid material and try to make another person healthy with it. It is the same with those who hold such opinions — using foreign earths.

Thus, all physicians say: one should make our Stone from a single thing, and never add anything foreign to it. Therefore it is clear and true, based on the aforementioned causes, that one should take beautiful clear wine and make from it aqua vitae, which can preserve a person’s life until their final end, without being corrupted by any incidental humors, and can restore us to the original state of health.

Why have I said this? To warn you not to take foreign earths and not to follow those who, in their ignorance, would lead you into false notions and divert you from the right path — so that you may always remain in the true way without error. Even if you take foreign earths, you won’t know how much of them you need or how much must go into the air. So stay with the prescribed rules.

You should also know that in all medicinal things, you must not take the element of fire — because it is hot, and it consumes the natural moisture of the human body, and turns it to nothing. For the life of all humans and animals depends on two things: it arises from warmth and moisture, and these must be well tempered — the more they are, the stronger and healthier the nature.

Therefore, in no medicinal work is the element fire taken; the air is hot and moist, the earths cold and dry, and with the cold of the earths one should temper the heat of the air—and then fully complete the quintessence or a clarified corpus and the Philosopher’s Stone. And carefully consider, once it is made, what complexion or nature it has and what is enclosed in it, whether the earth and air, etc., are fixed and transformed into a crystal; and even if it is foul-smelling in the warmth and comes into the cold, it purifies itself—and if it stands a hundred years in the fire, its essence and nature should not change; it should also lose nothing in its weight. Rereading this lesson often, one will clearly recognize what the complexion of the stone is and what may be accomplished with it.

Now that we return again to our work and intention—to gather and unite the elements—take, in the name of the Lord, all your rectified earths, place them in a glass vessel, pour over them some properly rectified water—just as much as will dissolve your earth and no more. This should be done in a B[ain-marie]. Once your earth is dissolved in clear water, take a glass and an alembic head, into which you pour your dissolved earth. And you should know that no more water should be poured over the earth than what dissolves it and no more. When you have placed the dissolved earth in the glass, place your air over it and mix it well together by hand. Place it on a B[ain-marie], close the glass well at the top, and let it stand for 4 or 5 days.

Then take it out and place it in an oven of ashes, lute the head on, and set a receiver in place. Begin distilling with gentle heat, then gradually increase it. Continue until you have distilled most of it. Then let it cool. Your earth will remain at the bottom of the vessel. Take it out and rub it on a stone with a drop of your rectified water. Grind it finely and sublimate it so it can be painted with a brush. Then place the ground earth back into the glass and pour the air back over it. Stir it well together again and place it again in a B[ain-marie], well closed, for 4 or 5 days, and shake it once daily so it mixes well. Then place it again in the ashes and distill again through the alembic as before.

Repeat such distillation as often as needed until the earth has been completely distilled. Notice if there is still a way to distill the earth. If it becomes thinner, then the earth has been completely extracted. Then it is, as the Physicus says: the residue must be fine, like the top layer, or the conjunction and unification has not happened properly—for then the earth has not been made spiritual.

Therefore all the wise say: by making the lower as the upper, and the upper as the lower, you have a well-completed, firm work. And where the earth is volatile and has been prepared for the air, and the earth does not go over with the air, then they will never again unite or be fixed. But if they are distilled together, they embrace each other completely, and such a union occurs that they can never again be separated. And there shall remain an eternal conjunction—just as in our body and the soul shall be united after Judgment Day. For then there shall be no more mixture of the elements, but they shall become a single substance, a unified being, which is held within as the heavens do, which hold the four elements in unity. But therein is no mixture, rather they are simple and unified—thus you preserve the four elements.

So it is even more so in our work: for the earth has now been extracted and distilled over with the air, and they are thus united so that they can no longer ever be separated. And although nothing is yet fixed, still there is no discord among them in the elements, for they are equally balanced.

Consider: the air, which was hot and moist, the earth was somewhat cold and dry—and so the air, having too much moisture, had its moisture broken by the dryness of the earth. And so its dryness, tempered by the moisture of the air, and as much heat as the air had, was cooled by the coldness of the earth. And with the heat of the air, the earth is tempered. The air is very light, spiritual, and volatile; the earth is very heavy, corporeal, and firm. Now notice what unity there is between the air and the earth.

The two contrary things are now united together and have grasped each other in their depths, so that they have risen together out of the cucurbit into the heaven of the alembic and have become only one thing. Therefore, it appeals to your own understanding to discern what kind of thing this may be—whether it includes the four elements. And even if they did not go together equally as stated above, and whether they do not appear bright, clear, and pure from the separation and rectification as previously taught—and whether they are still not fully gathered—then they have ascended together through the helm. Remember this lesson and commit it rightly to your memory, for here the heavenly secrets and hidden things are revealed, which the ancients always sought and kept hidden.

Therefore give thanks and praise to Almighty God for His miraculous work and holy gifts, which He has given to His beloved philosophers. For in this work all other secrets are enclosed. You can otherwise hardly and rightly understand and grasp them—just as you now have opened the door to all secrets. Therefore, do not let yourself be dissuaded from studying this, so that you may enter through this door into the house of the philosophers, so that you may behold this wondrous thing.

Now enough about that.

Now let us see how one is to distill, fix, and eternalize these four elements, which have now passed through the helm, and bring them to their highest power.

So take, in the name of the Holy Trinity, what has passed over into the receiver, and pour it into the fixing glass, and seal it with the Seal of Hermes. Then place it in cinders or ashes. Then the matter is deep—and give it the first eight days with gentle heat, the other eight days with increased heat. Then the matter begins to thicken and rise more slowly. You will see and notice this: the matter comes and rises from the bottom of the vessel to the top of its head, and then descends again. Then you will see many small particles rising to the top of the glass and descending again to the bottom. These particles should be very fine and innumerable because of their subtlety.

Now, however, the streams should become thicker through the same rising and falling. When they begin to become like this, they will also appear fewer than before, because they were entirely subtle. Then you should make your heat somewhat stronger, for your matter desires to be fixed. Then the particles become thicker and coarser; the fewer of them remain, the firmer the matter becomes, and the better it can endure the heat.

And after this sign, you must make your fire even stronger until you see that no more particles ascend and descend in the glass. Then keep the matter at such heat for 8 more days, and you will see another sign that the philosophers marvel at and write wondrously about. And it is a sign of perfection.

Then Aristotle says in Secretis Secretorum, Chapter 15: “Our water is not a water or a pouring of water. It is our instrument—and hammer, chisel, or plane—with which we must work, just as a smith must forge iron with a hammer. If he wants to shape the iron differently, he must strike it with the hammer. If the iron follows the master's will, it is shaped with the hammer. If not, he throws it aside or the carpenter sets it aside when it does not work with the chisel. But once the work is made, the chisel remains not with the work, but is put aside.”

So it is even more so with our work. For the water of the clouds—that is the hammer or chisel with which we must carry out and complete our work. For with the water of the clouds, we must cleanse or polish all our work; also with it, we must extract and separate the elements. And when we have separated them, we must wash them with the water of the clouds (just as a woman washes her linen) in water. And once it is washed, it is ready to be laid out in the sun. Then it needs no more washing.

And look at the cloth dyers: when they want to dye cloth or thread, they cannot apply the color to the cloth without the water of the clouds. They must prepare the dye with the water and fix the color—without the cloth—by means of fire. Then, once the cloth is dyed, they hang it up to dry, the water evaporates, and the color remains fixed in the cloth.

So it is also now with our work: for with the water, we have perfected our work, fixed our stone, and no longer need the work of water. Then consider how you purified the earths with air and earth—how you dissolved the earths first in rectified fire, which you distilled, and only then your work was set. Then you rubbed your earth 2 or 3 times on the stone with your water, and all that same water remained in your work. And it is thus completed—thanks be to God—and this water belongs to the Philosopher’s Stone.

Now it is no longer the water of the clouds, it is our lye and chisel, and we no longer need it—for the stone is completed. And once it is fixed, you will see this sign: just as you previously saw the particles rise and fall again within the glass—from the bottom of the vessel to the top—you will now see small drops appear at the top and fall again into the fixed matter, just like dew dripping from the leaves onto the earth. Thus it happens here—and when you see this sign, then rejoice! For the Stone of Life is made, and the Tincture is also brought forth.

It can be used by human hands—it is the highest medicine that God has left in nature. For it has the power to expel all infirmities and to purify humans so that they live without decay until the last judgment. And it can bring back what was previously lost. Much more than I dare speak of. For those who perfect the work will fully understand what miracles it can perform. I leave that to those who are meant to know it.

So now, when you see the final signs, let your fire die down and allow the glass to cool. Once it is cold, you will find a noble stone at the bottom of the glass (the vessel), and the water stands above the stone. And know: if the water were not present, and the stone began to fix itself, it would go through the glass just like oil through dried leather.

Therefore, be sure to let the glass cool completely before you remove the water from it. For the water preserves it so that the stone does not break through. As long as the glass is clean, the stone is properly formed. For it is dissolved in the hot dryness and in the cold moist air it coagulates. Therefore, let it become well cold.

Now, once the water is removed, break the glass and take out the King of Eternity, who shall possess crown and power forever.

Thank Almighty God for His holy gifts.

Now it is accomplished—the one who was previously mocked: our Stone has been made. The philosophers say it is made from one thing, without adding anything foreign, and in it must be the four elements, which will then be sufficiently purified and proven to the understanding and senses. Therefore Hermes says: “You shall carry your purse with you full of wisdom.” And Arnoldus de Villa Nova says in his Testamentum: “The Lord has given us two stones: one for the wise and one for the fools, which we can and may possess. But they grow and may be had by those who will—and for this no one should ask leave or permission, for this stone knows and reveals itself.” Be cautious: no one may incur more expenses than with this art.

Therefore, keep well in your memory what I have shown you here. I have opened the door to you—so go joyfully into the house of philosophy, and go with your small understanding to the work, and you will see and comprehend wondrous things. Read this lesson often before you begin the work, and it will bring you profit in your labor. For I have told and written everything clearly for you, without any hidden words, and I have opened the path for you, which I have walked with great care and labor. I have freed you from worry and toil. I have warned you of all deceptions and errors you might encounter in the work, without hiding or spoiling anything, so that you may come to a clear understanding without loss of time or money.

And if you understand it otherwise, then you depart from this work more than I have described to you. For whatever one does in the art must proceed upon a single path and road—or one will fall into great expense, error, and fantasy, and thereby into shame and ridicule before all mankind.

THE END.