THE TEN CANONS ON THE PHILOSOPHICAL STONE
By an Unknown Author
BY RIGHTLY UNDERSTANDING THESE, no small path will be opened to the son of art toward the desired end.
CANON 1.
The Stone which is sought is one, a single medicine, and there cannot be more than one.
CANON 2.
The matter of the thing, or of the one Stone, is likewise one and not manifold; nor is that proximate power found in any other thing in the whole world, nor is that secret discovered in any other thing, nor does it have its like in the whole world.
CANON 3.
Nevertheless, it contains within itself many things especially; yet hypostatically two—Lower and Upper—and indeed, in its various aspects, three, four, and five.
CANON 4.
That thing, also in its own respect, is All Things, and contains All Things, and is above all sublunar things. And likewise, in another respect, it is Nothing, because it is Hyle, or from Chaos and the seed of the world, having much blessing.
CANON 5.
That one matter is the First Matter of all metals—not of those made, but of those to be made: whence it is neither animal, nor vegetable, nor mineral, but catholic and universal, by no means specific. And it is earthy water and watery earth, mingled in the womb of the earth, with which is mingled the Spirit and the Fifth Essence or heavenly influx.
CANON 6.
Yet in outward form it agrees with minerals, and is perceived from ores, for which cause it is neither wholly natural nor artificial, since it is prepared by Nature itself.
CANON 7.
And just as there is one Stone and one Matter, so also there is one Preparation, which entirely imitates Nature as much as possible. And truly, the operation of Nature ought to be the rule of the Artisan.
CANON 8.
And just as Nature raises from that matter a certain vapor, which, enclosed in the ores and coming into a pure place, by the mineral virtue of pure sulphur is congealed and fixed into pure metal over a long time: so also is this Preparation divided into two parts, of which the first is natural in one respect, and artificial in another. In which this purified spirit, the truly permanent water, is congealed and fixed with its body reduced into the fifth essence: so that what the Philosophers say becomes true, that the whole work consists in solution and congelation—yet one work can be spread into many aspects.
CANON 9.
Nature, however, must be assisted, both by administering external fire—while moving the internal—and by administering physical Mercury, either perfect in the moist or more than perfect in the dry: the ferment converting the whole mass into its own nature.
CANON 10.
And yet before fermentation, it is truly catholic and universal, and acts universally and catholically upon all sublunar things. But after fermentation, it is specific to the metallic nature.
The Epilogue of the whole matter is this:
There is one Stone, one Matter, which is the First of all metals, only one Preparation, from which if anyone deviates, he will not reach the goal. It is divided into two operations: namely solution and congelation. And it is truly universal before fermentation, afterward specific. Therefore, blessed be that thing, and blessed be its operation, through Jesus Christ.
Amen.
As many as are the words here, so nearly are the moments of things and mysteries, in which the vulgar eye is darkened. Read, reread, and upon rereading they will please. To the intelligent, a few words suffice; to the envious, nothing.
The End.
LATIN VERSION
CANONES DECEM DE LAPIDE Philofophico Auctoris incerti.
QUIBUS RECTE INTELLECTIS, non exiguus patebit filio artis ad optatum finem aditus.
CANON I.
Lapis, qui quæritur, unus est, medicina unica nec plures esse possunt.
II.
Materia rei, sive lapidis unius, itidem unica nec multiplex est, nec in alia re totius mundi illa potentia propinqua invenitur, nec itidem in alia re illud secretum reperitur, nec habet sui similem in toto mundo.
III.
Continet tamen in se plures præcipue: sed hypostaticas tamen duas, Inferiorem & Superiorem, imo suo diverso respectu, tres, quatuor & quinque.
IV.
Illa res quoque suo respectu est Omnia, & continet Omnia, estque super Omnia sublunaria: Et itidem alio respectu, Nihil est, quia est Hyle, sive de Chao & semine mundi, multam habens benedictionem.
V.
Vnica illa materia, est Materia prima omnium metallorum, non factorum, sed fiendorum: unde nec animalis, nec vegetabilis, nec mineralis est, sed catholica & universalis, neutiquam autem specifica. Et est terrena Aqua, & Aquosa terra, in Terræ ventre, terræ commixta, cum qua se commiscet Spiritus & Quinta essentia sive cælestis influxus.
VI.
In forma tamen externa cum mineralibus convenit, & cernitur ex mineris, qua de causa Naturalis nec Artificialis est, siquidem à Natura ipsa præparatur.
VII.
Et quemadmodum est unicus lapis & unica materia, sic etiam est unica præparatio, quæ omnino Naturam imitatur, quantum potest: Et sane Naturæ operatio Artificis norma esse debet.
VIII.
Et quemadmodum Natura ex illa materia vaporem quendam suscitat, qui vapor in mineris inclusus in purum locum deveniens, virtute minerali sulphurea pura, in metallum purum congelatur & fixatur longo temporis spatio: sic etiam præparatio ista dividitur in duas partes, quarum prima naturalis suo respectu, & artificialis alio modo. In qua spiritus iste mundificatus, aqua illa vere permanens cum corpore suo in quintam essentiam reducto congelatur & fixatur: vt verum fit quod Philosophi dicunt. Totum opus in solutione & congelatione consistere: unum tamen opus in plures expandi potest diverso respectu.
IX.
Natura tamen adiuvanda est, tum administrando ignem externum, movendo tamen internum, tum administrando Mercurio physico, aut perfecto in humido, aut plusquam perfecto in sicco: fermentum totam massam in sui naturam convertens.
X.
Et ante fermentationem tamen est catholica ac universalis vere, & in omnia sublunaria agit universaliter & catholice. Post fermentationem autem est specifica ad naturam metallicam.
Epilogus totius rei hic est.
Vnicus est lapis, unica materia, quæ est prima omnium metallorum, præparatio saltem unica, à qua si quis aberraverit, scopum non attinget. In duas operationes divisa, solutionem scilicet & congelationem. Et est vere universalis ante fermentationem, post eam specifica. Benedicta ergo sit illa res, & benedicta sit eius operatio, per Iesum Christum.
Amen.
Quot hic sunt verba, tot fere momenta rerum & mysteria, in quibus vulgaris oculus caligat. Lege, relege, & relecta placebunt. Intelligenti pauca: invido nihil.
FINIS.