THE GOLDEN AGE RESTORED - Aureum Seculum Redivivum,
WHICH HAS NOW APPEARED AGAIN,
sweetly flourished, and brought forth a fragrant and golden seed.
Shows and reveals that dear and precious seed to all the Sons of true Wisdom and Learning
HINRICUS MADATHANUS.
Hinricus Madathanus was the pseudonym of Adrian von Mynsicht.
His name is an anagram of "Henricus Madathanus" / "Hincmarus de Madathan,"
Inside the circle is a large triangle pointing upwards, a symbol of fire or the divine. Within the upper part of the triangle is a cross, flanked by the capital letters "B" on the left and "S" on the right - Likely standing for "Benedictus" and "Sanctificatus" (Blessed and Sanctified).
In the lower portion of the triangle sits a smaller circle containing the words "THE CENTER IN THE TRIANGLE OF THE CENTER" surrounding a tiny triangle with a central point, representing the unity of the material and spiritual worlds.
FRANKFURT,
At the house of HERMANN VON SANDE.
1677.
James in his Epistle, Chapter 1, Verse 5.
If anyone among you lacks wisdom, let him ask it of God, who gives to all simply, and does not reproach; and then it shall be given to him.
The Author’s Motto.
The center of the world is the grain of the foundation.
PREFACE
TO THE CHRISTIAN
and Worthy Reader.
My very dear and pious Reader, and especially you, children of wisdom and learning; after some years ago, Almighty God, in response to my daily and most fervent prayers, opened my eyes so wide through the illumination of His Holy Spirit (from whom we receive all wisdom, and who was sent to us from the Father through Christ) that I recognized the true Center within the Triangle of the center - Trigono centri, the one and only true matter of the noble Philosopher’s Stone, and held it essentially in my hands; nevertheless, for nearly five years I remained ignorant of how I might proceed with it profitably, correctly, and fittingly to separate from it the blood of the red lion - rubri leonis sanguinem and the gluten of the white eagle - albæ aquilæ gluten.
Much less did I know how to mix them very closely and perfectly according to the proportionate weight of nature, or how to enclose them, seal them, and commit them to the secret fire arcanoque igni.
All of this must be done with singular reason and practiced prudence. And although I searched with singular industry through the writings, parables, and various figures of the Philosophers, and toward many, wonderful, and partly, I had sweated greatly to solve the enigmas born from their own little brains: nevertheless, I found in truth that all those things were mere follies and the most vain phantasms, just as the Authors of the Philosophers themselves similarly testify: namely, that all the preparations described by Geber, Albertus Magnus, and others of that ilk, such as their purifications, sublimations, cementations, distillations, rectifications, circulations, putrefactions, conjunctions, solutions, ascensions, coagulations, calcinations, incinerations, mortifications, revivifications, and so on; and likewise their tripods, the Athanor , reverberatory and liquefying alembics , the "horse-dung" bath , ash, sand, the cucurbit , the Pelican , the retort, the fixatory, and so forth that all these are mere sophistic, seductive, and useless things, just as I myself am now forced to confess by the very truth of the matter.
For noble Nature, which delights in its own substance, knows nothing of this futility.
Whence Theophrastus , concerning those who seek the matter of the stone in wine, in imperfect bodies, in blood, in marcasites , in mercury, in sulfur, in urine, in dung, in orpiment , and in herbs such as Celandine, Hyssop, Ivy, etc., rightly says: All these are filled with lies and thefts, by which they seduce men, drain their purses, and consume their time recklessly and uselessly; they merely follow their own foolish heads, which can achieve nothing of what Nature requires.
Come now, I ask you, tell me: who might help me with the minerals of the earth, the distillations of waters, and such?
Might men even be found in these things who can renew wine or [renew] urine, from which metals are fashioned: or do you suppose there are pharmacists within who sell all those things with which you might fashion metals?
Foolishly, do you not understand that you err, and that none of those things pertain to nature?
Do you attempt to separate God, in that you attempt to make metals from blood?
Make then a man from a horse, or a cow from a mouse that might then yield you good milk: this likewise is multiplication.
Yet it happens not at all; and as much as that is impossible, so much less will you be able to make metals from the aforementioned remedies.
For Art is not from nature, and where nature has already created a thing, Art can have no operation there. If a woman has borne a male infant, nature is not able to form a little girl from him thereafter: let these things be applied to the matter at hand.
From these things, anyone of sound mind can easily gather how, and by what reasoning, and in what things the blessed matter - benedicta materia must be sought and found. Let no one imagine, much less allow himself to be persuaded by any craftsman, that even if he truly knows the real matter, whether by secret revelation from God or from those who know it, and holds it in his hands he then completely understands how to unlock it, to separate the pure from the impure to the highest degree, and to purify it.
Ah, my laborer, you err too much. Now for the first time "the dog lies hidden, buried in the moss", and both art and a learned mind are required for the task.
See, for example, what you heard from me at the beginning: that I myself knew the true matter of the Stone for a full five years, and yet, in all that time, I was ignorant of the method of proceeding with it, until finally, after the sixth year, the key of power - potentiæ clavis, through a secret revelation, it was entrusted by almighty God.
Indeed, the ancient Patriarchs, Prophets, and Philosophers always, and in all times, guarded this same key as a secret and hidden thing. For if, says the Monarch - Monarcha in the stated place, they had written it openly so that any cobbler or street-hawker could understand it, that would be a great outrage, not a mystery; and great evils could arise from it, which would surely be against the manifest will of God, etc.
For these reasons, and others which I have partly cited in the Epilogue and so that I do not seem to bury the talent entrusted to me by God I have wished to manifest in this, my Golden Age Reborn , the great mystery of the wise, just as it was seen by my own eyes, as much as has been granted to me by Nature and God. I have set my hands to the work, and through divine grace, it was undertaken again at the right time with great virtue and glory.
The reader who loves piety and integrity will interpret my purpose not in a bad way, but a good one; nor will he allow himself to be cast into error because contradictions sometimes run through the text simultaneously.
Indeed, it was not possible to proceed otherwise, nor was it even fitting, to move through Theory to Practice; for it is strictly forbidden in the Chemical Republic - Republica chymica to write more openly and clearly about this profession.
I rest upon a firm hope that all those who inspect this Little Work with true confidence and with the internal eyes of the mind to which nothing at all is denied will turn these pages by hand day and night.
At the same time, they shall implore God from the innermost depths of their hearts, and thus, together with me, they shall perceive the hidden and wonderful Philosophical fruits according to the divine will. And by this reasoning, they are and remain true Brothers of the Golden Cross,
PREFACE.
and the chosen members of the philosophical communion in perpetual alliance.
In place of an epilogue, so that the Christian, skilled, and worthy reader may know both my proper name and my surname: I will therefore be so candid, and wish it revealed in the following manner (lest anyone might justly find some fault in me).
Let all and everyone know, therefore, that the number of my name shall be 1,613. In this number, my whole name is perfectly inscribed in the Book of Nature by 11 dead and 7 living parts. According to this: the letter is 5, the fifth part of B, and 15 is again the fifth part of 12. Be content with these things. Given on Mount Abiegnus - "monte Abiegno"; literally "Mount of the Fir Tree.", the 23rd day of March, in the year 1622.
Epigram
To the sons of wisdom and learning,
I sought; I found; I purified many times; and
I joined together; I brought to ripeness; then followed the
Golden Tincture Tinctura: which is called the center of Nature: from there
Come so many meanings, so many writings of men, and various figures.
For all metals, I frankly confess, it is a MEDICINE;
And for the infirm as well: a point born from the divine.
Servant of the Author.
After I had called to mind the miracles of the Most High - Altissimi, the mysteries of enclosed Nature, and the burning and fiery love of one’s neighbor: I then recalled the wheat harvest, in which Reuben, the son of Leah, found the mandrakes - Dudaim in the field, which Leah gave to Rachel in exchange for a night with the Patriarch Jacob.
Indeed, my thoughts were quite profound, and led me further toward Moses namely, how he made the solar calf cast by Aaron drinkable, by reducing it to powder with fire, sprinkling it on water, and offering it to the children of Israel to drink: so much so that I greatly admired the convenient and skillful destruction wrought by that man of God.
But when I properly grasped my thoughts, I finally recognized the truth, and my eyes were opened no differently than those of the disciples at Emmaus, who recognized their Lord in the breaking of the bread: And my heart burned within me, but I gave myself to rest for further speculation, and was seized by sleep: And behold, King Solomon appeared to me in a dream with all his power, riches, and glory, and he brought with him his entire Gynaeceum - harem of a royal household: There were sixty queens and eighty concubines, and of virgins there was no number at all: Yet his dove was one, the most beautiful and dearest to his heart.
According to the universal rite, they performed a splendid and solemn procession, in which the Center was highly praised and loved; its name was like oil poured out, whose scent surpassed all spices, etc. and its fiery spirit was the key for opening the temple, entering the Holy of Holies, and taking hold of the horns of the altar.
Once this aforementioned procession was completed, Solomon showed me the unique center within the Triangle of the Center, and unlocked my understanding: I then noticed that no woman stood behind me, who was baring her breast from a wound stained with blood, from which blood and water flowed out together.
Her hips, like two small crescents - lunularum - little moons, fashioned by a Master, were joined together: her navel was like a round bowl: her belly like a heap of wheat, surrounded on all sides by roses: her breasts like twin fawns: her neck like an ivory tower: her eyes like the pools in Heshbon by the gate of Bath-rabbim: her nose like the tower in Lebanon that looks toward Damascus: her head was seen upon her like Carmel, and the hair on her head like royal purple folded in pleats : her discarded garments lay at her feet, and they were exceedingly foul, stinking, and poisonous, etc.
And finally, she began to speak in this manner: I have put off my robe; how shall I put it on again?
I have washed my feet; how shall I defile them again?
The watchmen who go about the city found me, they wounded me, and they took away my veil from me.
When this was done, out of excessive fear and lack of understanding, I fell to the ground.
But Solomon commanded me to rise again, and said: Do not be afraid: for you see Nature laid bare, and the most secret of secrets which is found beneath heaven and earth: she is beautiful as Tirzah, sweet as Jerusalem, terrible as the points of an army's swords - army with banners: and yet she is the pure and chaste virgin from whom Adam was formed and created.
The entrance to that tabernacle is indeed sealed: for she dwells in gardens and sleeps in the double cave of Abraham in the field of Hebron, and her palace is in the depths of the Red Sea, and in visible caves: the Air gave birth to her, and Fire nourished her: therefore she is the queen of the earth, she has milk and honey in her breasts: indeed, her lips are like a dripping honeycomb: honey and milk are under her tongue, and the scent of her garments is to the wise like the scent of Lebanon: but to the ignorant, she is an abomination.
And Solomon said further: Wake up, and behold my entire gyneceum and seek one similar to her: and immediately the entire gyneceum stripped themselves in a civil manner. But intent on my own thoughts, I could find or judge nothing, and my eyes were closed so that I did not recognize it.
Now when Solomon perceived my weakness, he separated the harem from that naked woman, and said: “Your thoughts are vain, and your understanding is scorched by the Sun; your memory is cloudy and black, so much so that you cannot judge me rightly.”
But if you watch your affairs closely and do not neglect the present opportunity, the bloody sweat of this naked virgin and her snowy tears will be able to refresh you, and to clarify and restore your understanding and memory, so that your eyes may recognize the mysteries of the Most High.
In this way, you shall accurately explore the height of the heavens, the depth of the lower regions, and the powers and operations of all nature and the elements. Your intellect will be like silver, and your memory like gold.
The colors of all precious stones will appear before your eyes; you will know their births, and you will separate the good from the evil, and the goats from the sheep. Your life will be at peace, but the bells of Aaron shall wake you from sleep, and the harp of David, my father, shall rouse you from your drowsiness.
By this speech of Solomon, I was terrified even more vehemently, and I trembled beyond measure, partly because of those emphatic words and partly because of the splendor and glory of the Royal Harem present there.
But King Solomon, taking my right hand, led me through a certain wine cellar into a secret and most elegant Palace, where he refreshed me with flowers and apples. Its windows were made of transparent crystals, and I looked through them.
He said to me: “What do you see?”
“I am looking,” I replied, “out from here into the chamber I just left, and your Royal Harem stands on the left side, and the naked virgins on the right.
Their eyes are redder than wine, and their teeth are whiter than milk; but their garments before their feet are more deformed, blacker, and more foul than the brook Kidron .”
“Choose one from all of these,” Solomon said, “to be your beloved mistress or sweetheart.
I value them and my harem equally.
And as much as the loveliness of my Virgins delights me, so much less do their filthy garments deter me.”
And as soon as the King turned himself, he spoke most kindly to one of his Queens.
There was in that place a certain Mistress of the court, a hundred years old, clothed in a gray robe and wearing a black headband on her head, adorned with a number of white gems, and lined on the inside with red silk, and artfully interwoven with yellow and blue silk: her cloak was raised with Turkish and Indian colors and figures of every kind.
That gray-haired woman gave me a sign with a secret nod, and swore solemnly that she was the mother of that naked virgin, and that she was born of her body a chaste, pure, and hidden Virgin, who until now had refused to suffer the sight or gaze of any man.
And although she has had dealings with men everywhere among the people in the streets, nevertheless, no man has seen her naked before this, nor has anyone touched her.
She is the Virgin of whom the Prophet says: “Behold, we have a son born in secret, who, according to others, has been changed: Behold, a virgin has given birth, a virgin who is called Apdorossa - "secret rose" or "hidden one.", that is, the secret one, who does not suffer others.”
Because this daughter of hers was still unmarried, she had hidden her dowry beneath her feet due to the danger of the current war, lest she might perhaps be plundered by the bands of soldiers roaming here and there, and deprived of her most abundant riches.
But [she said] I should not allow myself to be terrified by the foulness of her filthy and worn-out garments, but should choose her daughter before all others as my most beloved mistress and the pleasure of my life.
If I did so, she promised to give and reveal to me a lye - lixivium with which I might clean her clothes.
Then I would obtain flowing salt - sal fluens and unburnable oil - oleum incombustibile for my household, and an inestimable treasure from her right hand; furthermore, she would delight me daily, and her left hand would continually rest beneath my head.
But after I tried to explain myself categorically, Solomon turned around again, and looking at me grimly, he spoke thus: “I am the wisest of all on earth, and my delightful harem , and the excellence and glory of my queens, surpasses the gold of Ophir.
The adornment of my concubines overshadows the rays of the sun, and the beauty of my virgins the splendor of the moon: so heavenly are my virgins, so unsearchable my wisdom, and so inscrutable my understanding.”
To this I replied, and half-terrified I bowed myself: “Behold, if I have found favor in your sight, since I am a poor man, give me that naked virgin, whom I have chosen out of all others for the preservation of my life.
Her garments are indeed foul, stained, and worn out: I will cleanse, nonetheless I will love those garments and I will love her from my heart: Let her be my sister, my bride, since with one of her eyes and a necklace she has stolen my heart; she has made me burn so that, out of excessive love, I must lie down sick."
Having said these things, Solomon handed her over to me as soon as possible.
However, a tumult arose in the women's quarters Gynecæum , such that I woke up, and I did not know what had happened to me; nevertheless, I regarded it as some dream, and I conceived subtle thoughts about this matter until the following dawn.
When indeed I arose, having poured out prayers: behold, I saw the clothes of the naked virgin lying before my bed.
I looked upon them, and my hair stood up in horror, so that my whole body was drenched in cold sweat.
Yet, regaining my courage, I recalled my dream, and in the fear of the Lord, I pondered it well; however, my thoughts could not reach its meaning at all.
For the reasons just mentioned, it was by no means permitted for me to look upon the garments, much less did I dare to recognize anything in them.
Instead, changing my bedroom, I left the garments lying there for quite a long time yet out of pure ignorance thinking that if perhaps I touched them or turned them over, something memorable might happen to me.
But in my sleep I had been strongly infected and inflamed by the excessive poisonous stench of the garments, so that my eyes could not look upon the "time of grace," nor did my heart recognize the immense wisdom of Solomon.
After the aforementioned garments had lain in my room for five years, and I still did not know for what purpose they were useful, I finally thought of consecrating them to Vulcan Vulcano consecrare and changing my residence.
Intent on those thoughts, then, on the following night a hundred-year-old woman appeared to me in a dream, and rebuked me with harsh words in the following manner:
"Most ungrateful of mortals, for a full five years now I have entrusted to you my daughter’s garments, under which her principal treasures Clinodia lay hidden.
Yet in all that time you have not cleaned them, nor removed the little worms from them, and yet above all this you now meditate on burning them! Is it not enough for you that you are the cause of my daughter's death and destruction?"
Then I too was inflamed with anger, and to her which I replied: "How shall I interpret these words of yours?
Are you trying to make a thief of me, even though in the course of five years I have not seen your daughter at all, nor heard even a whisper about her?
How then can I be the cause of her death?"
But interrupting my speech, she continued: "All these things are true: nevertheless, you have sinned gravely against GOD.
For this reason, you could neither obtain my daughter, nor could you get from me the promised philosophical lye lixivium Philosophicum to wash her clothes.
For since the beginning, when Solomon kindly handed over my daughter to you, you loathed her clothes; Saturn the planet, her grandfather, inflamed with anger, changed her out of sheer wrath back into what she had been before her birth.
And in this way you offended Saturn through contempt, and gave cause for her death, corruption, and final destruction."
She is the very one of whom the Senior says: Woe, woe is me: bring me a naked woman, while my body was invisible, and I had not yet been made a mother, until I was born a second time; then I brought forth the powers of all the herbal roots, and I reported victory in my essence, etc.
These emphatic and heart-piercing words seemed quite strange to me, yet I suppressed my zeal as best I could and solemnly protested against them, saying that I knew nothing at all of her daughter, much less had I provided the cause for her death, corruption, and destruction.
I had indeed kept her clothes for a full five years in my bedroom, yet because of my excessive blindness I had not yet recognized them, nor could I have figured out their usefulness; and for that reason, I was innocent before both God and men.
This legitimate and well-founded excuse of mine greatly pleased the little old mother, and looking at me, she said: "I perceive and gather from your sincere conscience that you are innocent, and because of this innocence of yours, you shall receive a grand reward in place of payment.
Therefore, from a faithful heart, yet in secret, I will reveal to you: that surely my daughter, out of a singular love and affection for you, left behind for you as an inheritance under her remaining clothes a gray, marbled little box cistula, which is covered with a thick, black, and rancid cloth (meanwhile, [she reached for] a glass full of lye handing it to me, she continued to speak: "You must thoroughly cleanse this little casket cistula from the stench and filth it contracted from the garments.
Then you will need no key, for it will unlock itself.
Inside, you will find two things: a white, silver pyxis full of excellent diamonds polished with lead, and a royal garment interwoven with the most precious solar jaspers.
This treasure, and the entire substance of the riches left behind, belongs to my blessed daughter; she left them all to you as an inheritance before her transmutation and departure.
Therefore, if you now skillfully transport this treasure, purify it with greatest zeal, and quietly yet with great patience place it in a certain warm, hidden, vaporous, transparent, and moist cellar, and if you guard it well from the injury of cold, wind, hail, destructive lightning and its burning strikes, and indeed from all external destruction until the wheat harvest: then at last you will find and perceive the immense glory and excellence of your inheritance."
Having said these things, I woke up once more and anxiously called upon GOD, praying that He might deign to reveal my understanding so that I might seek and find the casket promised to me in the dream.
After completing my prayers, I searched through the clothes with the greatest zeal and desire, and I found it.
However, the lining pannus subductitius - inner lining of the garment was so hard, enclosed on all sides, and so fused together by nature that I could not separate it from the casket.
It would not allow itself to be cleansed by lye, nor could it be split by iron, steel, or other metals.
Wherefore, leaving it behind again, I remained in doubt between heaven and earth as to what I should do.
I began to believe it was a sorcery , and I remembered the prophetic saying:
"Even though you wash yourself with lye and apply much soap, yet your iniquities shine even more before me, says the Lord, the Lord."
And a year passed once again, yet despite my contemplation and most diligent inquiry, I could not remove that lining.
At last, to drive away my Melancholy thoughts, I went out for a walk in a certain garden.
Finally, after a long stroll, I sat down upon a fern, where I was seized by a deep sleep.
I was sleeping, yet my heart remained awake.
Then once again that hundred-year-old Mistress of the court appeared to me and said: "Have you obtained the inheritance left by my daughter?"
In a sad voice, I then answered in the negative: "I have indeed found the little casket cistula , but I am entirely unable to remove the lining cloth pannum subductitium ; the lye lixivium you gave me is unable to touch or dissolve that lining."
At this simple speech of mine, that old woman began to laugh and said: "Are you now striving to devour snails or crabs with their shells still on?
Must they not first be ripened and prepared by the most ancient cook of the planets?
I told you that you must, with the greatest zeal, [cleanse] that white casket with the given lye that arose from it, but you must not [try to] purify that external and raw lining cloth; rather, you must first burn it away with the fire of the wise, and then the matter will succeed prosperously."
With this, she handed me certain coals prunas, wrapped in a white hemisphere, with further instruction that from these I ought to kindle a Philosophical and entirely artificial fire to burn the lining cloth, and then immediately the white casket would be found by me.
These things having been said, the North Wind - Aquilo and the South Wind - Auster suddenly arose, blowing through that garden at once.
Then I woke up again, cleared my eyes of sleep, and noticed that those wrapped coals were lying before my feet.
And so I seized them as quickly as possible, and joyfully calling upon God, I devoted myself to my studies by night and day, until at last I remembered that most excellent Philosophical saying: FIRE AND AZOTH ARE SUFFICIENT FOR YOU.
Concerning this matter, Ezra says in his 4th book: “And he reached out to me a cup filled with fire, which I drank, and then wisdom grew within me.
And God bestowed understanding, and my spirit was preserved in memory, and my mouth was opened, nor was anything else added.
When forty nights had passed, then two hundred and four books were completed: seventy indeed were most worthy of reading for the wise alone, and were inscribed upon boxwood.”
I proceeded in this way in silence and hope, just as that old little mother had revealed to me, until at last, after a long stretch of time, my intellect became silver and my memory became gold, according to the promise of Solomon.
Truly, after I had according to the information and teaching of that old Mistress of the Court properly and very skillfully put away and locked up the treasure of that daughter (namely those shining Lunar diamonds and Solar rubies , which had arisen from one little chest and from one province), I heard the voice of Solomon speaking in this way:
My friend is white and ruddy, chosen among ten thousand: His locks are curly and black as a raven; his eyes are like the eyes of doves by the rivers, washed with milk, standing in fullness; his cheeks are like the spice-gardens of the apothecaries Pharmacopolarū ; his lips like roses dropping flowing myrrh; his hands like gold rings adorned with Boreal jaspers Iaspidibus Boreis ; his body like ivory decorated with sapphires; his feet like pillars of marble set upon bases of gold; his appearance like Lebanon, excellent as the cedars; his throat is sweet and pleasant.
Such is my friend, such is my beloved, O daughters of Jerusalem.
You shall therefore preserve him, nor shall you let him go until you bring him into his mother's house, and into the chamber of her who conceived him.
After these things were thus spoken by Solomon, I could give no answer, but remained silent.
Nevertheless, I had decided to unlock that enclosed treasure so that I might remain in peace and tranquility; then from another place I heard such a voice:
I adjure you, O daughters of Jerusalem, by the gazelles and the hinds of the field, that you do not wake my beloved , nor move her, until it pleases her.
For she is an enclosed garden; an enclosed spring; a fountain sealed.
She is a vineyard at Baal-hamon; a vineyard at En-geddi; a garden of nuts and spices; a mountain of myrrh; a hill of frankincense; a bed, a litter, a crown, a palm fruit; a flower in Sharon; a sapphire, a Boreal jasper, a wall, a tower, and a breastplate; a plantation, a garden fountain, a well of living waters; a daughter of princes, and the love of Solomon in delights.
She is the most beloved of her mother, and the choice one of her who bore her; his head is full of dew, and his locks are filled with the drops of the night.
Through this speech and revelation I was so extensively informed that I even recognized the goal scopum of the wise.
Therefore, I left the enclosed treasure untouched until, by the mercy of God, the operation of most noble Nature, and the labor of my hands, all things were successfully completed.
A short time later, on the day of the New Moon Novilunii, an Eclipse was seen in the Sun appeared with a horrible appearance: from the beginning it was filled with murky greens and somewhat mixed colors, until at last it became entirely black, and it obscured both heaven and earth.
Men were anxious, but I rejoiced, recalling to my memory the great mercy of God and the Mystery of Regeneration , just as the grain of wheat set before us by Christ himself suggests: that unless it is cast into the earth and rots, it brings forth no fruit.
And it happened that this Eclipse was covered by clouds, and the sun began to shine; nevertheless, three parts of it were still very murky.
And behold: An arm penetrated the clouds, and my body trembled at that sight; it held a letter in its hand with four seals hanging from it, on which was written: I am black, but very lovely, O daughters of Jerusalem, like the tents of Kedar, and the curtains of Solomon.
Do not gaze upon me because I am so black, for the Sun has scorched me.
As soon as the Fixed Fixum acted upon the Moist Humidum , a Rainbow extended itself, and I was mindful of the covenant of the Most High, and of the faithfulness of my Teacher and instructor.
And behold: By the aid of the Planets and the fixed stars, the Sun at last overcame the Eclipse, and a very serene day began to shine upon all the mountains and valleys.
Then all fear and terror ceased; and all who had seen that day exulted in the Lord and said:
Winter has passed, the rain has ceased: Flowers have come forth in the earth: Spring has arrived, and the voice of the turtledove is heard in the land.
The fig tree and the shoots of the vines have recovered, and they spread a pleasant odor about them.
Let us therefore quickly catch the foxes the little foxes, I say that destroy the vineyard, so that we may gather mature grapes, and having made wine, we may drink, and in due time be fed with milk and the honeycomb, and become full and joyful.
After the day had declined and evening approached, the whole sky changed its color, and the Pleiades arose with golden rays, completing their natural course through the night, until in the morning they were overshadowed, surpassed by the Redness of the Sun.
And behold, the wise ones living on the earth woke from sleep, looked toward heaven, and said:
Who is she that breaks forth like the dawn, elegant as the moon, choice as the Sun, and no spot is found in her?
Her fervor is ignited, and a flame of the Lord, so great that even many waters cannot extinguish her love, nor can the rivers they may be able to suffocate her.
Therefore we shall by no means abandon her; she is our sister, even if she has been made small, having no breasts.
Yet we shall bring her back into the house of her mother, into the perfect palace where she was before, so that she may suck the breasts of her mother.
And then she will stand forth like the Tower of David, fortified with bulwarks, on which hang a thousand shields and all the arms of the strong.
As they went forth, the daughters proclaimed her blessed; queens and concubines praised her.
But I, prostrate on the ground upon my knees, paid the thanks due to God, and celebrated His most holy name.
Epilogue.
And now, my beloved sons, both of you devoted to wisdom and doctrine, the great mystery of the wise, and the revelation of the Spirit, has been completed in all power and glory. Concerning this, Theophrastus, prince and monarch, says in the Apocalypse of Hermes:
That there is one single light, a divine, wonderful, and holy gift, containing the whole world within itself; at the same time it becomes true, and truly surpasses the elements, and is the Fifth Essence.
Moreover, no eye has seen, no ear has heard, nor has it entered into the heart of any man, what heaven has naturally infused into this Spirit of truth. In it alone truth consists; from this also it is called the voice of truth. By its powers Adam and the other patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, obtained health of their bodies and long life, and finally, beneath it, flourished in great riches.
Through this spirit the philosophers discovered the seven arts and obtained their riches. Noah built the ark, Solomon the temple, Moses the tabernacle with it; and through this, he brought golden vessels of pure gold into the temple. And Solomon himself also, by the benefit of the same, perfected many excellent works in honor of God, and by means of it accomplished many great and wondrous things.
Ezra again restored the laws with it; Miriam, the sister of Moses, practiced liberality from it; and that very spirit itself came frequently into use among the prophets of the Old Testament.
Likewise, it is that very sanctification and medicine of all things, the final investigation, the final and highest mystery of nature; that is, the Spirit of the Lord, who filled the circle of the earth, who from the beginning moved above the waters, whom the world, without the gracious hidden inspiration of the Holy Spirit, or without the secret instruction of those who know it, could not comprehend; and whom the world is not able sufficiently to esteem, whom the whole universe desires on account of its powers, and whom the saints, from the beginning of the created world, have sought and ardently desired to see.
For it enters into the seven planets, raises up clouds, drives away mists, gives light to all things, converts all things into gold and silver, grants all fullness of health, abundance, and treasures; heals leprosy, cures dropsy and even gout itself, makes the face clear, prolongs life, comforts the sorrowful, restores the sick to health, and removes every defect.
Indeed, it is the mystery of all mysteries, a certain secret hidden among all secret things, and the healing and medicine of all things. Likewise, it is that desired science, and the most pleasing thing of all things that are beneath the circle of the Moon, by which nature is strengthened, and the heart, together with its members, is renewed; flourishing age is preserved, old age is driven away, diseases are destroyed, and the whole earthly globe is renewed.
And it is and remains of an unsearchable nature, of infinite power, and of unsurpassable excellence and of glory.
Likewise, this spirit is above all heavenly things, or above every spirit; an elect spirit, which bestows health, fortune, joy, peace, and love; which, in general, drives away every evil, destroys poverty and misery, makes it so that a person can neither speak nor think evil, fulfills the desires of all human hearts, and grants temporal honor to the pious, but eternal punishment to the wicked who abuse it.
And thus, in the name of the Most Holy Trinity, with these few words we wish at last to conclude the great mystery of the most noble Philosophical Stone, and the highest feast of the wise, with great solemnity.
To the Most High and Almighty God, the Creator of this art, to whom it pleased that to me, a most wretched man and sinner, on account of the most holy by some vow, this knowledge were revealed, may there be eternal praise, glory, honor, and thanksgiving, joined with a most humble and most ardent prayer, that He may deign to so direct my heart, my senses, and my mind through His Spirit, that I speak of this mystery before no one, much less communicate it to the impious, nor reveal it to any other creature, lest, unmindful of my vow and oath, I exist as a Breaker of the heavenly seal Effractor cœlestis sigilli and a perjured BROTHER OF THE GOLDEN CROSS - AUREÆ CRUCIS FRATER, and greatly violate the Divine Majesty, and by that very act knowingly commit the most certain sin against the Holy Spirit .
May God the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, the most praised and undivided Trinity Trinitas, most mercifully prevent this and most constantly guard me.
AMEN, AMEN, AMEN.
The End.