The Mystery of Hidden Nature, of the Anonymous Disciple of Johann Grassaeus Chorralasseus (so called), a Philosopher distinguished in our age, Doctor of both Laws, and Syndic of Strasbourg; concerning the two Astral Flowers of the Lesser Agricola, contained in his most artificial Treasury of Secrets.

Preface to the Pious Reader by the Son of Sendivogius, J.F.H.S., author of the Lamp of Philosophical Salt and Possessor of the Hermetic Mystery.

Translated to English from the book:
Jo. Jacobi Mangeti ... Bibliotheca chemica curiosa, seu rerum ad alchemiam pertinentium thesaurus instructissimus: quo non tantum artis auriferae ... verum etiam tractatus omnes virorum ... ad quorum omnium illustrationem additae sunt quamplurimae figurae aeneae. Tomus primus [-secundus]

We consider the tangible body of earthly water, and its natural condition, substance, and motion with attentive mind; and we discover in it invisible powers and a spiritual water, and in these the Spirit of eternal unity moving within it from which we must be reborn if we wish to become partakers of eternal life from which all who live according to the flesh are excluded. For no creature, after the fall of man into the curse, can be freed except through the holy water and the regeneration of the Divine Spirit.

On this foundation the sacred work of the regeneration of the Philosophers is begun, since the sole cause of its concealment is established here: that when God placed it there, it was not permitted to philosophers, even over thousands of years, to possess knowledge of this most precious thing (in which the wisdom of true Divine knowledge and the treasury of all treasures consists), except in a hidden manner; so that without a singular Divine illumination drawn from their books in which nevertheless the truth is nowhere plainly and circumstantially comprehended it is altogether impossible to obtain the foundation of this philosophical regeneration.

For the Philosophers not only shrouded it in the highest obscurity in their writings, but also the providence of the Divine Spirit so restrained the eyes of the unworthy in mind, that they understand nothing at all of this Divine mystery, although in itself it is entirely plain and simple.

It is indeed a marvel that men of keen intellect are so blind in this matter, who from year to year have discovered many subtler arts and far more difficult things. The cause of this is none other than that Divine Providence hides this mystery from the unworthy, but truly reveals and communicates it to the pious, together with all its lovable goodness.

Concerning this the Psalmist says in Psalm 84: The Lord does not withhold any good thing from the pious. Blessed is the man who trusts in Thee, O Lord of Hosts.

Since therefore the author of this little treatise, my most intimate friend, more than thirty years ago Divine grace favoring had become master of the aforesaid fountain of waters (from which Nature coagulates gold in the earth, but Art the Stone of Hermes above the earth), and with his own hands prepared this white water of the wise that does not wet the hands, and for so long a time, as I said, kept silence yet now to the sons of Hermes and the Adepts, and to those who are companions in the circumstances of the philosophical art, he was unwilling that this should in part remain unknown he allowed me, his dearest friend, to bear witness to this treatise in his honor, and in truth to make certain to all who read this writing that all things contained in it are most true.

He indeed sets forth his matters in a somewhat rough style; yet he knows these things as well as I for they are secrets of inestimable worth and one might perhaps doubt whether in the whole world his equal could be found. For nowhere is found anyone who has reduced the way of preparing the universal Stone which commonly lasts nearly eighteen months into a span of thirty days, briefly and fully, as Hermes has set it down. Yet the work of the lesser Agricola was small and slight, whose writings written by hand are indeed extant, but not brought into the light among whom, however, he whom Divine providence has joined to my friend under certain conditions known among the Philosophers, if it should please the Lord, administrator of all goodness, could become heir.

But if he should obtain from my friend only the mercurial water alone, he would possess such a gift as cannot be repaid by any art. For beyond that which in it is the Philosophers’ Stone not indeed in act, but hidden in potency particulars of every kind also can be had from it, and together through it whatever things exist in Nature can be possessed.

The truth of this matter is attested not only by all the books of the Philosophers, but also he who, by the grace of God, becomes master of this fountain will learn by experience that he possesses infinite treasures. Therefore all other chemical labors, whatever they may be, in comparison with this and as far as usefulness is concerned are to be regarded as children’s play; hence this fountain is to be preferred far above all other things existing in the nature of things, after God and the human soul.

Wherefore this little treatise is offered to the sons of the art whose author is the same man and who in my third principle of minerals is also mentioned.

I have done this, and I commend it to be read with sharp meditation; for in it the kernel of truth is sufficiently found, although it is expressed with no gaudy words: for the contents thereof are shown, not from the report of others, but by proper experience, and by the certainty of manual operation things not usual in the world at this day, how much soever may be written of it.

I cannot put out of my mind this doubt, whether at this time there are to be found any like unto this author, who have performed the same.

And therefore I would admonish the well-willing reader, that he give his mind to those things which have been spoken above; whom I commend to the Father of omnipotent Light and Mercy, that he may obtain, by the gracious illumination of the Holy Spirit, a full knowledge of Divine Justice, and a science of His power; who is the root of eternal life. (Wisdom 15.)

O how profound is the wisdom of God, and hidden from the sons of the world! It must be sought inwardly, that which is not seen with outward eyes.

Aros in the Turba.

This is excellent: that among the great Philosophers the Stone is not a stone; but among idiots it is vile and incredible. For who would believe that a stone should become water, and water a stone, when nothing is more unlike? Yet in very truth it is so.

For the love of honour, affection, and candour toward my most sincere friend, I was willing to preface these things.

J. F. H. S., son of Sendivogius.

The invisible things of God are beheld from the creation of the world through those things which are made, being understood by the intellect.

Whensoever (ye enlightened men and lovers of God) I consider with my mind that severe threatening which God pronounces against all transgressors of His law, I reflect and I do so often that as often my spirit has trembled. The words of the law are these, Deut. 28:50:

“The Lord shall wonderfully deal with thee, with plagues upon thee and upon thy seed, with great and lasting plagues, with grievous and lasting diseases,” etc.

In these words that great Prophet teaches that the Divine wrath, because of sins, will be so great that even the best medicines (which after the work of eternal salvation are the highest gifts of God) will be weak for the future. How great therefore this curse is may easily be understood by those who themselves experience in their own bodies that all remedies, because of sins, are subject to the curse.

Hence it has come to pass that physicians have been unwilling to take such men in hand, but in those diseases in which they perceived something Divine, and which by reason both of complication and magnitude they saw could not be overcome, they withdrew their hand; and in this way they would now praise, now blame, the method and way of physicians nor could those who wished to observe everything give satisfaction to themselves.

Those times indeed were happy and sound in which, as Pliny rightly relates (Book 20, chapter 9), the Romans for six hundred years passed their life without any medicine; and rustic practice, when they were sometimes sick, took the place of medicine. But as the malice of men increased, punishments also increased.

Therefore the Philosophers, from an exact consideration of things, seeing that an innumerable multitude of remedies was required for so many and so various diseases, perceived something higher: namely, how a universal medicine and antidote for all diseases might be obtained which conception was not in vain, but came to pass according to their desire.

Of this number was Basilius Valentinus, and in our age Theophrastus Paracelsus, Johannes Chortalasseus, and many others, who investigated the root of all diseases, strengthened the power of the natural balsam, and in their cures performed wondrous things.

Desiring to follow in the footsteps of these most learned men, I also, in my various journeys, traveling through the different kingdoms of Europe, sought the universal mercurial water, or the fountain of metals and especially that wonderful Subject to be freed from its hard bonds, in which Nature had enclosed it, and to bring it forward into an effective medicine.

I have obtained knowledge of this a medicine sufficiently and even exceedingly suitable and fit for renewing the human body because it quickly and pleasantly removes the root of many diseases, restores and revives the natural heat, provided that rightly and in the Philosophical manner and method it is prepared; that is, when it has first been fixed, or made constant in the fire.

What we seek is difficult, yet it is possible namely to obtain that most noble and most precious, wondrous Stone of the Philosophers, which is the strongest strength of all natural strength, which has all things within itself, and is a thing conquering, penetrating, and preserving.

In this matter, the highest heavenly wisdom (to whom be thanksgiving forever) has deigned to instruct me, though unworthy, by its gift, so that as far as concerns the knowledge of the true Philosophers I also might fundamentally understand this mystery of nature now spoken of, and from it be able to supply to those who are worthy of this revelation sufficient and true instruction.

For I do not intend to compose this work from the writings of others, nor to extend my own writings further for mere amusement; but my own experience and practice avail more with me than a thousand testimonies sought from the books of the Philosophers by means of which, through spoken conference, I am able to disclose many further things.

Now how the marvelous SOLUTION of this Subject came about for me, I will tell briefly.

When our Subject, in itself and through itself, without the addition of any thing in the whole world, was seen to be resolved into water, I judged this work to be wonderful, and I confidently and securely believed that the philosophical mysteries and the true art were indeed so.

For the internal fire of our Subject which is nevertheless heavenly and above nature being in the beginning born from heaven, lies hidden in our subject, and is stirred by the singular skill of a prudent and experienced chemist, so that through putrefaction it resolves itself; in this way generation is caused, and it shows itself as a clear spirit of Mercury, like a fountain of waters, in which there exists a generative and multiplicative power, which is the instrument of the creation of God, through which Almighty God works mediately, and which also is in His sole power.

In this Mercurial spirit, or metallic fountain, the three principles also (namely Mercury, Sulphur, and Salt) are found perfectly united, by which many wonders are able to be accomplished.

Let the royal patrons of this art also know that in our times many chemists of both great and small rank are found, who, when reading in Trevisan concerning the little fountain or its source, are almost all of the opinion that that little fountain is the Mercurial water or the metallic spring; concerning which the most experienced Count Trevisan writes.

But the matter is not so to be understood for this was not Trevisan’s intention namely, that he speaks of a little fountain or a pure spring in the sense of an internal fountain, or a natural radical moisture of a spring (that is, Mercurial water), which water, like a fountain, is surrounded and enclosed by Nature with hard and rigid accidental impurities.

Although Count Bernhardus attributes to that whole subject, or to the Philosophical Chaos, in its bodily nature or in its entire substance insofar as it is found thus impure the name of a little fountain or a spring, as he writes, nevertheless under this name he wishes Mercurial water, or natural humidity hidden in the little fountain, to be understood into which Bernhard’s golden little book, composed of pure gold, fell.

For as Rosarius says: By itself it is of no strength, nor does it provide any usefulness, nor improve anything, but rather corrupts all things. But that which by the subtlety of art is drawn out of it is a most pure middle and inward substance, of spiritual and heavenly essence, separated from all accidental and corrupting impurities; whose property is not to be burned, but to preserve from burning, and not to flee from fire, but to render fixed and constant.

This middle substance, concerning which all the ancient Philosophers have written, is the dry water of the Philosophers, and that spirit which brings gold to its own volatility, and draws the soul out of perfected bodies.

Therefore the little fountain is that thing in which the metallic indeed the heavenly spirit lies hidden, which bestows life upon all creatures, and is of a middle nature.

Since, however, as King Geber testifies, the said division and separation of the middle substance is difficult, on account of its natural mixture and union, and depends upon a most subtle art which the ancients concealed as a most powerful secret nevertheless those things which are read in the Dialogue of Nature and the Alchemist in Sendivogius set forth my opinion concerning the little fountain; where the Alchemist asks:

“Tell me if you are that little fountain about which Bernard of Treviso wrote,”

but Mercury truly answers:

“I am not the little fountain, but I am its water; the little fountain has surrounded me,” etc.

What Geber calls the middle nature and the most lucid and indeed most shining substance of Mercury, that Bernhard calls the little fountain, or the pure and clear fountain of heavenly color.

Concerning this marvelous solution it is also treated in The Equestrian War, and by Arnold of Villanova, Basilius Valentinus, and Lullius. Hermes, King of the Egyptians and father of all Philosophers, also makes mention of it in these parabolic words:

“In the higher sphere there is in the middle a vein of the fountain, which is the first rule of the Philosophers.”

Chortalasseus, a most highly illuminated Philosopher, also treats of this solution in his letters to the Elector of Cologne, Ernestus, in which he sets forth in summary the way of the solution according to King Geber, where he thus speaks:

“I would have no one doubt that your Majesty has observed a twofold way namely the dry and the moist from the books of the Philosophers, and has learned that in the dry way, by much toil and continual labor in dissolving and coagulating, in the first operation the most precious Mercury of life is acquired.

But now, with God favoring, the intended goal may be reached more readily, as King Geber testifies in his summary. There is one single perfect way by which we are relieved from so many labors and burdens of solutions and coagulations.

In the moist way we are excused from such troublesome labors and from the prolongation of time in the first operation; for now such great labor is not necessary, and we can be free of these difficulties. Note well, however, that nothing be done to excess.

Therefore, since our spring or Mercurial water is surrounded by an impure fountain and is naturally enclosed, as King Geber expressly teaches, it is worth the labor that this Mercurial water or the Spirit of Mercury be freed and resolved by regeneration from the hard and rigid bonds of the fountain, just as the mystery and the natural art require.

Here now the greatest difficulty arises; for there are few who although no one wishes to reveal the method itself nevertheless know it: namely, how by this way the mixed body is released from its hard bonds, from its bonds it must be brought forth, the hidden must be made manifest, and afterward the other pure thing, or the central Salt, must be brought out into the open air.

Hence it is that all Philosophers, as well the ancients as the more recent, have concealed the preparation in the first operation with as much care as the matter itself indeed with much greater zeal.

For in this the whole hinge of truth turns; this is the foundation of the entire building. Therefore they have also called it the secret of the art, when they say:
“We have revealed all things to you, except the secret of the art, which it is permitted to reveal to no one; but we attribute it to the most glorious God, who inspires whom He wills, and from whom He wills He withholds it.”

The Senior explains this in this way: they have hidden nothing except the preparation, because it is the most difficult of all things. Hence, even if they found the thing itself, they did not possess the preparation; but the art is not perfected without preparation, because this art is a special gift of God.

But that the Separation, or Solution of Hermes, may be more rightly understood, it must be noted that it is twofold. Besides the solution already mentioned which is completed in the first operation the first consists in this: that the impure is separated from the pure, the gross earthly impurity from the inner kernel, the pure substance and clear crystalline salt or, as Agricola speaks, the light of the white lily with its red hidden sulphur (which are the gold and silver of the Hermetics) is brought forth from the impure Chaos. This is the principal and most difficult thing in the art, which Agricola indicates when he speaks. Here many have stumbled, and this is the key of the art.

Without the help and addition of this pontic (marine/philosophic) water nothing at all can be accomplished that produces any usefulness. Very many men of diverse condition have left nothing unattempted in order to obtain good particular chemical products, which indeed even the most excellent of them in comparison with this Spirit or Fountain are not even to be esteemed of the least value.

But he who possesses this key or fountain is master not only of the universal work, but also of all particular works. For he who has the tree also has its branches.

This is indeed a great mystery, wrapped in silence by the ancients: that this key leads gold into perfect volatility, and contains within itself many similar secret virtues among which potable gold holds no small place which can be prepared by means of that Fountain or Spirit of Mercury of Life, when gold by subtle art is raised into a most pure spirituality and lovableness; whereby the gout and all other incurable diseases may be radically cured and removed. Therefore Paracelsus says in the book On the Nature of Things: Nothing surpasses potable gold except the Stone of the Wise.

As for the other wonders which can be produced from this Fountain, it is not the place now to recount them things which may be entrusted only to pious men devoted to God and to the art, and who with this gift of God intend to do no evil, but may profit in due time.

For it is certain that to God Almighty, the searcher of hearts, it is known who is worthy of this mystery, and to which men it is permitted to reveal it. For this talent granted to me by God must not remain buried with me as though hidden in the earth; being led by Christian charity toward my neighbor, I desire to be of service to him and to testify my goodwill toward him especially through this little treatise to the true Philosophers (to whom the matter itself, by their own) and to testify my goodwill toward him especially through this treatise to the true Philosophers, to whom access into the sanctuary of Nature has been granted through the proper handling of the matter itself; not to those who, without any trial of the mystery, consider themselves to be Philosophers.

And I wish to declare and openly profess to them that Divine predestination has indeed appointed me not only instructed in the sacred science of the Philosophers’ secret through circumstantial knowledge but has also made me a participant among them and joined me to their fellowship; and moreover has made me so far a sharer in the Philosophical blessing, that now, to the praise of Divine glory, I may speak of these things in real and actual terms, that I might testify in truth that I, namely, have placed before the eyes of those who were worthy for this a most clear doctrine, and still hold it openly.

For by Divine grace operating I have indeed obtained the most universal Mercury of the Philosophers, yet not as yet brought to the desired end, because it still remains in the state and grade of the first operation. By this occasion I seek acquaintance with the true possessors of philosophical knowledge and familiar intercourse with equal freedom; for to converse with such great men concerning such high matters is the greatest delight and refreshment of the mind which Trevisan is known to have experienced, when fifteen Philosophers, all possessors of the universal Stone, visited him.

But that I may proceed in the discussion concerning the Solution, I recall no book published to the light which makes mention of this marvelous philosophical subject and of its most secret solution, together with the fitting manipulations and the required circumstances except that which is read in the Equestrian War, and in the writings of the lesser Agricola from whom I acknowledge that I have received this gift of God where it is stated:

That this subject dissolves itself, and in itself and through itself alone, without any addition of other things of the whole world just as ice in an empty valley is dissolved into water by heat.

On this occasion it is worth noting what Clangor writes that scarcely two drachms from one pound of the precious material of the juice of lilies, or of the Mercury of the Philosophers, can be extracted, by which the work may be completed which indeed is very little.

Sendivogius also makes mention of this matter in his philosophical enigma, saying:

That few have been able to prepare it, and he who in perfecting it has had favorable fortune could never draw off more than ten parts; for it was a certain marvelous water and believe me, that I myself have seen with my own eyes and touched with my hands the snowy whiteness of that water, and when I beheld that water I was greatly amazed.

Thus far Sendivogius.

But as far as concerns myself: with Divine blessing assisting, from one pound of potable water I have been able to extract 26 or even 29 lots or parts the reason of which thing is that different materials are found which do not all contain equal portions of the universal fountain within themselves.

Concerning this Pontic water of the metals I am able to affirm, and let anyone believe me without any doubt, that at this present time I possess the snowy-white color of this water, and that a good quantity of it is found with me.

I would readily believe that there are many who know the universal matter, who nevertheless are uncertain about the first point. For they do not know the nearer matter, from which they might be able to draw forth and obtain the specific or Pontic water. This secret is hidden from their very eyes, and the door to our mystery is shut.

But this Pontic water is the seed of all growing things, for all things draw their origin from that springing source, and nothing in this world is born or generated except from that same source. This water is mother, conceiving and bringing forth.

Therefore all Philosophers rightly offer the palm to God most good and most great in the second operation, for it is divine and hyperphysical. As also the already-mentioned Sendivogius reports that the creation of the whole world in Genesis, chapter 1, is a type of this most excellent art.

Concerning this Pontic water supernatural, unsearchable, of heavenly virtue, and of incredible operation the Philosophers are able to read in their writings, but most especially Basil Valentine, where he treats of natural and supernatural things, and of the first root of the tincture of metals, chapter 1, page 27. And concerning the Spirit of Mercury he speaks in chapter 3.

My universal fountain of the metals is that same one universal Spirit of Mercury, which all the experienced Philosophers have testified, nor could they conclude otherwise.

Concerning this, I have often read the writings of Johannes Chortalasseus, my blessed teacher (the author of the greater and lesser Agricola), whose original manuscripts of which by Divine providence I have been made heir are preserved in my custody. In these, under the title of the Lesser Agricola, he says that by means of the universal fountain or spirit (that is, with the dusky water of the white lilies, which he first observed) he freed many sick persons from death by the grace of God.

The Lesser Agricola, speaking of the subject or matter of our Stone, says that he who understands the origin of metals also knows well that the matter or subject of our Stone must likewise be metallic. Yet it is not a metal nor an ore, but metals and ores, and ores and metals because the nature of them all is one and the same which is called the immature mineral electrum, the magnetic Lunar thing.

Therefore the Philosophers always speak in the plural: metals, of metals, in metals about which clearer words are not to be made.

Concerning the truth of this matter, by the grace of God I can at any time prepare a metallic body from our Subject and demonstrate it plainly to the eye. This mineral root, or springing seed the flower consisting of the root had first to be gradually separated from its impurities, by which through poisonous vapors it had been corrupted; and from it the white Mercurial juice of the lilies, or the universal fountain of metals, must first be drawn out which is very subtle and volatile.

This I have been able to present for inspection on all those days to all whom gracious God has deemed worthy and predestined for this purpose and which I now preserve in my treasury, visible and tangible.

The author of Agricola Minor, proceeding further to the Solution, inquires thus:

After my prayers had been completed, by the gracious working of the eternal God, I took my solution in hand with great eagerness, nor did I cease until I had brought it to completion which is almost the chief and most difficult part of the entire work. For here lie many delays, as all the Philosophers write, and this is the key of the art; and error may easily be committed, so that the flowers and growing or vegetative virtue may be burned away.

Therefore, when the poisonous vapors had left the stone, behold, the flower of the lilies, or the fountain of the metals, gradually appeared which I first observed. The red flower of the lilies is afterward obtained through a singular mystery, by a prudent and well-experienced artist of the chemical art, through separation; which then also shines forth which (as Agricola Minor himself speaks of his death) appears and is accomplished in the lower part.

Concerning this I did not formerly speak in this treatise, although I had often been asked by friends about the cause of this matter; yet at another time, God willing, as it shall be fitting for me to set it forth, it may be done when those marvels which appear at the hour of Conjunction and of Nativity shall be described which are read in none of the books of the Philosophers.

Although for the lovers of this science, in this chemical treatise, I have shown that our Chaos which is a hard metallic body is of itself alone, and by itself alone, without the addition of any other thing in the whole world, resolved like ice in heat into a mercurial moisture, or water, by a nature given to it by God;

this nevertheless moves various thoughts among true Philosophers, as though wrapped in a certain veil.

Yet I am fully persuaded that modern Philosophers will not so easily attain in this part to the desired goal, nor discern what this metallic body is that is thus brought to completion by nature since they will examine it because it is not only a hard and compact subject and a work not to be searched out, but also because this hidden and wonderful Solution.

This Solution requires hidden and hard-to-investigate operations or manipulations for its stirring and preparation, by which it is brought forward to putrefaction and thereafter to regeneration, until at last it is resolved into a metallic seminal moisture, or the Mercury of the Philosophers; and therefore such a Philosophical Solution will not be so easy to grasp, although I have explained it in plain and simple words.

Therefore this hidden royal work must be esteemed more deeply, nor does the matter proceed by so simple a way as is the common opinion of certain persons; although Sendivogius, that most praiseworthy Philosopher, even in this matter happily attained the goal concerning which in the Preface to his Enigmas he thus speaks:

“I tell you that it is necessary to seek some thing that is hidden, from which in a wonderful manner there is made such a moisture as dissolves gold without violence or noise; indeed so gently and naturally, just as ice melts into water by the benefit of warmth. If you find this, you have the thing from which gold is produced by nature; and although all metals and all things have arisen from it, nevertheless nothing so closely agrees with it as gold does: for to other things impurities adhere, but to gold none therefore it is to it as a mother.”

Thus far Sendivogius.

But by what way, however, the work of the operation proceeds, a pious and God-fearing son, whom Divine grace chooses to reveal and demonstrate this most admirable matter, is able to show.

But that I may pursue my narration further omitting matters that should first be premised I tasted a leaf of the white lily, and, following the example of my blessed teacher, as is set forth in his little treatise (namely that of the Lesser Agricola), by which deed I perceived beyond measure its excellent, sweet, and delightful flavor; and the remaining part of that leaf, being placed upon a heated plate, I saw at once to flow and immediately vanish into smoke which was to me an indication that it was feminine, since it was already volatile.

A single dose of this most excellent and highly praiseworthy medicine, taken once and again within the space of one year, even if the disease be very stubborn, frees a man without any doubt from every accidental illness, renews his whole body, and preserves him from all grave diseases; because this spiritual medicine, penetrating the marrow and the bones, reaches all the way to the root of the disease, and by penetrating even to the root of the disease, and by its inborn purifying power pleasantly removes the cause of every illness, strengthens weakened nature, brings sleep and rest, and stimulates the appetite. If therefore some medicine drives out the root of a disease and restores sleep and appetite, I do not know what more could be expected from it.

Although, however, among common chymists it is objected that one saddle is not fit for all horses in order thereby to evade and call into doubt the incredible power of the universal medicine yet those who judge prudently and rightly will easily perceive how great the difference is between a saddle and a spiritual medicine.

Such unjust detractors of this matter nevertheless cannot deny that one saddle cannot be fitted to a thousand horses, nor one shoe to a thousand feet. But if they grant me this concerning the medicine, then I shall have what I want: for I do not say that help from this medicine is to be expected equally by all men without distinction but only by thousands.

If anyone should further object that one single thing cannot suit and be fitted to many, I ask whether a man taught by experience would not admit that the one Sun, Air, and Water serve many indeed all without exception and are suited to them.

But our medicine is Sun, Fire, Air, and Spirit (that is, Water). And although some unskilled person may not grasp this, it must not be attributed to the art, but rather to his own lack of skill so I judge.

To this I add that since neither the Sun itself, nor Air, nor Fire can equally satisfy everyone, much less can such a medicine do so.

The true Panacea, however could purge the whole world, and remove all diseases; for there are many evil and stubborn illnesses which, according to the tenor of the word of the Law, Deuteronomy 28:27, 58, despise healing.

Therefore pious men should not be offended if medicine does not always bring the desired outcome. Hence Ovid rightly says in the book De Ponto:

Sometimes even care is not curable by any art;
Or, if it is, the delay is long.

There are many who acknowledge that all these things are true and desire to have knowledge of this matter just as not a few men of rank and of lesser condition earnestly entreated me that I should reveal this mystery to them and prepare it with my own hand.

This indiscreet, unconsidered, and inexperienced importunity created for me no small trouble as prudent men will easily judge.

Therefore, when from such petitioners I was reviewing the admirable course of my life the many adversities endured, the labors undergone, the cares, tribulations, expenses, and the interruption of my affairs and also the smallness of my means and the limited sum of money that could be spent on this work, by which this royal operation could be more conveniently brought to completion for the greatest benefit I answered them in words (just as my blessed teacher, the author called Agricola Minor, did likewise in the Arca Arcani Artificiosissimi, where it is read that at the beginning he said that a certain friend must be sought who would supply the necessary expenses for rightly and peacefully perfecting the work).

When I set forth to them my intention similar to this, they all fell silent, and therefore justly accepted refusal.

Thus their desire of learning so great a mystery went up in smoke; nevertheless they still eagerly wished to know it but only in such a way that, just as sweet pulp is put into the mouths of infants at the end of a meal, it might be smeared upon their lips without cost.

They want to know, but not to seek and labor.

This matter is a lily among thorns which if anyone tries too easily to pluck, he wounds his hand as Agricola Minor says, who declared that this voice burst forth from the mountain: God sells such goods for labors, and it also matters that its possessors remain mindful of those benefits.

that its possessors may be mindful of their benefits, and may strive to preserve this mystery with the greater esteem and the greater secrecy.

Now however that I may speak without boasting by the grace of God, to whom be the giving of thanks always, I have carried out this work without any man supplying me with expense. For indeed, from divine inspiration other thoughts arose in me: namely to strengthen charity toward my neighbor, and to assist and bring help to the sick and being moved by piety toward God and by His permission, I judged that these gifts granted to me by the Father of Light ought rightly to remain with me only on this condition: that to faithful Christian citizens, if it should seem good to God who governs all things, I should be resolved faithfully to communicate and reveal them; so that the light or my little spark received from the Highest Light might be able to shine among men afflicted with diseases, to His glory and honor which is my concern because God has called me to this.

Meanwhile I wish to warn the pious readers of this treatise that they should not be offended by the simple and unpolished style of this writing; for I am not of the number of learned doctors nor of famous men, who are able to set forth the thoughts of the mind in ornate words and expressions. For I am of slender Minerva and to use the style of learned and elegant speech; therefore in a simple and humble manner I have set forth my mind. Nor am I able to discover and cite many striking individual sayings and arguments, although before me they have been produced by other great and learned philosophers in their books; from whose writings and most praiseworthy foundations nevertheless I a man of modest condition, as I have said have drawn out these reasonings and conclusions, without any ambition or boasting, also in this little treatise I have dared to cite and employ them.

If any reader of this treatise should say, or reflect within himself, for what reason I offer myself to manifest so kindly to the world this great mystery and most high royal work, rather than keep it hidden with me in deep silence: seeing nevertheless that for more than thirty years I have possessed the complete knowledge of this mystery without any defect, and have at times prepared with my own hands the Spirit of Mercury, or universal metallic fountain-source to such a one, with a willing mind, upon fitting occasion of spoken discourse, I would give sufficient reasons.

Meanwhile, if from this great mystery, this unique gift of God namely the universal fountain of the metals only this much were granted to me, I should nevertheless be content with it, and in it I delight and refresh myself, because it cannot be equaled by any treasure of the whole world.

For no one can sufficiently marvel that God Almighty, the Creator of all things, has placed this heavenly water and fountain of the metals in a subject prepared by nature so vile, which scarcely one man among a hundred thousand believes.

Although in this place it would not be fitting to recount the various chances and changes of my fortune, yet it is easy to conjecture how burdensome it was for me to keep silence for so many years. For I have now passed my sixty-eighth year of age, and I give highest thanks to God that, at the persuasion of certain friends, I have resolved no longer to conceal this mystery, but firmly determined to reveal it to my neighbor whom the Father of Light has foreordained for these difficult matters so that the most holy Divine Name may be praised and celebrated by us in all His gifts; and that I also may employ my knowledge in bringing help to Christian people, to whose benefit the Most High has bestowed and assigned to us this treasure.

And so, dear reader, farewell, and consider well the proverb:

Often one day gives what a whole age has denied.

May Almighty God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ grant that this work may chiefly tend to the exaltation and glory of His most holy honor, and to the benefit of mankind, to a happy outcome, and to our eternal salvation.

Amen.

TO GOD ALONE BE THE GLORY.

The ignorant man gathers what he does not understand;
the learned man laughs at these great mysteries.
Thus both go on their way: but one is foolish,
the other supported.

In place of an appendix there now follows a letter of my most excellent teacher, of blessed memory, the most worthy Lord Doctor Chortalasse, written to the Most Serene Prince Ernest, Elector of Cologne that great and throughout all Europe most celebrated Patron of the Chemical Muses to whom he opened the treasury of his arcana; of which treasury I also, by the grace of God, am heir; and that same letter, now for the benefit of lovers of the more secret Philosophy, obtained from the authentic source, together with other manuscripts of this most excellent and incomparable Philosopher preserved with me, I make a matter of public right.

This is also what that wise man Trevisanus testified he who wrote a learned little book concerning the Philosophers’ Stone, or the chymical miracle in these words clearly:

“I considered,” he says, “in what places the books of the philosophers most especially agree in one and the same sense; and there I judged that the chief truth must be left standing which cannot exist in many things, but only in one alone. By this way the truth was made manifest to me.”

Therefore, Most Illustrious Elector, that same intention of the philosophers set forth above has moved my mind in this matter, so that to Your Highness who in this very point is devoted to that universal study (for it is fitting and proper that a kingly man should apply himself to kingly studies, since like rejoices in like and hates what is unlike) as I advance and labor along this path, I might bring not only a greater zeal for this study, but also add encouragement.

Thus Your Highness may observe that I too, by the grace of God, have not only understood the philosophers truly royal men but have also attempted the art in great part, if not (I will not say) brought it fully to completion.

For this reason I have especially followed the manner of the ancient philosophers (not of the sophisters, whose number is very great), and particularly of the Pythagoreans, who expressed the matter by numbers for whatever exists in the nature of things is established by number, weight, and measure.

I did not doubt that this work ought in this manner to be set forth in writing for Your Highness. For what we seek is indeed difficult yet possible, and not the highest thing but rather the fourth in the degree of subtlety.

For the first and highest is the Λόγος (that is, the Word and Heart of the Father), according to Hermes, King of the Egyptians through whom all things were made who is the true celestial Stone, tincturing our souls toward health and eternal life.

The second is the spirit of man, which is a ray of the Divine essence, breathed by God into Adam and his posterity; therefore it cannot die, because it is something eternal.

The third is the command namely, a species of the Divine Cabalistic art of which we have an example in the Bible, when Joshua by his own command said: “Sun, stand still in your course, and Moon, in your motion,” and so it was done.

The fourth is that famous and marvelous Stone, the image of all things, the strength of all strength, having all things in itself (the celestial excepted), conquering, penetrating, and preserving all things whose powers and virtues or effects cannot be fully set forth for man according to their dignity.

Receive therefore, Most Illustrious Elector, the method of the greatest mystery explained by numbers, as I have said not a common one.

The wondrous operation of all Nature, established within limits, descends from Unity, through the Binary into the Ternary yet not before it has, through the order of degrees, arisen into simplicity by means of the Quaternary and the Ternary must be reduced again to Unity, if the universal mind wishes to attain perfect understanding.

The One is not a number, and yet from it every number arises. The Binary is to be rejected, and the Ternary will be convertible into Unity.

Hence Hermes, the father of the Philosophers, says: without falsehood it is most certain and by the knowledge of Unity most true that what is above has the nature of descending, and what is below has the nature of the superior; because every number consists only of unities, for the accomplishing of many miracles of the one thing.

Do not all things flow from One by the goodness of the One? And whatever is joined to Unity cannot be diverse, but brings forth fruit by the simplicity and adaptation of the One.

What is born from Unity? Is it not the Ternary?

Consider, Most Illustrious Elector: the One is simple, the Binary composite, the Ternary reduced to the simplicity of Unity.

The Quaternary, however, is Pythagorean, supported upon the Ternary if it observes the order and the steps purified, and pure in the passage from One into Binary, into Ternary it is able to work the wondrous and hidden operations of Nature.

Which also Our German Philosopher Theophrastus testifies in these words:

From Unity through Duality into Trinity.

For first, from the four Elements, the mass composed by Nature is, through physical sublimation, brought into one body in the first operation. Then, when the agent has been separated, in a light yet wondrous manner, the Binary is produced in the composition, by means of the Third namely the spirit who remains the perpetual bond of both.

But the aforesaid Quaternary is that Pythagorean one, in whose measure the Ternary, joined with the Binary in the One, accomplishes all things wondrously. For the Ternary number, reduced to Unity in its aspect, contains all things within itself and is able to do whatever it wills but this has its place in Natural Magic.

By this single means the bosom of Nature is opened, and to true alchemists the Treasure of Treasures is unlocked; without it neither the understanding of the art is obtained nor the effect of the operation discovered.

In sum: he who possesses that Universal possesses also all particulars; for he who is said to possess the tree itself is without doubt said to have all the branches in his dominion.

Now we shall treat what things, of what kind, and how great the arcana are which we wish or are able to reveal to Your Highness; but in all these matters I require deep silence otherwise God will not grant increase. For Hermes says: God did not will that wisdom should be revealed under the name of intelligence without severe judgment, so that the mystery of its power might remain hidden; and all Philosophers especially insist strongly upon silence, otherwise the greatest danger would be imminent.

I have come to this not without a certain singular and, as it seems to me, fateful disposition; therefore I shall deservedly assign a fitting place to the Divine. And if we may agree with the inclination of your mind, I will set forth, reveal, and teach to Your Highness these Magnalia (great wonders), which could not conveniently be repaid at any price.

The first point will be the clear demonstration of the true matter of the Stone, which is otherwise called Electrum, Magnesia, Lunaria, the Lead of the Philosophers, and by countless other names; I will prove that this is the true one in three ways:

1. By philosophical reasons and arguments, smelling of (i.e., corresponding to) the nature and generation of metals.

2. By the authority and agreement of the Philosophers.

3. By experience or practice.

II. I will also name the places where, in fitting abundance, our matter can be had; yet the acquisition of that matter must be undertaken with judgment, and not understood or perceived by the common people; therefore let them not suppose that with our matter are meant Antimony, Vitriol of pine, Copper cinnabar, Alum, or Sulphur.

III. The genuine and natural solution of the aforesaid subject (called the Count of Trier’s Spring) into a Mercurial water must necessarily be done carefully and intelligently, since from it the most effective and most health-giving Medicine can be prepared. For when the spring has accidentally surrounded and enclosed the water, it is altogether necessary that the physician free and separate that very water from this spring and from all obscurity which separation, moreover, is not accomplished except through generation.

Meanwhile, however, I wish to indicate this to Your Highness that in these writings I intend the moist way, not the dry one (of which Basilius makes mention in the Fifth Key), which the said Basilius treats there in like manner and makes visible namely that from our matter a spirit must be drawn forth, which nevertheless is incomprehensible; and that this spirit is the root of the life of our bodies, and the liquid water in our art. And in the Preface, Key 12, pages 15, 45, 46, he says: Know that this thing is nothing other than the liquid key (that is, the Mercurial water) made assimilable to the celestial Nature which water, after conjunction by certain means, is again reduced to a bodily state, to be rendered, and from the lowest degree up to the highest converted into a more-than-perfect Medicine, which nevertheless in all things is at least one and the same.

IV. The preparation of the Red King, or of Philosophic Gold, as the chief part of the Philosophic Stone and its true bringing-forth into effect according to Trevisanus the Count; and the Red King himself is the Philosophers’ Stone.

V. The Tincture of Tinctures, a most wonderful secret the red with the red.

Although I cannot refrain from also explaining this to Your Highness namely that in the operation of conjunction the moist way agrees almost entirely with the dry because in both they are joined with the Philosophic Gold; although at the beginning the dry differs from the moist. For here in the moist way the Salt of metals is not prepared, but the Philosophic Chaos, or our matter, is at once, without anything else being added, converted of itself into Mercurial water and this through contrary operations.

This boundless water is Divine and hyper-physical; containing within itself the three principles it is the Mercury of life, that true celestial water, the mother and origin of gold and of all metals and minerals, shining with a certain weighty splendor, and the mother and origin of minerals, shining with weighty splendor and most sweet (this is that water of which King Hermes cries out:

“O enduring form of nature, royal creatrix of the elements, who comest with light and art born with light thou art marvelous, and at once praiseworthy.”)

Therefore all the Philosophers rightly offer the palm to God Most Good and Great in the second operation.

Whoever possesses this pleasant Key can gently and radically dissolve all metals, and can reduce them again into the first matter from which, if the work proceeds rightly, the two particulars, the Sun and the Moon, are truly produced. One part passes to the center through putrefaction and heats, and may even be multiplied.

I was unwilling and unable at this point to observe strict silence concerning this great Magistery, without also showing to Your Highness the affection of my devoted mind and thereby to signify that, by Divine grace working, I have obtained the Mercury of the Philosophers, but that it has not yet been brought to the desired end, since it is still in the state and degree of the first operation.

VI. True potable gold, without corrosives, being by means of the Mercury of life brought into spirituality and mildness by a subtle art by which means gout and all other incurable diseases are removed from the root concerning which Theophrastus says in the book On the Nature of Things:
“There is nothing greater concerning potable gold, except the Philosophers’ Stone.”

VII. Next follow the quintessence of gold and other arcana; but it would be too long to recount all the degrees of the arcana. Therefore I omit these, and I will strive to direct my purpose toward the things promised above, with the right hand, God granting grace and understanding.

Moreover, I do not doubt that Your Highness has observed and learned from the books of the Philosophers that, in the dry way, with much burden and continual labor, by dissolving and coagulating, the most precious stone is with difficulty acquired yet only when, God favoring, the proper goal is attained concerning which King Geber testifies in his Summa.

There is one perfect way, by which we are relieved from so many labors and from the tediousness of solutions, of which also mention can be made elsewhere. I also believe that many, relying too much upon what has been diffusely written and published upon authority and theoretical speculation conceived from opinion and from the reading of the books of the Philosophers rest upon a doubtful and slippery foundation by authority and by theoretical speculation drawn from opinion and from the reading of the books of the Philosophers resting upon a doubtful and slippery foundation have come into the hands of Your Highness.

But there are also writings like a shell without a kernel outwardly fair in appearance which lack the true and solid foundations; these I am accustomed to pass over with proper caution, since with sound reasoning, with experience, and with manual labor they are shown to be fundamentally grounded whereas those things written from mere conceived opinion and imagination are shown to be of no weight.

In summary.

One experience worked out by hand is worth more than a thousand readings of the books of the Philosophers.

But since by a singular Divine providence Fortune and occasion have joined us together, and man created by Him who lives from eternity into eternity is made for the benefit of mankind and of his neighbor, therefore, for the sake of good conditions, human necessity, love, and the usefulness of one’s neighbor, and for the praise of our God, I reveal these things to Your Highness so that afterward with King and Prophet David we may be able, rejoicing, to say: great and marvelous are His works.

He who gives attention to the works of the Lord obtains from them the greatest delight.

Concerning the foregoing matters, I await a decision from Your Most Illustrious Highness, and thereafter I too will establish a favorable resolution on my part.

Farewell, most illustrious Elector, and may you pursue the matter with full purpose of mind. May God most good and most great deign to increase Your Highness together with your Most Serene Consort ever more and more. In the year 1603, in the month of October.

The End.