EIRENAEUS PHILALETHES

SECRETS REVEAL'D
AN OPEN ENTRANCE TO THE

CLOSED PALACE OF THE KING

Original Latin Trans la ti on

Revised and Corrected,
with Notes and Commentary,
by
PATRICK SMITH

The Alchemical Press

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 Author's Preface

I. I, Philalethes, Adeptus anonymous and Philosopher, having penetrated the Arcana of

medicine, chemistry and physics, have resolved to draw up this small treatise, in the year of
the Redemption of the World, 164 5, and the twenty-third of my age, that I might acquit
that which I owe to the Sons of Art and to extend a hand to those wandering in the
Labyrinth of Error. Thus it will appear to the Adepts that I am their equal and their
brother. And for those who have been seduced by the vain discourse of the Sophists, light,
which they will see and em1'race, and by which they will return to a more certain road.
And I predict that, in truth, not a few of them will be enlightened by my labors.
II. These are not fables, but genuine experiments that I have seen, accomplished, and
known, which the Adept will easily infer in reading these pages. That is why, in writing
these things for the good of my neighbor, it suffices to declare that no one has ever written
of this art so lucidly as I have written. Indeed, in writing this, I have often laid aside my
pen, willing to have concealed the truth behind the mask of envy . But God compels me,
and I cannot resist him. He alone knows the heart , and to Him alone belongs all glory
throughout Time. Whence I believe that many, in this last Age of the World, will have the
good fortune to possess this Arcanum. For I have written sincerely, leaving nothing doubtful
to the truly curious novice without giving a fully satisfactory answer.
III. I also know that there are a great many who, with me, now possess this Arcanum; and
am persuaded that there are others still, whose new familiarity, as I may say, shall shortly be
made a daily acquaintance. The holy Will of God grants what pleases Him, yet I recognize
that I am unworthy to effect such marvels. However, I adore in them the holy Will of God,
to whom all created things must be obedient, since it is only through His action that they
were created and are sustained.

Chapter 1
Of the Necessityof SophieMercuryfor the Work of theElixer

I. Whosoever wishes to possess this Golden Fleece must know that our aurific powder,
which we call our Stone, is Gold, only digested to the highest degree of purity and subtle
fixity to which it can be brought, as much by Nature as the artifice of an able operator.
Moreover, this gold, thus essensified, is not that of the vulgar: we call it our gold. It is the
supreme degree of perfection of Nature and Art. I could cite all the Philosophers in this
matter, but .I have no need of witnesses, since I am myself an Adept, and because I write
with more lucidity than any before me. He will believe me who wishes, will disapprove of
me who can, and will censure me if so desired; but will end only in deep ignorance. I assert
that excessively subtle minds dream of Chimeras, but the industrious seeker will find the
truth by following the simple way of Nature.
II. Purified gold is thus the one, true, and only principle. Yet our gold, which is necessary
in our work, is twofold. It is golden-yellow Latten carried to maturity and fixed, the heart
or center of which is pure fire. Therefore it defends the body in the fire wherein it receives
depuration, without suffering nor yielding to its tyranny. In our work, this gold plays the
role of the male. It is conjoined with our cruder white gold, which is the feminine sperm,
into which it emits its sperm. They unite to each other with an indissoluble bond, whence
is made our Hermaphrodite, which has the power of both sexes. Thus corporal gold is dead
before being conjoined with its bride, with whom the coagulating Sulphur, which in gold
is outwards, is turned inwards. Then the height is concealed, and the depth manifested.
Thus the fixed is made volatile for a time, that it may afterwards attain a more noble
hereditary state, in which it will achieve a most powerful fixity.
III. One thus sees that the entire Secret consists in Mercury of which the Philosopher saith:
"In Mercury is all that the Sages seek." Of which Geber declares: ''Praised be the Most.-
High, who hath created our Mercury and given it a nature which overcometh all things."
For, certainly, if this were not so, the Alchemists might boast at their will, but the Alchemical
Work would be in vain . It is thus evident that it is not the vulgar, but the Sophie Mercury,
that is required. For all vulgar Mercury is male; that is, corporal, specific, and dead, whereas
ours is spiritual, feminine, living and vivifying.
IV . Therefore, attend to all that I will say of this Mercury , for, as the Philosopher saith, Our
Mercury is the Salt of the Sages, and whoever would operate without it is like an archer
without a bowstring. Yet, it is found nowhere upon the earth. Neither can the Son be
formed nor created by us. He must be extracted from those things in which he exists, with
the wonderful cooperation of nature, by subtle art.

Chapter 2
Of theComponentPrinciples
of SophieMercury

I. The intention of operators in this art is this: to purge the Mercury in diverse ways: by
sublimating it, by the adjunction of salts, some with various freces, while others vivify it
solely by itself; and they assert to have wrought, by the repetition of these operations, the
Mercury of the Philosophers. But they err, for they do not operate according to nature. For
she amends things only in their own Nature. Let them therefore know, that our water,
though composed of multiple things, is nevertheless One Thing wrought from diverse
Substances coagulated from one single Essence. Truly, in our Water is firstly, Fire; secondly,
the Saturnian vegetable liquid; thirdly, the bond of Mercury.
II. The fire is of a mineral Sulphur. Yet it is not properly mineral, nor is it metallic, but is
the median between mineral and metal while participating in neither. It is Chaos or spirit.
Indeed, our fiery Dragon, which overcomes all things, is nevertheless penetrated by the
odor of the Saturnian vegetable, and its Blood coagulates with the juice of the Saturnian
into a single admirable body. Yet it is not a body, as it is completely volatile, nor is it spirit,
for in the fire it resembles molten metal. It is, in truth, a Chaos, which relates to all metals
as a mother. From it I can extract all things, even the Sun and Moon, without the
Transmutatory Elixer. This has been attested by others who have seen it as have I. They
call this Chaos our Arsenic, our Air, our Moon, our Magnet, and our Chalybs, but in each
case under a different aspect. For our matter passes through various states before the Royal
Diadem is cast forth from the menstruum of our harlot.

4
III. Learn, therefore, who are the companions of Cadmus, what is the Serpent that devoured
them, and what is the hollow oak to which Cadmus transfixed the Serpent. Understand
what is meant by the Doves of Diana, victorious in taming the lion-that green Lion, I say,
which is truly the Babylonian Dragon, destroying everything by its venom. Finally,
understand the caduceus of Mercury, with which he effects marvels, and the Nymphs
whom he infects by his incantations . Learn all this, if you wish to attain the object of your
desires.

Chapter 3
Of the Chalybsof the Sages

I. The Wise Magi have transmitted to posterity many things concerning their Chalybs, nor
is there any insignificant thing attributed thereunto. Hence there was great contention
amongst the vulgar Alchemists as to what should be understood by the name Chalybs.
Various authors gave widely varying interpretations. The Author of the New Lighthas
written of it candidly, but obscurely.
II. I have hidden nothing from the Inquirers into this Art, having sincerely described it
without envy. Our Chalybs is the true Key of our Work, without which the fire of the lamp
cannot, by any artifice, be kindled: It is the ore of gold, a spirit more pure than any other.
It is a secret, infernal fire, of a most highly volatile genre, the m.iracle of the World, a
system of superior virtues within
J
inferior things, and hence the Almighty has marked it
with that notable sign whereby the nativity was philosophically announced along the
Horizon of the Eastern Hemisphere. The Wise Magi of Old saw it, and gazed upon it,
astonished, and straightway they knew that a most serene King was born into the world.
III. And you, as soon as his Star appears, follow it to his cradle. There shalt thou behold a
beautiful child. Remove the impurities and honor this little king. Open your treasury, and
offer him gold. After his death, he will give you his flesh and blood, the highest medicine
in the three Monarchies of the Earth.

Chapter 4
Of the Magnet of the Sages

I. Even as Chalybs is drawn to the Magnet, and the Magnet turns spontaneously toward
the Chalybs, even so the Magnet of the Sages attracts their Chalybs. Hence, as the Chalybs
is the Ore of gold (as I have taught), in like m~er our Magnet is the true Ore of our
Chalybs.
II. Furthermore, I declare that the hidden center of our Magnet abounds in Salt, which
Salt is a menstruum in the Sphere of the Moon, and is able to calcine gold. This center
turns toward the Pole with an archetic appetite, wherein the virtue of our Chalybs is
exalted by degrees. In the Pole is the Heart of Mercury, which is true Fire (in which lies the
repose of its Lord). Navigating upon this vast sea, that it may arrive at both the Indies, it
governs its course by the aspect of the North Star, which our Magnet will manifest.
III. The Sage will rejoice, but the fool will make light of it, nor will he learn this wisdom
even had he seen the central Pole turned outwards and imprinted with the notable sign of
the Almighty. Even had they seen the signs and miracles, they are so hard--headed that they
still would not have abandoned their Sophistications, nor entered upon the straight and
narrow path.

5
 Chapter 5
The Chaosof the Philosophers
.
I. Let the Sons of the Philosophers heed the Sages, who unanimously conclude that this
Work is analogous to the Creation of the Universe. For, in the beginning, GOD created
Heaven and Earth, and the Earth was void and empty, and shadows covered the face of the
abyss, and the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said: "Let there
be Light," and the Light was.
II. These words are sufficient to a Son of Art. For the Heaven should be conjoined with the
Earth upon the bed of friendship. So shall he reign with honor by the universal life. The
Earth is a heavy body, the Matrix of minerals, for she keeps them secretly within herself,
although she brings to light trees and animals. The Heaven is the space where the great
Lights, with the Stars, roll about and communicate their influence through the air to the
inferior things. But in the beginning all formed one confused Chaos.
Ill. Behold, I have revealed the sacred truth: For indeed, Our Chaos is as a Mineral Earth,
in respect of its coagulation, and yet it is volatile air, in the Center of which is the Heaven
of the Philosophers, which Center is truly Astral, irradiating by its beaming light the Earth
to its very surface. What Mage is so wise as to infer from this that a new King has been
born, surpassing all others in power, who will redeem his brothers of their Original
Defilement, who must die and be raised up on high that he might give his flesh and blood
for the life of the world?
IV. 0 Gracious God, how wonderful are these thy Works? Which , wrought of thine own
hand, appear miraculo us to our eyes. I thank thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that
thou hast concealed these things from the wise and prudent, and revealed them unto little
children.

Chapter 6
The Air of the Sages

I. The Expanse or Firmament is called Air in the Holy Scriptures. Air is likewise named our
Chaos, and this is not without a remarkable Secret, for as the Firmamental Air is the
Separator of the Waters, even so is our Air.
Our Work is therefore veritably a system of the greater World. For the Waters beneath the
Firmament are visible and appear to us, who live upon the Earth. But the superior waters
flee from our sight because they are so distant from us. Even so, in our microcosm, the
extra-central mineral waters are apparent; But those which are enclosed within flee our
sight. And yet they truly exist.
II. These are the waters of which the Author of the New Ughtspeaks; which exist, but do
not appear until it please the Artist. Thus, even as the Air distinguishes between the
Waters, so our Air prohibits the ingress of all extra-central waters unto those which are in
the center. For if they entered into each other and mingled, then they would steadfastly
coalesce in an indissoluble Union.
III. I therefore declare that the vaporous, burning, external sulphur, adheres tenaciously to
our Chaos, which has not the strength to resist its tyranny. Hence the pure flies away from
the fire under the form of a dry powder. But if you irrigate this arid Earth with a water of its
own genre, the Earth's pores will be widened, and that external thief along with the Operators
of iniquity shall be cast out. Then the water shall be purged of its leprous ordure and its
superfluous dropsical humour by the addition of true Sulphur. You '"villthen have in your

6
possession the Fountain of Count Trevisan, whose Waters are properly dedicated to the
Virgin Diana.
IV . This thief is worthless, armed with an arsenical malignity, whom the winged young
man abhors and flees. And although the central Water is his Bride, yet he dare not express
the love which he so ardently feels for her, because of the snares of the thief, whose tricks
are almost inevitable. If Diana, who knows how to tame the wild beasts, is favorable to you,
whose two doves will temper the malignity of the air with their feathers, then the youth
easily enters in through the pores, presently shaking the waters above, and stirring up a
forbidding and ruddy cloud: bring in the water over him, even unto the whiteness of the
Moon, and so the Shadows which covered the face of the Abyss are dispersed by the Spirit
moving in the waters.
V. Thus, at the command of God, Light shall appear. Separate the Light from the Shadows
seven times, and the creation of the Sophie Mercury shall be complete, and the seventh
day shall be for you a Sabbath of rest. From that time until the end of the revolution of one
year, you must await the generation of the supernatural son of the Sun, who will come into
the world towards the end of that age to free his brothers from all impurity.

Chapter 7
Of the FirstOperationof the Preparation
of the
SophieMercuryby the FlyingEagles

I. Know, brother, that the exact preparation of the Eagles of the Philosophers is considered
the first degree of perfection, which requires a clever mind to be learned. Do not believe
that this Science can be attained by chance, or by some fortuitous imagination, as the
ignorant multitude foolishly trusts. The quest for truth has cost us long and oppressive
labor, many nights without sleep, and much sweat and toil. On that account, studious
Apprentice, know from certainty that without sweat and labor you will arrive at nothing in
the first Work, although in the second, a single nature accomplish es the work, without any
imposition of hands, except to apply a moderate external fire.
II. Therefore understand, brother, what the Sages mean when they write that they must
lead their eagles to devour the Lion. The fewer eagles there are, the fiercer the battle and
later the victory. But the operation is accomplished perfectly with between seven and nine
eagles. The Sophie Mercury is the Bird of Hermes, which they sometimes call Goose,
sometimes a Pheasant; now the former, anon the latter.
III. When the Magi speak truthfully of their eagles, they speak of a plural number, and they
assign numbers from Three to Ten. Yet they are not to be understood as if they would have
so many weights of water to one of earth. Their sayings are properly interpreted as truly of
intrinsic weight, which is to say that one must take Water so many times acuated as they
number their eagles; which acuation is accomplished by sublimation. Thus, each sublimation
of the Mercury of the Philosophers corresponds to one Eagle, and the seventh Sublimation
will so exalt your Mercury, that it will form a most suitable Bath for your King.
IV. Wherefore, to have rightly unraveled this knot, attend well to the following: Let there
be taken of our fiery Dragon, which hides the magic Chalybs in his belly, four parts; and of
'
our Magnet, nine parts. Mix them together with [the aid of} torrid Vulcan, in the form of
a mineral Water, upon the surface of which will float a froth which must be rejected.
Remove the shell and take the kernel. Purge it the third time by fire and Salt, which will
easily be done if Saturn shall have seen himself in the mirror of Mars.
V. Thence is made the Chamreleon or our Chaos, in which all the virtues of our arcanum
lie hidden, but are not active. This is the Hermaphroditic infant, infected from the cradle

7
by the bite of the rabid Corascene Dog, on account of which he is rendered mad and insane
by a perpetual hydrophobia, or fear of the water. And though water is his most kindred
natural element, yet he abhors and flees it. Ah Destiny!
VI. However, in the Forest of Diana are found Two Doves which soothe his insane rage (if
they are applied with the art of the Nymph Venus). Then, lest he suffer a recurrence of
Hydrophobia, submerge him in the waters until he perishes therein. Whereupon, the Rabid
Black Dog, unable to endure it, ascends to the surface of the water, nearly suffocated. With
the force of rain and with blows, make him flee, and drive him far away: thus will the
shadows disappear.
VII. When the Moon shines in her fullness, give wings to the Eagle, which will fly away,
leaving dead behind it the Doves of Diana who, if not dead in the first encounter, can serve
nothing. Reiterate this [operation] seven times; then at last the adept finds his repose,
having only to make a bare decoction, which is the most tranquil rest, the Play of Children
and the Work of Women.

Chapter 8
On theLaborand Tediausnessof the FirstPreparation

I. Some ignorant Chemists dream that the entire work, from beginning to end, is a mere
recreation ·full of pleasantness. They decree that labor lies beyond the bounds of this artifice,
and they safely enjoy this opinion. But in this Work which they assess to be so easy, they
will certainly reap an empty harvest from their idle operations. For we know that next to
the divine Benediction and a good root, labor, industry, and diligence obtains the chief
place.
II. Nor indeed is it a labor so easy that one can consider it a diversion of the mind, or a
recreation, or that it will lead to the much sought after goal. On the contrary, as Hermes
saith: "neither life nor labor is to be spared." Else, that which the sage foretold in his
parable~ will be verified: the desire of the lazy will certainly destroy him. Nor wonder that
so many men who meddle in Alchemy are reduced to poverty, for they shun the Labor, and
yet bear the cost. '
III. But we who have wrought and elaborated these things have certainly discovered that
there is no labor more tedious than our first preparation. For that reason Morienus gravely
warned King Khalid, saying: "Many Sages have complained of the tediousness of this
Work." Nor should this be understood figuratively, for I do not consider these things as
they appear at the beginning of the supernatural work, but as we at first find them .
...To renderthe mass well prepared,as saith
the Poet, thisis thewark, this is the labor.
And he adds:
The one, from a noted summit, the goldenfieece,&c.
The other,how gre.atof a burdenmust be sustainedand how
greatthe laborto whichthis densemass and chaotic
weightmust be submitted,&c.
Hence the celebrated Author of the HermeticArcanum calls this first labor [a] Herculean
[task).
IV. Indeed there are in our principles many heterogeneous superfluities, which can never
be brought to the degree of purity required for our work, and therefore it is expedient to
purge them inwardly, which will be impossible to do without the theory of our arcanum.
Thus we teach the means by which the Royal Diadem can be separated from the menstruum
of the harlot . Which means, being known, there is as yet required so great a labor, that , as

8
saith the Philosopher, many, discouraged by the terrible difficulties, have abandoned the
art unfinished.
V. Yet I deny not but that a woman may undertake the labors of the art, so long as she not
include play amongst her labors. But once the Mercury (which Bernard le Trevisan called
his fountain) is prepared, the adept at last finds that repose which, as saith the Philosopher,
is far more to be desired than long labor.

Chapter 9
Of the Virtueof our MercuryoverAU the Metals

I. Our Mercury is that Serpent which devoured the companions of Cadmus, nor is it a
wonder, for it had first devoured Cadmus himself, who was stronger than the others. At
length, however, Cadmus shall pierce this Serpent through, when he shall have coagulated
it through the virtue of his Sulphur.
II. Know therefore that this our Mercury governs all metallic bodies, and that it resolves
them into their nearest Mercurial matter by separating out their Sulphurs. And know that
the Mercury of one, two or three Eagles governs Saturn, Jupiter and Venus, while three to
seven Eagles rules over the Moon, and lastly up to ten Eagles rules over the Sun.
III. Consequently be it known that this Mercury is nearer the first Ens of metals than any
other mercury. Hence it radically enters the metallic bodies, and manifests their hidden
depths.

Chapter 10
Of the Sulphurwhichis in the SophieMercury

I. This before all things is a wonder, that in our Mercury there is not only an actual, but
also an active Sulphur; and yet notwithstanding it retains all the proportions and the form
of Mercury. It is therefore necessary that form be introduced therein by our preparation,
which form is a metallic Sulphur; which Sulphur is fire, that putrefies the composite Sun .
II. This sulphurous Fire is the spiritual seed, which our virgin (,vho nevertheless remains
undefiled) hath contracted; for an uncorrupted Virginity can admit a spiritual love, according
to the Author of the HermeticArcanum, and experience itself. By reason of this Sulphur it
is an Hermaphrodite, because the same Mercury doth visibly include at the same time, and
by the .same degree of digestion, as well an active as a passive principle. For if it be joined
with the Sun, it softens, melts, and dissolves him by the temperate heat required of the
composition. With the same Fire it coagulates itself, and gives, in its Coagulation, the Sun,
according to the pleasure of the Operator.
III. This will seem incredible unto thee, but it is certainly true that homogeneous,
pure, and clean Mercury, being by our artifice laden with internal Sulphur, coagulates
itself under the sole action of an adequate heat, after the manner of cream of milk; a
subtle earth floating upon the waters. But being joined with the Sun, it is not only not
coagulated, but the compound daily becomes softer, until the bodies being almost
dissolved, the spirits begin to coagulate with a most black color, and a most fetid qdor.
IV. It is therefore manifest that this spiritual metallic Sulphur is the first motive
influence, that it turns the wheel, and rotates the axis in a circle. This Sulphur is in
truth a volatile Gold, not as yet sufficiently digested, but pure enough; therefore it
passes into the Sun by a bare digestion. But if it is joined to the already perfect Sun, it
is not then coagulated, but dissolves the corporal gold, and remains with the said

9
dissolution under one form. However, before perfect union, death must necessarily
precede, that they may be united after death, not simply in perfect unity, but in a
thousand times more-than-perfect perfection.

Chapter 11
Of the Inventionof the PerfectMagistery

I. The Sages of old, many of whom became adepts of this Art without the help of books,
were led to the attainment thereof by the permission of God. For indeed, I have been
unable persuade myself that it came to any of them by immediate revelation, unless Solomon
had it so; which I am rather willing to relinquish to Judgment, than determine thereof. But
while he could have acquired it in this manner, is there nothing to indicate that he didn't
obtain it by searching, whereas he asked only for Wisdom, which God did bestow upon
him in such manner that he therewith possessed all, both wealth and peace? And therefore
he pried into, and searched out, the nature of plants and trees, from the Cedars of Lebanon
even to the hyssop; and what man that is well in his mind, will deny that he likewise knew
the nature of minerals, the knowledge of which being altogether as pleasant or profitable?
II. But to return to our subject. We say that it may very likely be believed that the first
adeptist who enjoyed this Magistery, amongst whom was Hermes, who in those days had
no abundance of books, did not at first seek after a more than perfect perfection, but only
a simple exaltation of imperfect bodies to a regal state. And when they perceived that all
metallic bodies were of a Mercurial Origin, and that Mercury was both as to its weight and
Homogeneity most like unto gold, which is the most perfect of metals, they therefore
endeavored to digest it to the maturity of Gold, but they could not effect it by any Fire.
III. Wherefore they considered with themselves, that there was requisite, besides the extrinsic
heat, an internal fire, if they would accomplish their intentions. This heat they have
therefore sought in many things. First, they distilled out of the lesser minerals most exceeding
hot Waters, and with them they corroded the Mercury; but they could, by no art accomplish
it in this way, so as to cause the Mercury to change its intrinsic properties. For all corrosive
waters -are only external agents, after the manner of fire, though somewhat different. But
these menstrua, as.they called them, did not abide with the dissolved body.
IV. For the same reason, they rejected all salts, One Saltonly excepted, which is the first
Ens of Salts, which dissolves all metals, and by the same work coagulates Mercury: but this
is not done but by a violent way. Wherefore that kind of Agent is again separated entire,
both in weight and virtue, from the things it is put to. Wherefore the Wisemen did at
length know and consider that in Mercury, the watery crudities and the earthy freces, did
hinder it from being digested; which being fixed in the roots thereof, cannot be expelled
except by inverting the entire compound. They knew, I say, that if Mercury could but put
off these things, it would at once become fixed. For it hath in itself a fermental Sulphur, of
which, even the smallest grain would be sufficient to coagulate the whole Mercurial Body,
if only the f~ces and crudities could be removed. This therefore they attempted to bring to
pass by various purgations, but in vain; forasmuch as the aforesaid Work demands equally
mortification and regeneration, there is need of an Agent.
V. Then at length they knew that Mercury was destined, in the bowels of the Earth, to
have been a metal, to which intent it retained a daily motion, as long as the fitness of the
place, and other well disposed externalities, did remain; but these being by chance defiled,
this immature child died of its own accord: As it is thus deprived of motion, and seemingly
life, an immediate return from the absence thereof to its possession is impossible .
VI. There is Passive in Mercury what should be Active; thus there is need to introduce into

10
 it another life of the same nature, in the introducing of which it stirs up the latent life of
Mercury. Thus life receives life; then at length it is fundamentally changed, and the freces
are spontaneously rejected from the center, as we have abundantly enough written in the
preceding chapters. This Life is in the metallic Sulphur alone, which the Magi sought in
Venus, and in such like substances, but in vain.
VII. At length they took in hand the Child of Saturn, and found that he was the Stylanx
of gold; and whereas it therefore has the power of separating the freces from mature Gold,
they became confident, by the argument of the most to the least, that it would do the same
in Mercury. But experience confirmed that this also retained its own dregs, and they
remembered the old proverb, Be thou clean that desiresto cleanseanother;therefore, in
endeavoring to purge it, they found it altogether impossible, because it had in itself no
metallic Sulphur, though it abounded in the most purged Salt of Nature.
VIII. When, therefore, they observed in Mercury a little Sulphur, and that only passive,
they found now in that Child of Saturn no actual, but only potential, Sulphur; Wherefore
she entered in friendship with a burning Arsenical Sulphur, without which, foolishly, she
cannot subsist in a coagulated form; and yet notwithstanding, it is so foolish that she had
rather dwell with this enemy, by whom she is so exce~ding straightly imprisoned, and
commit fornication, than renounce him and appear under a mercurial form.
IX. Wherefore they sought further for an active Sulphur, and that most thoroughly, and
the Magi sought it, and at length found it hidden in the House of Aries. But this Sulphur
is most avidly taken up by t~e Child of Saturn; which metallic matter is most pure, most
tender, and most near to the first metallic Ens, void of all actual Sulphur, but yet ~ay in
potential receive Sulphur. Wherefore it draws this to itself like a M.agnet, and swallows it
up and hides it in its own belly; and the Omnipotent, that he might most highly adorn this
Work, hath imprinted his Royal Seal thereon. Then forthwith these Magi rejoiced when
they beheld the Sulphur, not only found, but also prepared.
X. At last they endeavored to purge Mercury therewith, but the success was not answerable;
because there was as yet an arsenical malignity commixed with this Sulphur thus swallowed
up in the Child of Saturn: which evil, though it was now but little in respect of the
abundance which it had in its own mineral nature, yet it withstood and hindered all
ingression. Therefore they tried to temper this malignity of the air with th,e Doves of
Diana, and then the event responded to their desires.• Then they commixed life with life,
and moistened the dry with the liquid, and acuated the passive with the active, and vivified
the dead with the living. Thus the heavens were clouded over for a time, which, after
abundant rains, became calm again.
XI. Thus emerged an Hermaphroditic Mercury. They therefore put him in the fire, and in
not too long a time coagulated him; and in his coagulation they found most pure Sun and
Moon.
XII. At length returning to themselves they considered that this depurated Mercury, not as
yet coagulated, was not as yet a metal, but volatile enough; and they saw that in its distillation
it left nothing remaining at the bottom. Wherefore they called it their immature Sun, and
their living Moon.
XIII. They also considered that, being that in which the true first, though yet volatile, Ens
of Gold exists, that should the Sun be sown in this ground, it would be increased in virtue.
Therefore they put the Sun in the same, and, to their admiration, the fixed became volatile
therein, the hard became soft, the coagulated dissolved, to the surprise of nature herself.
XIV. Therefore they married these two together, · and shut them in a glass, which they
placed in the fire, and governed the work, as required by nature, for a long time; thus the
living became dead, and the dead living, the body putrefied, and rose a glorious spirit: and

11
at last the soul was resolved into a Quintessence, the highest Medicine for animals, metals,
and vegetables.

Chapter 12
Of the Manner of Makingthe PerfectMagisteryin General

I. We should give eternal thanks to God, for he hath shown us these arcana of Nature,
which he hath hidden from the eyes of most men. Those things therefore which are freely
given to us by that great Giver, we will lay open freely and faithfully to other studious men.
Know therefore, that the greatest Secret of our Operation, is nothing other than a
Cohobation of the Natures, the one above the other, until the most digested Virtue be
extracted out of the digested (body) by the Crude one.
II. But there is hereto requisite, first, an exact preparation and adaptation of the things that
enter into the Work; Secondly, a good disposition of external things; Thirdly, things being
thus prepared, there is required a good regimen; Fourthly, a foreknowledge of the appearances
in the Work is required, that you not proceed blindly; Fifthly, patience, that the work be
not hastened, nor head-longly governed.
Of all this we will speak in order, as of one brother to another.

Chapter 13
Of the Use of Mature Sulphurin the Work of the Elixer

I. We have spoken of the necessity of Mercury, and have delivered many Arcana of Mercury,
which, before me, were barren enough to the world; for almost all Chymical books do
abound either with obscure renigmas, or Sophistical Operations, or even with a heap of
rough words.
I have not done so, resigning my will in this thing to divine pleasure, who, in this last age
of the world, appears to me to be about to restore these treasures: wherefore I no longer fear
that this Art will be disesteemed, far be it, this cannot happen., For true Wisdom will guard
its honor eternally.
II. I could wish that the image of gold and silver, which hath been hitherto the great idol
adored by all the world, would at last be disesteemed; then we who know these things
should not need to hide ourselves so studiously, who judge that we have as if already
received the curse of Cain itself, for which we weep and sigh; for certainly we are as if
driven from the face of the Lord, and from the pleasant society which we heretofore had
with our friends, without fear. But now we are tossed about as if besieged by the furies; nor
can we suppose ourselves safe in any one place for long, oftentimes taking up the lamentation
of Cain unto the Lord: Belwld,wlwsoeverfindsme, shallslayme.
III. We travel through many nations like vagabonds, and dare not take upon ourselves the
care of a family, neither do we possess any certain habitation. And though we possess all
things, yet can we make use of but few. What therefore are we happy in, excepting speculation
only, wherein we meet with great satisfaction of mind? Many do believe, who are strangers
to this art, that if they should possess itt they would do this and such; so also even we did
formerly believe, but having been made more cautious from the dangers, we have chosen a
more secret manner. For whosoever hath once escaped the imminent peril of his life, he
will, believe me, become more wise for the time to come. As the proverb says, the wivesof
and the childrenof virginsare well clothedand caredfar.
Bachel.ars
IV. I have found the world placed in a most wicked posture, so that there is scarce a man

12
found, whatsoever face he bears of honesty, and howsoever he seems to heed public things,
that doth not propound unto himself some private, sordid, and unworthy end. Nor is any
mortal man able to effect anything alone, not even Works of mercy, ifhe would not incur
the danger of his head; which I have myself experienced of late, in some foreign places,
where I have administered the medicine to some ready to die, distressed and afflicted with
the miseries of the body: and they having recovered miraculously, there hath presently
been a rumor spread of the Elixir of the Sages, inasmuch that once I was forced to flee by
night, with exceeding great troubles, having changed my garments, shaved my head, put
on other hair, and altered my name; else I would have fallen into the hands of wicked men
that lay in wait for me (on suspicion only accompanied with the most greedy thirst for
Gold.} I could recount many such like tales, which to some would appear ridiculous.
V. Indeed they will say, did I but know these or those things, I would do otherwise than so:
but yet let them know how tedious it is for ingenious men to have converse with dullards.
And as for those that are ingenious, they are subtle, cunning, sharp-sighted; and some of
them have as many eyes as Argus; some are curious, some Machiavellian, who search most
deeply into the lives, manners, and actions of men, from whom, in any case, to hide
ourselves is most difficult, especially if there is any familiar
. acquaintance .
VI. If any doth think thus of himself, (that certainly he would do thus and such were he a
possessor of the stone) I would willingly say: "Thou art perchance a familiar acquaintance
of an adeptist," he would presently consider with himself and respond: "That is impossible,
perchance I should once live moreover familiarly with him and meditate upon it, jt could
not be but that I should sm~ll it out.'' You who would believe these things of yourself, do
you believe that others do not abound with quicksightedness equal to your own, who
would be unable to discern thee?
VII. For it indeed behooves one to have converse with others, lest one should appear
another Cynic or Diogenes. But it would be unworthy if you associated with the common
people; but if you would contract familiarity with the prudent and wise, it behooves thee to
be most highly cautious, lest some of them discern thee with the same ease as you believe
yourself capable of finding out, as would another Adeptist (thou being ignorant of the
known secret} if only you were able to have a familiar consort with him. Thus you will not
so easily discern the gathering suspicion, and that is a grave inconvenience, as even a slight
conjecture suffices that they lie in wait for thee.
VIII . So great is the iniquity of men, that we have not infre.quently known of men to have
been strangled with a halter, yet notwithstanding were strangers to the Art. It sufficed that
certain desperate men had heard a rumor that the man had a reputation for being skilled in
this art. It would be tedious to review all the things which we ourselves have experienced,
seen and heard concerning this, moreover as concerning this present age of the world,
more than any former one. Who is it that pretends not to Alchemy? Inasmuch, that you
will hardly dare to stir your foot, unless it is your desire to be betrayed, if you should but do
anything secretly.
IX. This caution of yours will excite the zeal of some to search deeply into your conduct;
they will whisper of Sophistical money, and what not? But if, then, you are a little open,
unusual things will be done by thee, whether in Medicine or Alchemy. If you should have
a large weight of Gold and Silver, and would sell it, anyone would readily wonder, from
whence so great a quantity of the finest Gold and purest silver should be brought; whereas
such fine gold is scarcely brought from any place, unless perchance Barbary or Guinea, and
that in the form of most fine sand: but now yours being a grade more noble, and yet in the
form of a mass, will not want for a great rumor.
X. For buyers are not so stupid, although they should, like children, play with thee, and say,

13
"Our eyes are shut, come, we will not see"; yet if you do come, they will see, even out of
one corner of an eye, so much as is sufficient to bring upon thee the greatest misery. For the
silver produced by our Art is so fine, that no such is brought from any place. That which is
brought out of Spain is the best, somewhat excelling in goodness English Sterling, and that
in the form of plain money which is transported underhandedly, as regional Laws prohibit
it. If therefore you would sell a quantity of pure silver, you have even already betrayed
yourself. But if you adulterate it (being not a metallurgist) you run the hazard of thy head,
according to the Laws of England, Holland, and of almost all nations, which provide that
all debasing of Gold and Silver, (as according to the scales) if not done by a professed and
licensed metallurgist, will be accounted a capital crime.
XI. We have lately known the time when we would have sold so much pure silver, in the
amount of 600 pounds, outside our native land, being clothed like merchants (for we must
not adulterate it, because almost all countries have their standing balance of the goodness
of silver and gold, which the Metallurgists do easily know in such amounts, that should we
pretend it was brought from hence or thence, they would presently distinguish it by their
trial, and apprehend the seller), they presently said unto us that brought it: "This silver is
made by art." When we asked the reason of their asserting this, they responded only thus:
"The Silver that comes out of England, Spain, &c. we cannot now say how to discern it,
but this is not any of these kinds.,, Which when we heard, we privily withdrew, leaving
both the silver and its price, never to be reclaimed.
XII. Moreover, if you should feign a great weight of Gold brought from elsewhere, but
especially of Silver , it cannot happen, but that a rumor will be spread thereof. The Ship
Master will say, "Such a quantity of Silver was never brought by me, nor can it come into
the ship, and everyone be thereof ignorant." And when others shall hear thereof, that were
wont to buy it, they'll laugh and say, "What? Is it likely, that such a mass of silver or gold
can be present and brought aboard a ship, there being such strict Laws that forbid it, and so
strict a charge to prevent it?" Thus it will presently be made public, not in one region only,
but in the adjoining areas also. Having been taught by these perils, we decreed to live
•
obscurely, and communicate the Art to thee who dreams of such things, that so we may see
what public good thou wilt contrive, when thou shalt have become an adept.
XIII. We therefore say that whereas I have heretofore taught that Mercury was necessary in
the work, and have put forth such things concerning Mercury, which no age before me
ever brought forth; So now I desire to lay open Sulphur, without which Mercury will never
receive a profitable congelation in the supernatural work.
XIV. In this work, Sulphur takes the place of our male, and whosoever undertakes the
transmutatory art without it, all his attempts will be ·in vain; for all the Sages affirm that
there can be no Tincture made without its latten, which latten is gold, without any ambiguity
of speech. Hence the noble Sendivogius saith: ''Know, I say, that the learned will find our
stone in the dung, while the ignorant will not believe that it exists in gold." In this gold,
which is the Gold of the Sages, the aurific tincture lies hidden; this though it be a most
digested body, yet is it incrudated in one only thing, viz. our Mercury, and from Mercury
receives the multiplication of its own seed, not so much in weight as in virtue.
XV. And although many Sophistical Sages seem to deny this, yet, in truth, so it is as I have
said. They tell us that vulgar Gold is dead, but that theirs is living; so in like manner a grain
of wheat is dead, that is, the germinating activity therein lies deeply suppressed, and would
eternally remain so, should it be kept in dry ambient air. But let it be but cast into earth,
and it presently recovers its fermentative life, swells, becomes soft, and germinates.
XVI. Even so is the case with our Gold: it is dead, that is, its vivifying virtue is sealed under
a corporal husk, as it is with the grain, although differently, according to the great difference

14
between a vegetable grain and metallic gold. But even as a grain remains perpetually
unchanged in dry air, is destroyed by fire, and vivified in water only, even so gold, which is
incorruptible in every external alteration, and durable through all eternity, is reducible in
our water only, and is then living and ours.
XVII. Even as Wheat sown in the field changes its name, and is called farmer's seed,
whereas as long as it remains in the granary, it is seed--com, for baking and other uses which
grain accommodates. Even so it is with Gold: as long as it is in the form of rings or vessels,
and especially coins, it is vulgar. But when cast into our water, it becomes Philosophical; In
the former state they say it is dead, because it would remain unchanged even to the end of
the world; in the latter state it is said to be living, because it is so potentially; which power
is capable of being brought to activity in a few days. But then the gold will no longer be
gold, but the Chaos of the Sages.
XVIII. Therefore deservedly the Philosophers say: uPhilosophical gold differs from vulgar
gold, which difference consists in the composition." For even as a man is said to be dead,
who hath already received the sentence of death; so is gold said to be living when it is
mixed in such a composition, and submitted to such a fire, in which, in a short time, it will
necessarily receive germinative life. For indeed within a few days it will demonstrate the
actions of budding life.
XIX.Wherefore the same Sages who say that their gold is living, direct you, the investigator
of art, to revivify the dead; which if thou knowest to do, and moreover to prepare the
agent, and rightly mix your gold, it will soon become living; in which vivifica~ion thy
living menstTUumwill die. Therefore the Magi direct you to vivify the dead, and to kill the
living; and yet it is their water which they at first call living, and they say that the .death of
one principle with the life of the other, have one and the same period.
XX. Whence it is evident that their gold is to be taken dead and their water truly living;
and by compounding these together by a short decoction, the seed of the gold will be
vivified, and the living Mercury will perish; that is, the spirit will be coagulated and the
body dissolved, and so also both of them putrefy together in the form of mud, until all the
members of the composition are rent into Atoms; This therefore is the naturality of our
Magistery.
XXI. The Mystery which we so much hide is the preparation of the Mercury; truly so
called, which is found nowhere upon th~ earth ready prepared to our hands; and that for
singular reasons known to the Adeptists. In the Mercury we thoroughly amalgamate this
pure gold, purged to the highest degree of purity, and filed or beaten, and being enclosed in
a glass we continuously cook it; the gold is dissolved by the virtue of our water, and returns
to its nearest matter, in which the life imprisoned in the gold is liberated, and takes the life
of the dissolving Mercury, which is with respect to the Gold the same as good earth with
respect to a grain of wheat.
XXII. In this Mercury therefore, the gold being dissolved, putrefies, and must be so by the
necessity of nature. Wherefore after the putrefaction of death, there rises a new body, of the
same essence as before, but of a nobler substance, which takes up the degrees of virtue,
proportional to the difference between the four qualities of the Elements. This is the reason
of our work. This is our whole Philosophy.
XXIII. We have said therefore, that nothing is secret in our work, excepting Mercury only,
the Magistery of which, is in rightly preparing it, and in extracting the Sun concealed
within, and to marry it in a just proportion with gold, and to regulate the fire as the
Mercury requires. For goId does not of itself fear the fire; and to the extent that it is united
with the Mercury, so far is it rendered able to resist the fire. This labor, this work, therefore
consists in accommodating the regimen of heat, to the tolerance of the Mercury.

15
XXN. Which indeed if the Mercury has not been rightly prepared, and if gold should be
joined therewith, this gold is yet the gold of the vulgar , inasmuch as it is joined with such
a foolish agent, in which it remains as much unchanged as if it had been kept in the chest.
Nor will it lay off its corporeal nature by any regimen of fire, as it is unaccompanied by a
living agent.
XXV.Indeed, our Mercury is a living and vivifying soul, and therefore our gold is Spermatical,
just as sown wheat is seed, whereas the same wheat would, in the granary, remain grain
only, and dead. One may indeed bury it in a pot under the earth Gust as the W est--Indians
hide their corn in pits in the earth, protected against the access of water vapor,) yet, unless
it be met withal by the humid vapor of the earth, it is dead, that is, it remains without fruit,
and is plainly remote from vegetation.
XXVI. I know there are many who will carp at this doctrine, and say: "He affirmsthat the
gold of the vulgar and running Mercury are the material subjects of the Stone: But we
know the contrary." Go, then, you Philosophers, examine your purses; though you know
such things, have you the Stone? For myself, I have not obtained it from anyone (if not
from God), nor have I stolen it. I have it, I have made it, and daily have it in my power,
have often formed it with my own hands, and I write of that which I know , but not for you.
XXVII. Treat, therefore, your rain waters, your dew of May , your salts; babble of your
sperm, which is more potent than the devil himself; reproach and revile me. Believe ye
that this your evil speaking will sadden me? I say that gold and Mercury only are our
materials, and I know what I write, and God, the searcher of hearts, knows that I write the
truth.
XXVIII.Nor is there any cause to accuse me of envy, since I write with an undaunted quill,
in an unheard-0f style, to the honor of God, to the profitable use of my neighbors, and
contempt of the World and its riches: For the Artist Elias is already oom, and now glorious
things are prophesied of the City of God. I dare affirmthat I do possess more wealth than
the whole known World is worth; but cannot make use thereof, because of the snares of
knaves.
XXIX . I disdain, I loath, and deservedly detest this idolizing of gold and silver, by the price
whereof the pomp and vanities of the World are celebrated. Ah foul evil! Ah vain
nothingness! Do you believe that I conceal these things out of envy? No verily, for I protest
to thee I grieve from the very bottom of my Soul, that we are driven like vagabonds from
the face of the Lord throughout the earth.
XXX. But there is no need for words; what we have seen, taught and elaborated, which we
have, which we possess and know, these do we declare, being moved solely by compassion
toward the studious, and from the indignation of gold and silver, and of precious stones;
not as they are creatures of God: far be it, for in this respect we honor them, and appraise
them as honorable: But the people of Israel, as well as the world, adore them. Wherefore let
them be ground to powder, like the golden calf.
XXXI. I hope and expect, that within a few years, they willbe like dross; and this bastion of the
Antichristian beast will crumble into ruins. The people are mad, the nations rave, a needless
weight is set in the place of God. Do not these things accompany our so long expected and
shortly approaching redemption? When the streets of the new Jerusalem shall be covered with
gold, and the gate thereof shall be made of whole pearlsand precious stones; and the Tree of Life,
in the midst of Paradise, shall give its leaves for the healing of nations .
XXXII. I know, I know, these my writings will be to most like the purest gold, and gold and
silver will, through my writings, become as vile as dirt. Believe me, ye young men, believe
me, ye fathers-for the time is at the door; I do not write these things out of a vain
conception, but I see them in the spirit. When we Adeptists return from the four comers of

16
 the earth, we shall not fear any snares that are laid against our lives, but we shall give
thanks unto the Lord our God. My heart murmurs things unheard of; my spirit beats in my
breast for the good of all Israel.
XXXIII.These things I send before into the world like a preacher, that I may not be buried
uselessly in the world. Let my book therefore be the harbinger of Elias, which may prepare
the Kingly way of the Lord. I would to heaven that every ingenious man in the whole circle
of the earth, understood this art; then no one would esteem gold, silver, and gems, they
· being so copiously abundant, except in so far as the knowledge it contained. Then at
length virtue would appear naked by herself, with her own amiable nature, in honor.
XXXIV. I know many who possess this art, and the true knowledge thereof, all of whom
have vowed a most secret silence. But as for myself, I am of another judgment, because of
the hope I have in my God; therefore I wrote this book, of which my Adept Brethren (with
whom I daily converse} know nothing.
XXXV. For God gave rest unto my soul, by a most firm faith; and I undoubtedly believe
that I shall, in this way, serve the Lord my Creditor, and the world my neighbor, and
chiefly Israel, by thus using my talent. And I know that none can improve his talent to so
great usury, for I foresee that perchance some hundreds will be ill11minated by these my
writings.
XXXVI. Therefore I consulted not with flesh and blood, I sought not after the consent of
my brethren in writing hereof. God grant that it be to the glory of his Name, that I may
attain the end I expect; then as many Adeptists that knew me, will rejoice that I have
published these things.

Chapter 14
Of the RequisiteCircumstancesin General,Belongingto thisWork

I. We have sequestered the chymical Art from all vulgar errors, and have refuted Sophisms,
and the Curious Dreams of the Imaginarists; and we have taught that the Art is to be made
from Gold and Mercury, and we have shown that the Sun is Gold, without any ambiguity
or doubt, which is not to be understood Metaphorically, but in a true Philosophical sense.
We have also declared, without all ambiguity, that Mercury is argent--vive.
II. We have demonstrated that the former is perfect in nature and venal: the latter we have
shown must be manufactured by art, and that it is a key to the former. We have added such
clear and apparent reasons, that except you beblind to the sun, you cannot but perceive.
We have professed, and do again avow, that we do not declare these tl:iings from the faith
we give to the writings of others; We have seen and known the things we faithfully declare.
We have made, and do possess the Stone, the great Elixir.
III. Nor indeed shall we envy thee the knowledge thereof, but we wish that you may learn
them from these writings. We have likewise declared, that the preparation of the
Philosophical Mercury is difficult, the main knot lying in finding the Doves of Diana,
which are enfolded in the eternal embrace of Venus, which only a true Philosopher is able
to see. This knowledge alone brings the perfection of Theory, ennobles a Philosopher, and
unfolds to him who knows, all our arcana. This is the Gordian knot, which will be indissoluble
to a beginner in this art, unless directed by the finger of God. It is so difficult, that there is
need for the peculiar grace of God, if anyone would attain the exact knowledge thereof.
IV. For myself, I have delivered such things concerning the making of this water, as none
before me has done; more I cannot do, unless I should give the receipt, which I have also
done, only I have not called those things by their proper names. It now remains that we

17
describe the use and practice, by which you may easily discern the goodness or defect of the
Mercury; that being known, you may alter and emend it as you will.
Having thus animated Mercury and gold, there remains an incidental purgation of the
Mercury as well as of the gold, Secondly the betrothal, Thirdly the governance.

Chapter 15
Of the IncidentalPurgationof the Mercuryand Gold

I. Perfect Gold is found in the bowels of the earth, whence it is sometimes found in little
pieces, or in sands; if you can find this unmixed, it is pure enough. But if not, then purge it
with antimony, or by Cineritium, or by boiling with aqua fortis, the gold being first granulated,
and afterwards melted and fused in the fire, and then filed. It is then ready.
II. Our Gold is made by nature perfect to our hands, which I have found and used, but
hardly one artist in a hundred thousand knows, unless he has exquisite skill in the mineral
realm; but besides this it is in a substance obvious to everyone; but it is then mixed with
many superfluities; we do therefore make it pass through many trials and mixtures till all
the feculency is rejected, and what remains is pure enough, which is, however, not without
any heterogeneity; yet we melt it not, for so the tender soul would perish, and become as
dead as vulgar gold. Wash it instead in the water, in which all but our matter is consumed;
then our body becomes like a Crow's bill.
III. But Mercury needs an internal and essential purgation, which consists in the gradual
addition of true sulphur, according to the number of the Eagles; then is it radically purged.
This sulphur is none oth er than our Gold, which if you know how to separate without
violence, and then to exalt each separately, and afterwards to again conjoin them, then
from this you shall have the conception, which will give thee a son more noble than any
sublunary substance whatsoever.
N. Diana knows how to perform this work, if she be first enfolded in the inviolable embrace
of Venus. Pray that the Omnipotent reveals to thee this mystery, which my preceding
chapters have disclosed to the letter, and wherein this secret is plainly treated; nor is there
a superfluous word or punctuation mark, nor anything deficient.
V. But beyond this essential purgation of Mercury, it alsorequires an incidental mundification
to wash off the external defilements which the operation of our true sulphur has rejected
from the center to the surface. Though this labor is not absolutely necessary, yet it hastens
the work, and is therefore convenient.
VI. Wherefore take thy Mercury, which you have prepared by a convenient number of
Eagles, and sublime it three times with Common salt and the Scoria of Mars, grinding
them together with vinegar and a little sal ammoniac, until the Mercury disappears. Then
dry it and distill it in a glass retort with a gradually augmented fire until all the Mercury has
ascended. Repeat this three times or more, and afterwards boil the Mercury in the spirit of
vinegar for an hour in a cucurbit, or a glass with a broad bottom and a narrow neck,
agitating it strongly from time to time. Then decant the vinegar, and wash off the sourness
with fountain-water, repeatedly. Then dry the Mercury, and you will wonder at its brightness.
VII. You may wash it with urine, or vinegar and salt, and so spare the sublimation, but then
distill it at least four times after having perfected all the Eagles without addition, washing
the Chalybeate retort each time with ashes and water. Then boil it in distilled vinegar for
half a day, agitating it strongly at times, and pour off the blackish vinegar, and pour on
new; finally wash it with warm water (by redistilling the spirit of vinegar, it can be freed
from its blackness, and will then be as virtuous as before}.
VIII. All this is to eliminate the external uncleanness, which does not adhere to the center, yet

18
clings more obstinately to the surface,which you shall thus perceive: Take thisMercury, prepared
with seven or nine of his Eagles, and amalgamate it with most purged gold, and make the
amalgam upon a most clean paper, and you shall see that the amalgam willdefile the paper with
aduskish blackness.But yet this Frecesmay be prevented bythe aforesaid distillation, ebullition,
and agitation; which preparation very much promotes or hastens the work .

Chapter 16
Of theAmalgamationof theMercuryand Gold,
and of theDue Weightof Both

I. These being rightly prepared, take one part of purged gold, laminated or finely filed , and
two parts of Mercury, put it in a marble mortar that has been heated, for instance, in
boiling water (out of which being taken it dries, and retains the heat for a long time}, grind
it with an ivory pestle, or glass, stone or iron (which is not so good) or box,wood; but the
stone or glass pestle is best. I myself use a pestle of white coral only.
II. Grind it, I say, strongly, until it is made impalpable; grind it with as much diligence as
painters do when preparing their colors, then see to its temperature; if it is pliable like
butter, then it is neither too hot nor too cold, but yet so that the amalgam being declined,
the Mercury does not flow like a hydropical sub-cutaneous water; then the consistency is
good. But if not, add as much of the water as is sufficient to make it of this consistency.
III. This is the rule for mixture, that it be most readily pliable and most soft; ·and yet
J

can be formed into small globules, much like butter, which though it yields to the
easiest touch of the finger, yet may be formed into balls by a washing ..woman . 'Observe
the alleged example as being most exact; because, as butter, if placed on an incline,
allows nothing to escape from itself that is more liquid than is the whole mass. In like
• •
manner 1s our mixture.
IV. Because of the intrinsic nature of the Mercury, this sign will begiven either in a double
or in a triple proportion of the Mercury to the body, or also in the triple of the body to the
quadruple of the spirit, or double to triple: and according to the proportion of the Mercury,
or difference, the amalgam will be softer or harder; yet always remember that it must be able
to coalesce into globules, and these globules being laid aside, do so concrete, that the
Mercury appears no more lively in the bottom than in the top. Indeed note that if it be
permitted to rest quietly , the amalgam hardens of its own accord.
V . The consistency thereof is therefore judged by agitating it, and if it is then pliable like
butter, and can be made into small globules, and these globules being placed undisturbed
on clean paper are of an even liquidity to their bottom, the proportion is good.
VI. This being done, take the spirit of vinegar and dissolve in it a third part of its own
weight of sal ammoniac, and put thereon the Mercury and the Sun, formerly amalgamated;
put it in a glass with a long neck, and let it boil for a quarter of an hour, with a strong
ebullition; then take the mixture out of the glass, separate the liquor, heat the mortar, and
grind it as above, strongly but carefully; then wash off all the blackness with hot water. Put
it again in the former liquor, and boil it again in the same glass; then again grind it strongly,
and wash it.
VII. Repeat this labor until you cannot get any more color from the amalgam; 'then
the amalgam will be bright like the purest silver, of a most polished wonderful
whiteness. Observe even yet its temperature, and take care that it is exquisite,
according to the rules just before given; if not, make it so, and proceed as above.
This work is laborious, yet you will see your labor compensated by the signs which
will appear in the work.

19
VIII. At last boil it in pure water, decanting it and repeating, until all the saltness and
sharpness has vanished; then pour out the water and dry the amalgam, which will soon
be done. But that you may be more secure (because too much water will destroy the
work, and break the vessel, however large it is) stir it or work it upon a clean paper,
with the point of a knife, from place to place, until it is dried exceedingly well. Then
proceed as I shall teach thee.

Chapter 17
Of the Proportion,Form,Matter,and Closureof the Vessel

I. Thou shalt have an oval or round glass, so large as to hold at most, in its sphere or belly,
one ounce of distilled water, nor any less than this if possible; but get it as nearly equal to
this measure as you possibly can. The glass should have a neck of the height, or span, of one
palm, or ten fingers, and should be very clear and thick, the thicker the better, so long as
you can distinguish the actions which take place within the hollow of the glass; let it not be
thicker in one place than in another.
II. The matter which is fitted to this glass, is half an ounce of gold, with one ounce of
Mercury, and if triple the amount of the Mercury is added, yet the whole composition will
be less than two ounces, and this proportion is exquisite. Moreover, unless the glass is thick
enough, it ·will not be strong enough to withstand the fire, because the winds which form
in the vessel from our Embryo, will break it. Let the glass be sealed at the top, with such
great care and prudence, that there is not the least crack nor the smallest hole; else the
work would perish.
III. So you see that the work, in its material principles, does not exceed the price of three
ducats, or three florins, of gold. Even the fabrication of one pound of the water will hardly
exceed two crowns. Of instruments, 1 confess, there are several, however they are by no
means dear; and if you had my distilling instrument, you may easily excuse the use of fragile
glasses.
IV. Yet there are some who dream that the price of one imperial , will suffice for the whole
work, to whom I could respond that, by this I perceive, that they can demonstrate no basis
of experiment. For there are other things necessary to the work that require expense. But
they will urge out of the Philosophers, that all which may be bought for a great price, will
be found to be false in our Work. To whom I may respond: And what is our Work?
Namely, to make the Stone? That is indeed the object, but the work itself is to find that
humidity in which gold melts like ice in tepid water. This is our work which one must find.
V. For this, many seek, even to weariness, to attain this Mercury of the Sun, others for the
Mercury of the Moon: but all in vain. For in this work, whatsoever is sold at a dear price
will prove false. Verily I say that of the material principle of our water, as much may be
bought for the price of one florin, as will animate two entire pounds of Mercury, from
which is made the true Mercury of the wise, so much sought after. Out of this we make a
Sun, which, when perfect, is more valuable to the artist than had he purchased it with its
weight of purest gold. For it indeed withstands all examinations, and is far more excellent
in our work.
VI. Moreover, we need glasses, coals, earthen vessels, a furnace, iron vessels and Instruments,
which cannot be obtained for nothing. Away then with these Sophisters, their vile prattling,
and impudent lies, by which they seduce many . Without our perfect body, our offspring of
Venus and Diana, which is pure gold, one can never obtain a permanent tincture. On one
hand, in respect of its nativity, our Stone is vile, immature and volatile; on the other , it is

20
perfect, precious and fixed; which aspects of the body and spirit are Sun and Moon, gold
and argent vive.

Chapter 18
Of the SophieFurnaceor Athanor

I. Of Mercury we have spoken, its preparation, proportion and virtue; of Sulphur also, its
necessity and use in our work; of how they are to be prepared, I have shown; how to be
mixed, I have taught; of the vessel also, in which they are to be sealed, I have discovered
much. All of which are to be understood with a grain of salt, for you would oftentimes
happen to err if you proceeded too literally.
II. For indeed we have, with unusual candor, so intertwined our Philosophical subtleties,
that unless you smell out many metaphors in the preceding chapters, you will reap scarcely
any harvest other than lost time, expense, and labor. As an example: without any ambiguity,
we told you that one of the principles is Mercury, the other is the Sun; one readily bought,
the other to bemanufactured by our art: If you know not the latter, you are ignorant of the
subject of our secrets, and may instead of it labor over the vulgar Sun; but yet take care that
you not mistake our sense, for our Sun is in all examinations good gold, and therefore is
venal; that is, (if reduced to a Metal) it may be sold without scruple.
III. But our Gold is not to be bought at any price, though you would give a crown or a
kingdom for it; for it is the ; gift of God. Indeed, our Gold is not to be had perfe{,t to our
hand {at least not commonly,) as ours stands in need of our art. Yet thou mayest in the
vulgar Sun and Moon also seek our Sun and find it, if thou seek aright. Wherefore our gold
is the nearest matter to our Stone, and the vulgar Sun and Moon are kindred substances,
but the other metals are remote. As for those things which are non-metallic, they are the
most remote, and wholly foreign to it.
IV. I myself have sought it in the vulgar Sun and Moon and found it. But it is far easier to
make the Stone out of our matter than to extract our true matte from any vulgar metal.
For our gold is a Chaos, whose soul is not put to flight by the fire; but vulgar gold is a body
whose soul must take refuge in a well fortified place, that it may there besheltered from the
tyranny of the fire. Therefore the Philosophers say that the fire of Vulcan is the artificial
death of the metals, and as many as suffer fusion therein have lost their life. But if you know
how to apply it skillfully to the imperfect body, and to the fiery Dragon, thou needs no
other key to all our Arcana.
V. But if you search for our Sun in a middle substance, between perfection and imperfection,
you may find it. Moreover, dissolve the body of the vulgar Sun, which is an Herculean
work, and is called the first preparation, in which is broken the enchantment by which its
body was bound and prevented from accomplishing the work of a male. If you follow the
former way, then you must employ a most benign fire from beginning to end; but if you
follow the latter way, then you must implore the aid of torrid Vulcan; that is, you must
apply the same fire as that which we administer during multiplication, when the corporal
Sun or vulgar Moon is added to our Elixir as a ferment. This I fear will prove a labyrinth to
thee, unless discretion help thee out of it.
VI . Yet by whichever procedure, whether with the vulgar Sun, or with ours, you ·must
operate with an equal and continual heat. Know also, that your Mercury in both works,
although it is one radically, yet it is different in its preparation. Also your Stone shall be
perfected with our gold, two or three months before our first matter has been extracted
from the vulgar Sun or Moon. And the Elixir of the one will be, at the first degree of
perfection, of far greater virtue than the other at the third rotation of the wheel.

21
VII. Moreover, if you labor with our Sun, you must make cibation, imbibition and
fermentation, by which its force will be increased immeasurably; but in the other work you
must first illuminate and incerate it, as the RosarioMagnoteaches abundantly.
VIII. Lastly, if you operate in our gold, you may calcine, putrefy and purify, with an intrinsic
fire of a most benign nature, aided by an external vaporous bath, like that of dung; but if
you labor in the vulgar Sun, you must first adapt the materials by sublimation and boiling,
and afterwards unite them with Virgin's Milk . Yet, however progress is brought about,
nothing can be accomplished without fire. It was not then in vain that the veridical Hermes,
next to the Father Sun and Mother Moon, establishes fire as the third and next governor
of the whole . But this is to be understood of the truly secret furnace, which a vulgar eye has
never seen.
IX. There is, however, another furnace, which we call the common furnace, which is our
HenricusI..entus,which is either of brick or potter's loam, or of iron and copper plates well
luted within; this furnace we call an Athanor, of which the form that best pleases me is a
tower with a nest. Let the tower be about two feet high or more, and nine inches in width,
or a common span, between the plates; about two inches thick at the base on each side,
and so about seven or eight inches high . The base part which contains the fire may be of
thicker clay than at the top, but of a smooth ascent, tapering gradually.
X. Next to the bottom or foundation, let there be a small entrance for removing the ashes,
three or foor fingers high, or a little more, and a small grate with a stone fitted to it. A little
above the grate, about an inch high, let there be two holes which give vent to the nest,
which must be closely joined at the side. The holes will be about an inch in diameter, and
the nest a capacity of thr ee or four egg--glasses,but no more. Also, the tower and nest must
be free from all cracks. The nest should not descend below the platform, but the fire may
come immediately under the platform, and leave by two, three, or four holes. The nest
must have a cover with a small window in it, in which a glass about one foot high may
stand, or else a hole is made at the very top.
XI. BeiI).gthus arranged, set your furnace in a brightly lighted place, and put the coals in at
the top, first the live ones, then the others; finally, cover the top and sift ashes into the
joints to prevent all access of air. In such a furnace you will be able to control the work from
beginning to end.
XII. Otherwise, if you are curious, you may find other, and moreover other ways of
administering a due fire. Therefore, as a general rule, let the Athanor be made in such a
manner that, without motion of the glass, you may apply whatever degree of heat you will,
from a feverish heat to the continuous fire of a small reverberator, or a dim red heat, and in
its most intense degree, let it last by itself at least eight or ten hours, without the addition
of more coals, for a smaller period of time would require a great deal of difficult labor. Then
the first door stands open to you.
XIII. But once you have the Stone, you may make the aforementioned furnace portable (as
I myself have) for it is easily moved; nor indeed are the other operations so difficult and
tedious, but very short, and so require no great furnace; which would be very laborious to
carry about, even if it can be set up a little more quickly, as there is less smoke, and fewer
coals need be administered, for a period of one week, or at most two or three, at the time of
multiplication.

Chapter 19
Of the Progressof the Work in the FirstFortyDays

I. Having prepared our Mercury and our Sun, shut them in our vessel, and govern them

22
with our fire, and within forty days you will see the entire matter turned into a shadow, or
into atoms, without any visible mover or motion, nor any heat perceptible to the touch,
unless because it grows hot.
II. But if the mystery of our Sun and our Mercury remains hidden from you, then keep your
hand from this work, for nothing but expense will be thy lot. But if only thou want the full
discovery of our Sun, but are adept in the knowledge of our Mercury, and know the
preparation after which it is adapted to the perfect body, which is a great Mystery, then
take of the vulgar Sun one part well purified, and of our Mercury three parts first illuminated,
join them, as is said above, and set them in the fire, giving a heat in which it may boil and
sweat; let it circulate day and night without intermission, for the space of ninety days and
nights, and you will see that this Mercury will have divided and reconjoined all the elements
of the vulgar Sun; boil it then another fifty days, and you will see in this operation your
vulgar Sun converted into our Sun, which is a medicine of the first order.
III. This therefore is akeady our sulphur, but not yet a tingent, and believe me, many
Philosophers have labored in this way, and have attained the truth. Yet it is a most tedious
way, and is for the Wealthy of the earth. Moreover, when you have this sulphur , do not
believe that you have the Stone, but only its true matter, an imperfect thing, which you
may seek and find in a week, by our easy, but rare way, which God has reserved for his poor,
contemptible, and abject saints.
IV. Of this thing I have now determined to write much, although in the beginning of this
book, I had decreed to bury it in silence. This is the one great Sophism of all the .Adepti .
Some speak of the vulgar gold and silver, and they speak the truth; others deny the same,
and they also speak the truth. I, being moved by charity, will now reach forth my hand, and
call upon all the Adepti [that ever wrote], and accuse them all of envy. I myself had
resolved to tread in that same path of envy, but God has dissuaded me from what I intended,
to whom be eternal praise.
V. I say therefore that both ways are true, for they are but one way in the end, though not
in the beginning. For our whole secret is in our Mercury and our Sun. Our Mercury is our
way, and without it nothing is accomplished. Our Sun also is not vulgar gold, yet in the
vulgar Sun is our Sun, indeed how else could metals be homogeneous?
VI. If, therefore, you know how to illuminate our Mercury as it ought to be, then in place
of our Sun, you may conjoin it with vulgar gold (but notice that the preparation of the
Mercury should be different for each Sun). And in the appropriate regimen of each, in one
hundred and fifty days you will have our Sun, for indeed our Sun comes naturally out of the
Mercury.
VII. ff vulgar gold is, by our Mercury, dissociated into its elements, and afterwards conjoined,
then the entire mixture, by the help of the fire, will become our gold, which thereafter
being joined with that Mercury which we prepared, and which we call our Virgin's Milk,
this decocted gold will assuredly give all the signs described by the Philosophers, in such a
fire as they have themselves written.
VIII. But now if, in our decoction of the vulgar Sun (however pure it may be) you make use
of that same Mercury which is used only for our Sun (though, generally speaking, both flow
from the same root) and apply that same regimen of heat which the Sages, in their books,
have applied to our Stone, you are assuredly in the road of error, and this is the 'great
labyrinth in which almost all young practitioners are entangled. For the Philosophers, in
their books, write of both ways; which are nevertheless but one way fundamentally, except
that one is more direct than the other.
IX. They, therefore, who write of the vulgar Sun, just as we sometimes do in this small
treatise, as also Artephius, Flamel, Ripley, and many others, are not otherwise to be

23
understood, but that our Philosophical Sun is to be made out of the vulgar Sun and our
Mercury, which then by reiterate liquefaction, will give a sulphur and a fixed and
incombustible argent vive, the tincture of which will abide all trials.
X. Similarly, and according to this line of thought, our Stone exists in all metals and
minerals, inasmuch as one may extract from them the vulgar Sun, whence our kindred Sun
may be elicited. So then our Sun is found in all vulgar metals, but in gold and silver it is
nearest. Therefore, saith Flamel, some wrought it in Jupiter, others in Saturn; but I wrought
it in the Sun, and there I found it.
XI. Yet there is in the metallic realm One Thingof a miraculous origin, in which our Sun is
nearer to be sought than in the vulgar Sun and Moon, if it be sought in the hour of its
nativity, which melts in our Mercury like ice in tepid water, and yet it has a resemblance to
gold. This is not to be found in the manifestation of the vulgar Sun, but by revealing that
which is hidden in our Mercury, the same thing may be found by digestion in our Mercury
for the space of on~ hundred and fifty days. This is our gold, sought by the longest way, but
not yet of so great a potency as that which Nature has left to our hands .
XII. And yet, by the third rotation of the wheel, each comes to the same end, but with this
difference, that the first will require only seven months, whereas the latter may require the
space of a year and a half, or even two years. I am acquainted with both ways, and commend
the first to all ingenious men; I have nevertheless described the most difficult one, lest I
should draw on my head the Anathema of all the Sages.
XIII. Know therefore, that this is the sole difficulty in reading the booksof those that are
most candid: that all are variations on one and the same regimen. And when they speak of
one operation they set down the regimen of another, in which web I was myself entangled
at first, and it was long before I could get free. Consequently I declare that in our work the
heat must be the gentlest in nature, if you understand our work aright.
XIV. But if you work in the vulgar Sun, that work is not properly our work, and yet it leads
directly into our work in its determined time. But in this is need of a strong decoction, and
a proportioned fire; but afterwards one must proceed with a very gentle fire in our tower
shaped Athanor, which I highly commend.
XV. Wherefore, if you work with the vulgar Sun, take care that the marriage of Diana and
Venus is realized at the beginning of the wedding of your Mercury. Thereafter, put them
into the nest, and in a due heat of fire you will see an emblem of the great Work: the black,
the peacock's tail, the white, the citrine and the red. Then reiterate this work with Mercury,
which is called virgin's milk, and apply to it the fire of the bath of dew, and at the very
most, let it be that of sand tempered with ashes; then you will see not only the black but a
black blacker than black itself, and all blackness; so also the white and the red are completed,
and this with a gentle process; for truly, God was not in the fire, nor in the wind, but his
voice called unto Elias.
XVI. Therefore, if you know this art, extract our Sun from our Mercury. Then shall all thy
secrets emerge·from a single image, which, believe me, is more perfect than all the world's
perfection, according to the Philosopher: "If," saith he, "from Mercury alone you can bring
the work to completion, thou shalt be master of a most precious work." In this work are no
superfluities, but the whole, by the living God, is transformed in purity , because the action
is in one thing only.
XVII. But if you proceed in the work with the vulgar Sun, then the action and the passion
is a twofold thing, and only the middle substance of both is taken, and the freces rejected.
If you meditate deeply on these few words, you will have the key to resolve all the apparent
contradictions amongst the Philosophers . Wherefore Ripley teaches to rotate the wheel
thrice, in his chapter of Calcination (wherein he speaks expressly of the vulgar Sun), to

24
which relations his threefold doctrine of proportions agrees, wherein he is very mystical, as
these three proportions apply to three different works.
XVIII. One work is most secret and purely natural, and is accomplished in our Mercury
with our Sun, to which work is attributed all the signs described by the Sages. This Work
is done neither by fire nor by hands, but only by internal heat. The external heat is only to
expel the cold and overcome its symptoms.
XIX.The other work involves the vulgar Sun and our Mercury, and is done with a strong
fire, and in a long time, in which both are decocted by the mediation of Venus, until the
pure substance of each is extracted. This is the lunar juice, which is seized once the freces
have been rejected. It is not yet, however, the Stone, but our true sulphur; which is to be
further decocted with our Mercury, which is its own blood, by which decoction it becomes
a most penetrating and tingeing Stone of fire.
XX. Third and lastly, is the work of mixtures, in which vulgar gold is mixed with our
Mercury in a due weight, and a ferment of our sulphur is added as much as is sufficient.
Then are all the miracles of the world fulfilled, and then is the Elixir able to furnish its
possessor both with riches and health.
XXI. Seek therefore our sulphur with all thy strength, which, believe me, you will find in
our Mercury, if thefatestheecall.Otherwise seek our Sun and Moon in the vulgar Sun, with
a due proportion of heat, and in the time which it requires. But this way is beset by
thousands of briars, and we have vowed before God and fairness, that we would never, in
naked words, declare each regimen distinctly. But I can assure you, upon my credit, that in
other things I have revealed the whole truth.
XXII. Take therefore that Mercury which I have described, and mingle it with the Sun to
which it is most friendly, and within seven months in our regimen of heat, you will assuredly
see all which you desire, or within nine months, or ten at the most. But you will see our
Moon in its fullness in the space of five months. And these are the true periods for completing
this sulphur, out of which, by reiterate decoction, you will have our Stone and tinctures,
through the grace of God, to whom be all glory and honor for eternity.

Chapter 20
Of theArrivalof Blacknessin the Wark of the Sun and Moon

I. If, in seeking our sulphur, you labor in the Sun and Moon, then consider whether your
matter is like a swollen paste, and boils like unto water, or rather if it appears as a molten
pitch. For our Sun and our Mercury have an emblematical image in the work of the vulgar
Sun, fioined] with our Mercury. Having kindled the furnace, wait at the heat of boiling for
twenty days, in which time you will observe various colors; but about the end of the fourth
week, if the heat has been continuous, you will see a most pleasant greenness, which will
not disappear before ten days, or about that.
II. Then rejoice, for certainly in a short time everything will appear like unto a coal in
blackness, and all the members of your compound will be reduced into atoms. This operation
is indeed none other than a resolution of the fixed into that which is not fixed, that
afterwards both being conjoined, become one matter, partly spiritual, and partly corporal.
Wherefore saith the Philosopher: "Take the Corascene Dog and the Armenian Bitch, join
them together, and they shall beget thee a son of the colour of heaven." For these natures,
by a short decoction, shall be turned into a broth, like unto the spume of the sea, or like a
dense cloud, which is tinged a livid color.
III. And I swear to you in good faith, that I have hidden nothing but the regimen. But this,
if you are prudent, you will easily gather from my words. If, therefore, you would indeed
25
learn the regimen, take the stone which I have described above, and govern it as you know
how, and there shall follow these notable things. First, as soon as the stone has felt its fire,
the sulphur and Mercury will flow together upon the fire like wax, and the sulphur will be
burned, and the color will change from day to day; but the Mercury is incombustible, unless
it is tinged with the colors of the sulphur for a time. But it cannot be radically affected,
therefore it will wash the latten inwardly from all its ordure. Reiterate the heaven upon the
earth so often, until the earth conceives a celestial nature. 0 blessed nature, which alone
accomplishes that which to all men is impossible!
IV. Therefore, when thou shalt behold the natures to be mingled in thy glass like unto a
coagulated and burned blood, it is certain that the female lies open to the embrace of the
male. Wherefore, after the first desiccation of your matter, expect that in seventeen days
the two natures will have been converted into a fatty broth, which will circulate round
together, as has been said, like unto a dense cloud, or spume of the sea, of an exceedingly
obscure color. Then you may be certain that the Royal child has been conceived, after
which thou shalt behold vapors, green, yellow, black and blue, ,in the fire, and at the sides
of the Vessel. These are the winds, which blow frequently in the forming of our embryo,
that are cautiously restrained, lest they take flight, and destroy the work.
V. Take care also that the odor not happen to exhale through some crack, for the strength
of the stone would thereby suffer significantly. Wherefore the Philosopher directs us to
keep the vessel closely sealed, and further warns that the work never cease; neither move
the vessel, nor open it, nor interrupt the decoction for even a moment, but continue
decocting without cease until you observe the moisture begin to fail, which will be in about
thirty days; then rejoice, and rest assured that you are on the right path.
VI. Attend the work vigilantly, for within a week or perhaps two from that time, you will
see the whole earth become dry, and remarkably black. Then is the death of the compound
at hand. The winds cease, and all is given to quietness. This is the fatal eclipse of the Sun
and Moon, when no light shall shine upon the Earth, and the sea shall vanish. Then is
made our Chaos, from which, at the command of God, all the miracles of the world shall
arise in their order.

Chapter 21
Of the Combustionof the Flowers,and its Prevention

I. The combustion of the flowers, before the tender natures have been completely extracted
from their profundity, is not a slight error, and yet is easily committed. Thiserror is particularly
to be avoided after the third week. For in the beginning there is so much moisture, that if
the work begoverned by a stronger fire than is necessary, the fragile vessel will not bear the
abundance of winds, but rather immediately break apart, unless your vessel be excessively
large. And then indeed the humours will be so dispersed, that they will moreover not
return again to their body, at least not so much as is necessary to revive it.
II. But as soon as the earth has begun to retain part of its water, then the vapors will surely
weaken, and the fire may be strengthened beyond measure without any danger to the
vessel; but the work will nevertheless be destroyed, and will assume the color of wild
poppies, and the whole compound will at length become a dry powder, uselessly reddened.
You will conclude from this sign, that the fire has been too strong , so strong certainly, as to
be inimical to true conjunction.
III. For know, that our work requires a true change of natures, which cannot happen,
unless an ultimate union of both natures is made; but they cannot be united except in the
form of water . For bodies cannot be united, but only confounded or blended together, still

26
less can any body be united with a spirit in its smallest parts; but spirits amongst themselves
may be well united. Wherefore a Homogeneous metallic water is required; the way to
which is prepared by the preceding calcination.
IV. This desiccation, therefore ·, is not a true desiccation, but a reduction into most subtle
atoms by the sieve of nature, of water mingled with earth, as the exigencies of the water
require, which earth accepts the transmutative ferment of the water. But if the heat is more
vehement than is appropriate, this spiritual nature being struck as with a fatal blow, the
active becomes passive, and the spiritual corporal, even a useless red precipitate. But given
the appropriate heat, its color will be as black as the Crow, which though it be dark, yet it
is most desirable.
V. Yet there is a notable redness which appears in the beginning of the true work; but this
is accompanied with a due abundance of moisture, and shows that heaven and earth have
been conjoined, and have conceived the fire of nature, and thereby the whole interior of
the glass will seem as if tinged with the color of gold. But this color will not last, and shortly
green will be borne, and then, after waiting a short time, blackness; and if you are patient,
or at least proceed slowly, you will see your desire accomplished. Apply afire that is continuous
and sufficiently strong, and navigate your ship between Scyllaand Charybdislike a skillful
Pilot, if you would gather the wealth of both Indies.
VI. Sometimes you will see as it were small islands, and small spikes and shadows of different
colors being sent forth in waves, which soon dissolve away, and others arise. Indeed the
earth, eager to germinate, will always be producing something; sometimes you will imagine
that birds or beasts, or reptiles, appear in your glass, and the most pleasant and swiftly
moving colors will appear to thy sight.
VII. All is in the keeping of a suitable, continuous fire, and all these phenomena will cease before
the end of fifty days, in a discontinuous powder of a most black color. If not, the fault lies with
either your Mercury, or the regimen, or the distx>sitionof the matter, unless you have either
moved or agitated the glass, which may easily protract, or even finally destroy, the work.

Chapter 22
The Regimenof Saturn, What It Is, and Whence It is thusNamed

I. As many of the Magi as have written of this sophic labor, have all spoken of the work and
of the regimen of Saturn. But many, having wrongly understood them, have turned aside
into various errors, and deceived themselves with their own opinion. Some, being thus led
with a great deal of confidence, have toiled upon lead, although with very little gain. But
know that our lead is more noble than any gold. It is the mud in which the soul of gold is
joined with Mercury, as after Adam and his wife Eve are produced.
II. Wherefore that which is highest shall so humble itself as to become the lowest, then
await the redemption of all his brethren in his blood. Therefore the sepulchre in which our
king is entombed is, in our work, called Saturn, and it is the key of the work of transmutation.
Happy is he that is able to hail this slow planet! Pray to God, brother, that He judge you
worthy of this benediction; for it is not of him that runs, nor of him that wills, but on the
Father of Lights alone, that this blessing depends.

Chapter 23
Of the VariousRegimensof thisWork

I. Be assuredly confident, studious apprentice, that nothing is hidden in this work, save

27
only the regimen, of which the Philosopher has truly said: "Whoever comes to know this
science, shall be honored by the Princes and Magnates of the earth.,, And I swear to you in
good faith, that if this one secret were but openly discovered, fools themselves would deride
this art.
II. For this being known, nothing remains but the work of women and the play of children,
and that is decoction. Therefore the Sages have hidden this secret with their greatest skill,
and be sure that we have done the same, however much we have seemingly spoken of the
degree of heat. However, as I did promise candor in this treatise, it is incumbit upon me to
at least present something, that I may not disappoint the hope and trouble of the clever
reader.
III. Therefore know, that our regimen, throughout the work, is one linear progression, and
that is to decoct and digest, and yet this one regimen embraces in itself many others, which
the envious have concealed under diverse names, and described as of various operations.
As for us, we will most clearly demonstrate the unaccustomed candor which we have long
promised.

Chapter 24
Of the FirstRegimenof the Work, whichis of Mercury

I. And first we shall treat of the regimen of Mercury, which is a secret hitherto discovered
by none of the Sages. They have, for instance, begun at the second work, namely the
regimen of Saturn, and shed no light for the apprentice, before the essential sign of blackness.
On this point, the good Count Bernard le Trevisan was silent, who in his parables teaches
that the King, when he comes to the fountain, leaving behind all strangers, enters the bath
alone, clothed in a vestment of gold, which he puts off and gives to Saturn, from whom he
receives a black velvet cloak. But he does not instruct as to the interval of time before he
lays aside his golden vestments, and therefore he passes over in silence one entire regimen
of forty, or perhaps fiftydays duration, in which time the poor apprentice is left to uncertain
experiments. From the advent of the blackness until the very ~nd of the work, the artist is
each day reassured by the appearance of a new sign; but to wander without direction,
indication, or guarantee, for the space of fifty days, I confess, is tedious.
II. I say therefore, that the entire interval of time, from the first ignition, even until the
blackness, is the regimen of Mercury, even of the Sophie Mercury, which alone operates
throughout that time, his companion remaining dead until the proper moment; and which
no one before me has ever revealed.
III. Therefore when the matters are conjoined, which are the Sun and our Mercury, do not
believe, as do vulgar Alchymists, that the setting of the Sun will follow shortly. No indeed.
We waited a long while before peace was established between water and fire; and this the
envious have briefly comprehended, yet in the first operation they named their matter
Rebis, that is, made of two things. In like manner, the Poet saith:

Res - Rebisest binacanjuncta,sed tamen una,

Solvitur,ut primasint aut Sol aut SpermataLuna.

Rebis is two things conjoined, but yet one,

Dissolved, that first are either the Sun or Sperm of the Moon.

IV. Therefore assuredly know, that though our Mercury can devour the Sun, yet it doth
not so as Philosophical Chymists think. For although the Sun conjoins with our Mercury,

28
yet after a wait of one year, each may be recovered from the other, its virtue preserved and
pristine, unless you ·decoct them together in an appropriate degree of fire. He who affirms
the contrary is no Philosopher.
V. Those who wander the path of error, think it a matter of so little concern to dissolve
bodies, that they imagine that gold immersed in the Sophie Mercury will be devoured in
the twinkling of an eye. But they ill understand that passage of the Count Bernard le
Trevisan, in his Parable concerning his pound of gold immersed irrecoverably in the fountain.
But how hard a work it is to dissolve bodies they can attest who have taken pains in this
dissolution. I myself, who have oft been taught this lesson by the testimony of my eyes, bear
witness that it is a most ingenious thing to govern the fire, even after the matter is prepared,
so as to dissolve the bodies without burning their tinctures.
VI. Attend, therefore, to my doctrine: Take the body which I have shown you, and put it
into the water of our sea, and decoct it in a continuous fire, so that dew and clouds ascend,
and fall back as drops, day and night, without intermission. And know, that in this circulation
the Mercury ascends in its former nature, abandoning the body below in its former nature,
until, after a long time, the body begins to retain part of its water, and so by degrees each
participates in the other.
VII. But because all the water does not ascend by sublimation, part of it remains below in
the bottom of the vessel. For that reason be constantly watchful that the body is boiled and
sifted in the water that remains below, while the drops that are continually running down
perforate the residual mass marvelously, and by continual circulation the wate;r is made
more subtle, and at length it gently and delicately extracts the soul of the Sun.
VIII. Thus, by the mediation of the soul, the spirit is reconciled with the body, 3.Rda union
of both is made in a black color, within fifty days at the most. And this operation is called
the regimen of Mercury, because the Mercury is circulated above, and in it the body of the
Sun is boiled below, and the body is, in this work, passive, until the apparition of the
colors, which will appear about the twentieth day in a good and continual ebullition;
which colors afterwards increase and multiply and vary themselves continuously, until they
finally end in the blackest black, which the fiftieth day will give thee, if the Fatestheecall.

Chapter 25
Of theSecondRegimenof theWork, whichis of Saturn

I. Having completed the Regimen of Mercury, whose work is to strip the King -of his golden
vestments, to assault the lion with various conflicts, and drive him to the extreme of
lassitude; the next regimen that appears is that of Saturn. For it is indeed the will of God
that the work should be carried on from its inception unto the very end, and the law of
these scenes is, that the exit of one, is the entrance of another; the end of one, the beginning
of another. Nor has the regimen of Mercury scarcely passed away, but his successor Saturn
comes in, who is the next higher in succession. The lion dies, the crow is born.
II. This regimen is wholly linear with respect to heat, for there is no more than one color,
and that is the blackest black; but neither fumes, nor winds, nor any sign of life, except that
the compound occasionally appears dry, while other times it boils like molten pitch. 0 sad
spectacle, and image of eternal death ., but withal a most pleasant messenger to the artist!
For indeed this is no ordinary blackness, but appears resplendent on account of that most
intense blackness. And when you behold our matter swelling here and there like unto a
paste, rejoice. For know, that within this there is enclosed a quickening spirit, which at
that time appointed by the Almighty, will restore life to these corpses.
III. You must at least guard the fire, which you must be sure to govern with sound judgment,

29
and I swear to you in good faith, that if, in this regimen, you urge the fire so as to cause
sublimation, you will destroy the work irrecoverably. Be therefore content, like the good
Trevisan, to be detained in prison forty days and nights, and suffer the tender matter to
remain at the bottom, which is the nest of conception. Assuredlyknow, that upon completion
of the time which the Almighty hath appointed, the spirit will arise glorious, and glorify its
body. It will ascend, I say, and circulate gently , and without violence, and from the center
it shall ascend unto the Heavens, and again from the Heavens it shall descend to the
center, and it shall receive the strength of that which is above, and that which is below.

Chapter 26
Of theRegimenof Jupiter

I. Black Saturn is succeeded by Jupiter, who is of diverse colors. For after the necessary
putrefaction and conception has been made in the bottom of the vessel, at the command of
God, you will again see changing colors and a circulating sublimation. This regimen is not
durable, nor does it continue more than three weeks. In this time, every imaginable color
will appear, of which no certain account can possibly be rendered. In these days the showers
shall be multiplied continually, and at last, after all these most beautiful sights, there shall
display itself a whiteness at the sides of the vessel, like unto striations or hairs.
II. Then rejoice, for you have happily passed through the regimen of Jupiter. The greatest
caution must be taken in this regimen:
Lest the young of the Crow, once they have quitted their Nest , return to it again.
Also, lest you draw out th e water too immoderately, that the earth below is without it, and
is abandoned dry and useless at the bottom.
Thirdly, lest you irrigate your earth so intemperately as to suffocate it. Which errors may all
be avoided by a good regimen of external heat .

Chapter 27
Of the Regimenof theMoon

I. Following the completion of the regimen of Jupiter, towards the end of the fourth month,
the sign of the crescent Moon shall appear unto thee; and know, that the whole of the
regimen of Jupiter is devoted to the washing of the latten. The cleansing spirit is intensely
shining white in its nature, but the body which is to be washed is of the blackest black. In
this transition to whiteness, every intermediate color appears, after which, all will become
a shining white, but not a perfect whiteness the first day, but gradually it shall arise from
white to the whitest white.
II. And know, that in this regimen, all shall appear to the sight like liquid argent vive, and
this is called 'the sealing of the mother in the belly of her own infant' which she has
begotten; and in this regimen, the colors appear varied, beautiful, momentary, and fleeting,
but more nearly white than black, just as the colors in the regimen of Jupiter participate
more of blackness than of whiteness; and know, that within three weeks the regimen of the
Moon will be complete .
III. But before it has completed its cycle, the compound shall assume a thousand forms. For
the rivers must crest before complete coagulation , and so it will liquefy and coagulate a
hundred times in a day. Sometimes it will appear like the eyes of a fish, other times it will
imitate the figure of a most elegant tree of pure silver with branches and leaves. In a word,
in this time each hour your sight shall be overwhelmed with astonishment and admiration.

30
IV. And at last you shall have the most white grains, like unto atoms of the sun, more
beautiful than human eye ever saw. Let us give eternal thanks to our God, who hath
produced this work. For it is indeed the true and perfect tincture at the white, although of
the first order only, and consequently of small virtue in comparison to that admirable
virtue which it will attain through reiteration of the preparation.

Chapter 28
Of theRegimenof Venus

I. Above all things this is most wonderful, that our Stone being now wholly perfect, and
able to give a perfect tincture, should of its own accord again abase itself, and become again
volatile without any imposition of hands.Yet if you withdraw it from its vessel, and enclose
the same stone within another vessel after it has grown cold, it is in vain that you attempt
to lead it any further. A demonstrative reason of which, neither we nor any of the ancient
Philosophers are able to render, unless it is done by the will of God.
II. At the least take care of your fire, for the law of the perfect Stone is that it be fusible: and
therefore, if your fire.is stronger than appropriate, the matter will bevitrified, and, melting,
will adhere to the sides of the vessel; nor can you then progress any farther. This is the
vitrification of the matter of which all the Philosophers have warned, which oft befalls the
unwary before and after the white work is perfect, and certainly after the middle of the
regimen of the Moon, up to the seventh or tenth day of the regimen of Venus .
•
Ill. Therefore, let thy fire be augmented but very little, so that the compound does not
vitrify, that is, melt passively like glass. But with a gentle heat, it may of its own accord
melt, and swell, and at the command of God shall be endowed with a spirit that shall take
flight, and carry the stone with it. It shall give thee new colors: at first the green of Venus,
which shall last a long time, nor will it depart within twenty days; expect afterwards the
blue, and a livid color, and towards the end of the regimen of Venus, a pale and obscure
purple.
IV. Take heed in this work that you not irritate the spirit too much, as it is more corporal
than before, and if it flies to the top of the vessel, it will with difficulty return of its own
accord, which caution is likewise to be observed in the regimen of the Moon. When the
spirits begin to thicken, handle them delicately and without violence, lest if they take
flight to the top of the vessel, that which is at the bottom is not burnt or at least not
vitrified, to the destruction of the work.
V. When, therefore, thou hast beheld the greenness, know that within it a germinative
virtue is contained. Beware then that this greenness tum not into a foul blackness by an
immoderate heat, but govern thy fire prudently; thus after forty days you will have completed
this regimen.

Chapter 29
Of the Regimenof Mars

I. The regimen of Venus having ended, whose color was chiefly green, -and less of red of an
obscure purple color, and sometimes livid; in which time the Philosophical tree did flourish
with discolored boughs and with leaves and branches; next succeeds the regimen of Mars,
which principally demonstrates yellow, diluted ~ith a dirty brown; and exhibits most
gloriously the transitory colors of the Rainbow and Peacock.
II. This is a dry state of the compound, in which the matter will appear to imitate various

31
ghost.-like forms. The color of the Hyacinth with a very light Orange will appear frequently
in these days. Now the mother, being sealed in the belly of her infant, swells and is purified,
and this purity in which the compound stands is such that it expels all putridness. But the
colors which serve as the base throughout this regimen are indeed obscure, and yet most
agreeable intermediate colors appear as well.
III. Now know, that this is the last tillage of ourvirgin earth, that in her the fruit of the Sun
is sewn and matured; therefore continue a good heat, and you will assuredly see, about the
thirtieth day of this r~gimen, a citrine color appear, which will, within two weeks of its first
manifestation, imbue the whole with citrine color.

Chapter 30
Of the Regimenof the Sun

I. You are now approaching the end of the work, and have nearly carried your occupation
through to completion; now all appears like unto the purest gold, and the virgin's milk,
with which this matter is imbibed, becomes intensely citrine. Now render eternal thanks to
God, giver of all things good, who hath brought this work thus far; and entreat Him that
thy counsel may hereafter be so governed, that thou mayest not eagerly hasten thy work,
now that it _is so near perfection, so as to lose all.
II. Consider ·now that you have waited seven months, and it would not be sane to annihilate
all in one hour. Therefore be exceedingly cautious, and even more so the nearer you come
to perfection. But if you do proceed cautiously , you will meet with these notable things:
First, you will observe a certain citrine sweat upon the body, and at length citrine vapors,
while the body below is tinctured violet, and sometimes an obscure purple.
After a wait of fourteen or fifteen days in this regimen of the Sun, you will observe the
greatest part of your matter become humid, and, though ponderous, yet it will be wholly
carried within the belly of the wind.
At last, about the twenty sixth day of this regimen, it will begin to dry out, and then it will
liquefy and re-congeal, and will again liquefy a hundred ti.rqes in a day, until finally it
begins to turn into grains, and will seem as if it were entirely discontinuous grains, and then
again it will coalesce, and thus, from day to day, will assume an infinity of ghost-like forms;
and this will continue for about two weeks.
III. But in the end, at the will of God, an unimaginable light shall irradiate thy matter.
Then await the approaching end, which you will see within three days, when the matter
shall break apart into granules like atoms of the sun, and of a color so intensely red, that its
transcendent redness will seem as if black, like unto the soundest blood when coagulated,
though you may not believe that any such thing can be compared to this Elixir, [derived]
from art. For it is a marvelous creature, not having its equal in the whole universe, much
less its exact resemblance.

Chapter 31
The Fermentationof the Stone

I. Remember now that you have obtained the incombustible red sulphur , which cannot of
itself be further improved by any fire. And be especially cautious (as I forgot this in the
preceding chapter) in the regimen of the citrine Sun, before the advent of the supernatural
Son, clothed in the color of true T yrian, lest, I say, your matter be vitrified by an inappropriate
ignition. For so it would afterwards be insoluble, and consequently could not be congealed

32
into those beautiful atoms of reddest red. Accordingly, be cautious that you not be heedlessly
deprived of so great a Treasure.
II. And yet do not believe that thy labor hath found an end, but proceed further, as from
this sulphur, by another revolution of the wheel, you may have the Elixir . Take, therefore,
three parts of most purged Sun, and of this fiery sulphur one part (you may take four parts
of the Sun and a fifth part of the sulphur, but the aforesaid proportion is better.) Melt the
Sun in a clean crucible, and when fused cast into it your sulphur, but cautiously, lest it be
lost by the smoke of the coals.
111.Let them flow together, then pour it out into a receiver, and you willhave a pulverizable
mass, of a most intense beautiful red color, but barely transparent. Take of this mass, finely
ground, one part, of your Sophie Mercury, two parts, mix them well, and enclose them in
a glass, and govern it as before ; and in two months you will see all the foresaid regimens pass
in their order. This is the true fermentation, which you may, if it please you, reiterate.

Chapter 32
The lmbibitionof the Stone

I. I know that many Authors take fermentation in this work for the internal invisible
agent, which they call ferment, by whose virtue the fugitive and subtle spirits, without the
imposition of hands, are of their own accord thickened; and our aforementioned way of
fermentation they call cibation with bread and milk; such [is the sentiment of] Ripley.
II. But 1 am not accustomed to cite these others, nor yet to swear to their ·words in a thing
which I myself know as well as they, and have [therefore] retained the liberty of my own
ijudgment].
III. There is therefore another operation in which the stone is increased in weight more
than virtue, which is: Take of thy perfect sulphur, whether white or red, and to three parts
of this sulphur add a fourth part of water, and after a little blackness, in six or seven days
decoction, your newly added water will have thickened, like un to your sulphur.
IV. Then add a fourth part, not in respect of the entire compound, which hasnow coagulated
one fourth part in the first imbibition; but in respect to your first sulphur, as first received,
which being dried add another fourth part, which will be coagulated with a suitable fire;
then into this put two parts of the water in reference to the three parts of the sulphur which
was taken at first, before the first Imbibition, and in this proportion imbibe and congeal
three times.
V. Finally, take five parts of water for the seventh imbibition, again with respect to the
sulphur as it was first taken; put them into a vessel and seal it, and in a fire like the former
make thy compound pass through all the aforesaid regimens, which will be done in at most
one month. Then you will have the true stone of the third order; of which one part
projected upon ten thousand [parts of metal], will perfectly tinge.

Chapter 33
The Multiplicationof theStone

I. To this is required no other labor, unless you take the perfect Stone, and conjoin one
part of it with three parts, or at most four, of the Mercury of the first work, and govern it
with a due fire for seven days in a strictly closed vessel. And so, with the greatest joy, all the
regimens shall pass, and you will have the whole enriched in virtue a thousand fold beyond
what it was before its multiplication.

33
II. And if you attempt this [Work] again, you will run through all the regimens in three
days, and the tingeing power of the medicine will be exalted a thousandfold still.
III. And if you desire to again repeat the work, all the regimens and colors shall pass within
a natural day. And if another iteration is attempted, then even one hour will suffice, nor
would you be able any longer to determine the virtue of your stone; so great will it be that
it will surpass the capacity of your mind to grasp it, if only you should proceed in the work
of reiterate multiplication.
Remember now to render immortal thanks to God, for you now have in your possession the
complete Treasure of Nature.

Chapter 34
Of the Mannerof Projection

I. Take of thy perfected Stone, as is said, white or red, and according to the quality of the
medicine, take of either luminary four parts. Melt them in a clean crucible, then put in of
thy Stone according to the species of fused luminary, white or red, and being mixed together,
pour them into a horn, and you will have a pulverizable mass. Take of this mixture one
part, and of Mercury well washed ten parts. Heat the Mercury until it begins to crackle,
then cast upon it your mixture, which in the twinkling of an eye will penetrate it. Melt it
with a much increased fire, and the whole will form a medicine of an inferior order.
II. Take then of this one part and project it upon any metal, purged and molten, as much
as your stone can tinge, and you shall have such pure gold or silver, which purity can
nowhere be found in nature :
III. Yet it is preferable to make projection gradually, until it cease tincturing; for so it will
extend farther; for when so little is projected upon so much, unless projection be made on
Mercury, there is a notable loss of the medicine, by reason of the dross which adheres to
unclean metals. Wherefore the better purged the metals are before projection, by so much
more will this occupation succeed.

Chapter 35
Of the ManifoldUsesof thisArt

I. He who hath once, by the benediction of God, perfectly elaborated this Art, I know not
what in all the world he can long for, but that he may be secure from all fraudulent and
deceitful men, so as to be able to serve God without distraction. But it would be a vain
thing, by outward pomp, to seek vulgar applause . Such trifles are not esteemed by those
who are practiced in this Art; they rather scorn and despise them.
II. He therefore whom God hath blessed with this talent, hath open to him such a field of
content, which far exceeds popular admiration.
1. First, if he should live a thousand years, and each day provide for a thousand
thousand men, he could not want, for he can multiply his stone at his pleasure, as
much in weight as virtue. In such a way then this man, if he were an adept, might
tinge into true gold or silver all the imperfect metals that are in the whole world.
2. Second, he will be able, by this Art, to manufacture precious stones and gems,
such as none of those natural things can compare.
3 . Third and lastly, he hath a universal Medicine, both for the prolongation of life,
and the curing of all disease. Thus one true Adeptist can easily cure all the sick
people in the orb of the world .

34
III. Consequently, to the immortal and sole omnipotent King, be everlasting praise, for
these his indescribable gifts and inestimable treasures.
IV. Consequently, whosoever enjoys this talent, let him employ it to the honor of God,
and the good of his neighbor, lest he be found ungrateful to God his creditor, who hath
blessed him with so great a talent, and so, in the last day, find himself condemned.
V. This Work was begun in the year 1645, and perfected by myself, who have professed
these arcana, yet desire no applause, but to be helpful to the sincere searcher of this hidden
Art; to whom I subscribe myself a friend and brother,

.!Eyrena!usPhilalethes,
Englishby birth,
Citizenof the World.

FINIS

35
 REMARKS of Lenglet du Fresnoy
On the differences, that are found between his Edition of PHILAl.ETHESand the
Ancient ones. Augmented by interpretive notes and observations.

AurttoR's PREFACE.
Number I . .!Etatisautem mete trigesimotertio. Doctor Faustius has rightly corrected this
place, in setting it according to the original, as opposed to the Edition of Langius, copied by
M. Manget, which reads, ....£tatis autem me£e vigesimotertio.
Concerning this question of the age of Philalethes when the Introituswas written, it is
given in his Preface as thirty-three in the Latin versions contained in the MusreumHermeticum
and in Manget, while in the English SecretsReveal'dit is given as twenty-three. On the
other hand, in Cooper's translation of Langius' Preface to the Latin edition, the age is
given as twenty-three. Which seems to contradict the immediately preceding remark of
Lenglet du Fresnoy, who thought that Cooper's English version was the original (see the
note below). In fact, Maxime Preaud felt that Lenglet du Fresnoy had lied about having
seen the original, though it is more probable that he was working from different manuscripts.
Most likely, the original, indeed, gave Philalethes' age as twenty-three years, but was changed
in later editions {perhaps by Faustius) because it seemed much too young an age for one to
have ac~omplished the Grand Magisterium. (P.S.)
The word Ar~na most generally refers to "secrets", but here is understood as that Great
Secret 9f Nature which the alchemists sought to discover.(P.S.)
"Thus it will appear to the Adepts that I am their equal and their brother ... " The tenor of
Philalethes' Preface has much in common with the end of the Epilogue of the Book of
Twelve Treatisesof the Cosmopolite; e.g., " ... thus I have sought to show my good will to
those who know me, and to manifest to those who know this Art that I am their companion
and equal, and that I desire their acquaintance." See TheNew ChemicalLlght, part 1. (P .S.)
Number III. Following the Author's Preface, William Cooperaddresses the reader as follows:

The true Manuscript Copy, which JohnLangiusin his Preface doth so much thirst
after, is here Published for thy benefit; in which thou wilt find considerable
enlargements and explanations, wherein the Latin Translation is deficient as
witnesseth Chap. 15. &c.

However, this claim cannot be correct. In his Preface to RipleyReviv'd,Philalethes describes

his various publications as follows:

I have wrote several Treatises, some in Engl,ish, but especially in Larine;one English
Treatise touching the Stone; very plainly written, but not perfected, unfortunately
slipt out of my hand, and perhaps may come abroad into the World; if it do, I
should be very sorry. Two LatineT ractates, one intituled, Brevismanductio adRubinum

36
 Ccelestem,and another, Fons ChymiccePhilosophile, I wrote, which for especial
Reasons to me known I resolve to suppress. Two other LarineTreatises,the one
intituled, Ars MetallarumMetamarphoseus the other, Introitusapertusad occlusum
RegisPalatium,I lately wrote which perhaps thou mayest enjoy. Two English Poems
I wrote, declaring the whole Secret, which are lost. Also an Enchiridionof
Experiments, together with a Diurnal of Meditations, in which were many
Philosophical Receipts declaring the whole Secret, with an .!Enigmaannexed; which
also fell into such hands, who I conceive will never restore it. This last was written
in EngUsh,with many other which I wrote for mine own recreation, and afterwards
burned.

Philalethes thus clearly states that 'The Open Entrance .. .' was written in Latin, as the
IntroitusApertus... In addition, he makes no mention of having produced an English version.
The introduction to the Marrowof Alchemy(1654) also gives the Latin title of the text;
and, in the Expositionof Sir GeorgeRipley'sVision,Philalethes writes that he had described
the Mercury in his "little Latine Treatise, called ... lntroitus apertus ... ".
Additionally, William Newman points out that the English text is signed .tEyrenreus
Philaletha, which is "illiterate" and ungrammatical, something which seems uncharacteristic
of its author, and which suggests that Cooper's English version is a translation rather than
an original.
Finally, having carefully compared the English and Latin texts, it is clear to ~e from
internal evidence that the English version was translated from the Latin. The evidence for
this, which I have not listed here, involves numerous places in which alternatives are
given, and in which the translator seems to have mistaken a word, resulting in awkward
phrasing, &c. It is therefore very likely that the English text of the U>Oper version is a free
translation of an earlier Latin manuscript, as was common in the 17th century.
I have therefore, in revising the Cooper translation, appealed to the Latin edition; in
particular, that contained in Lenglet du Fresnoy' s Historiede la Phil.osophie Hermetiq_ue,
vol.
ii, and have retained the paragraph breaking contained therein as convenient, not only for
purposes of reference, but as a preferable presentation of this classic treatise. (P.S.)

CHAPTER I
One finds in this Chapter the definition of the Philosophers' Stone, which consists of the
radical dissolution of the gold, so as to draw from it the sulphur , and to coagulate the
Mercury of the Philosophers by means of this sulphur. And one is assured that the sulphur
of gold comprises nearly half of its weight. Thus, in one ounce of gold, which contains 576
grains, there is 288 grains of this sulphur or fermentative seed: it is necessary to draw it out
by means of the Mercury of the Philosophers, that is to say, by their dissolvent.
Number I. Sagacemqueartificem:the ancient Edition put, Sagaxqueartificum;which does
almost nothing as to the sense.
Rene Alleau observed that (digestum)literally means "cooked and digested", and felt that
Philalethes here alludes to the last "coction" of the Work and, in some way, begins his
treatise with the end of the operations.
Number II. Quod est nostrum,crudiusqueaurum, sicutspermati&c. these eight words were
missing in the ancient Editions, but are not useful in determining the sense of the author.
Rene Alleau considered that Principium,"origin, source, foundation", is equivalent here to
Semen, not to Materia.
Number III. "Of which GEBER declares: "Praised be the Most--High, ,vho hath created our
Mercury and given it a nature which overcometh all things." In the edition of Summa

37
Perfectioniscontained in Manget (vol 1, p. 519) this phrase is contained in bk III, cap vi (De
MartisEssentia):"Laudetur igitur benedictus & gloriosus Deus altissimus , qui creavit illud,
& dedit illi substantiam, & substantire proprietates, quas non contingit ullam ex rebus in
natura possidere ... " The corresponding phrase is contained in Richard Russel's translation
Of the Sum of Perfection,bk II, cap vii: "Therefore praised be the glorious and blessed Most
High GOD, who created it, and gave to the same a Substance,and the Propertiesof a
Substance,which are given to none of the Things in Nature to possess... " (P.S.)
Number IV. According to Rene Alleau, the "Philosophic Mercury" is the matter nearest
the Elixer.

CHAPTER II
In this Chapter, the Author rejects all purifications of vulgar Mercury by salts; he claims
that the true Mercury must be purified by itself, or by the metals, from which vulgar
Mercury removes the aurific virtue and the metallic part, whence is made a chaos with the
antimony. The Dragonis the Antimony, which being joined to the iron, is called the
Chalybsof the Sages.The companionsof Cadmus are the metals; for the dovesof Diana, it is
claimed that this is silver which is joined to the Regulus of antimony in double weight: the
serpentis the Mercury. The hollowof an oak are the ashes in which one sets the matrass for
the sublimation or digestion. The Nymphs are Diana and Venus, that is to say, silver and
copper.
Number I. Hoc est in factionenostr~ aq_~ requisitus(in aqua enim nostra est igneusnoster
Draco)primo omnium ignis&c. but in the Edition of Langius, and the others which have
followed it, one reads only, est nempein aq_ua nostrarequisitusprimo ignis:But our Edition
gives a most precise explanation. Rene Alleau observed that Omnium ignisimplicitly means
Rerum, and that the question here is of the "fiery principle '' .
Number II. Rene Alleau noted that excernatusliterally means "sifted, strained, filtered".
The word Chalybscan also be translated as "Steel". But it is clear that Philalethes intends
something other than ordinary steel, when he writes: "They call this Chaos our Arsenic,
our Air, our Mo.on, our Magnet, and our Chalybs, but in ,each case under a different
aspect.'' Later he makes it clear that it is the tendency of Steel to be attracted by the
Magnet that symbolizes a particular aspect of the matter. (P.S.)
Number III. Rene Alleau felt that Philalethes is here playing upon the double sense of the
verb inficere,"to dye" and "to instruct". Literally: "to whom he gives a tincture."

CHAPTER III
This Chapter is used to teach the manner in which the regulus martial and star of Antimony
should be made, which is said to be the Key of the Philosophical work.
Number I. There is some controversy over the identity of the true author of the treatise
Novum lumen chymicum, attributed to Sendivogius (Prague, 1604). Many feel that it was in
part authored by Alexander Seton, also known as "the C-osmopolite". (P.S.)
Number II. PerOrientemannunciatur.But the ordinary Editions put, perOrientemin Horizonte
Hemispheriisui Phospharumannunciatur,which is unintelligible .
By Lenglet du Fresnoy' s account Oust above) the phrase which I have translated as " ...whereby
the nativity was philosophically announced along the Horizon of the Eastern Hemisphere"
(as in the version contained in the MusreumHermeticum) should instead read " ... whereby
the nativity was philosophically announced in the East". (P.S.)
VideruntSapientesin Oriente,& obstupuerunt.The other Editions indicated, videruntsapientes
in Evo Magi, or else videruntsapientesin Eoe Magi, which had tormented the Philosophers.
I have restored it according to the English Edition, in which one sees that the Author

38
makes an allegory between the regulus star of Antimony and the star that appeared to the
Mages in the East, at the birth of the Messiah, vidimusstellamejus in Oriente &c.
Number III. Stellam,conforms to the English Edition, which is the rest of the same allegory;
instead of the others which read Astra.

CHAPTER IV
In this Chapter I the Author designates Antimony by the word Magnet, which attracts the
chalybs, and that is in this way that one animates the Mercury.
Number II. Stellt:e.The ancient Editions put Astri; this is still the same allegory as in
Chapter III. "Navigating upon this vast sea, that it may arrive at both the Indies .•." Probably
the West Indies and the East Indies. The West is the point of the Sunset, symbolic of
Death, or the dissolution of Gold. The East is the point of the Sunrise, symbolic of Light
from Darkness, or Resurrection. Both are essential to the successful outcome of the Work.
Philalethes appears to have borrowed this symbolism from paragraph 56 of the Hermetic
Arcanum. He refers to this in cap. VITI, #III and cap. X, #II.
"Whosoever is minded to obtain the Philosopher 's Stone, let him resolve to take a long
peregrination, for it is necessary that he go to see both Indies, that from thence he bring the
most precious gems and the purest gold." {See also cap. XXI, verse V.) {P.S.)
Number III. I.e., the Pole Star which our Magnet manifests. Philalethes thus symbolizes
the manifestation of the Sign, which appe.ars on the surface of the solvent Mercury, with
the natural orientation of a compass needle toward the Pole Star. It was, in fact, long
believed, that the pole star itself attracted the compass needle. This was disproven on the
voyage of Columbus. Upon reaching the Sargasso Sea, it was observed that the compass
needle was off by several degrees. This observation, among others, convinced many of the
sailors that they were in a region where even the forces of nature ceased to function properly.
But Columbus correctly deduced that the compass needle was instead drawn by something
else.(P .S.)

CHAPTERV
The Chaos of the Sages, of which the Author speaks in this Chapter, is the martial Regulus,
to which he gives the name of Earth, and the Mercury which he calls Heaven, and in
which the luminaries of the Heavens revolve; namely, the Sun and the Moon, or gold,
silver, Mars and the other metals, which are penetrated by the Mercury, which becomes
animated by this operation.
Number I. Et tenebrc.e erantsuperfacieAbyssi;all this is missing in the other Editions; but it
is not of great consequence.
Number II. Ac amoris,is also missing in the other Editions.
According to Rene Alleau, Peruniversamvitam signifies equally "by the universal life", that
is "by means" of the vital universal Spirit.
Number III. Sincere,vel, these two words are likewise missing in the other Editions.
Vir, is missing in the other Editions.
" ... irradiating by its beaming light the Earth to its very surface. What Mage is so wise as to
infer from this that a new King has been born ... " This is the "Sign" or visible "Imprint of
the Almighty". {P.S.)
" ... who will redeem his brothers of their Original Defilement ... " A reference to
transmutation. (P.S.)

CHAPTER VI
This Chapter, which is important, concerns the purification and the animation of the

39
Mercury, in order to make from it the Mercury of the Sages.
Number I. This number makes reference to the creation as described in Genesis, in which
the "waters were separated from the waters ... " by the firmament. Having compared the
blue of the sky to the vast oceans, and having observed water apparently falling from the
heavens as rain, ancient observers supposed that the "great lights" (the Sun and Moon) and
the lesser lights (the Stars) revolved in an air filled void between the external waters and
the terrestrial oceans . Hence the creation myth in which the waters were parted and a void
formed between them. (P.S.)
According to Rene Alleau, Systemamust here be understood in the musicalsense of this
expression and not ·in the philosophic sense.
" ...But those which are enclosed within flee our sight." Philalethes here compares the
"mineral waters" which issue from the "center" of some stones with the terrestrial water of
oceans and lakes. Similarly, he compares the distant extracentral waters (those above the
firmament) with those mineral waters locked within the stone. By analogy, it is the "Air of
the Sages" which keeps these separate. (P.S.)
Number II. "These are the waters of which the Author of the New light speaks; which
exist, but do not appear until it please the Artist. " This refers to the Epilogueof the Bookof
Twelve Treatises:"You must take that which is, but which is not seen, until it pleases the
Operator ... " See The New Chemicallight, part 1. (P.S.)
Number III. "... the pure flies away from the fire under the form of a dry powder." This
means that the Chaos retreats from the fire into the interior of the earth. (P.S.)
Number IV. Qiue sine alis volitantes,reperuesunt in nemoribusNymplue Veneris. I have
restored these words out of the Original English: they are missi~ in the other Editions.
Aquas polaresdesupersed, non fretoribusstupefactas.In place of these seven words, there was
only one in the ancient Editions, which is Perole.dos, which is difficult to understand.
Number V. " ...you must await the generation of the supernatural son of the Sun ... " This
phrase appears to have been drawn from Sendivogius' Bookof TwelveTrea~es, in which
the title of Treatise X reads: "Of the Supernatural Generation of the Son of the Sun."
(P.S.)

CHAPTER VII
In this Chapter, the Author indicates the double animation of the Mercury by the martial
Regulus and the Doves of Diana. That is to say; as Becher explains it, by two parts of Luna
or of silver to one part of Regulus; which one must carefully grind, wash and distill.
Number Ill. Vel igneforti, is missing in all the anterior Editions.
Number V. Vel pavoreaqiue, is missing likewise in the other Editions.
Number VI. Si arte VenerisNymplue sunt applicaue;is missing in the other Editions .

CHAPTER VIII
This Chapter treats of the difficulties that are found in rightly purifying the Mercury.
Number II. Nee sanelabortamfacilis,ut luduspotius,seu anim.irecreamentumcensendussit, &
ad vota det id quod tantopereexpetimus,imo &c. Now here is the manner in which this
sentence was translated in the ancient Editions; Nee sane laborfacil.is(qui luduspotius,seu
animirecreamentumcensendusest)id quod tantopereexpetimus,advota sua dabit,imo &c. But
the English Edition, that I have followed, is much better.
Enim, instead of this word the ancient Editions put Pura.
Sumptibusveronon parciunt.This is the same way as the English Edition reads, whereas the
other Editions indicated the reverse, in saying, nee sumptuspatiuntur.
"as Hermes saith: 'neither life nor labour is to be spared' ... " This appears to be from the

40
TractlltusAureus de LapidisPhysiciSecreto(Gal.denTreatiseof thePhysicalSecretof the Stone),
Chapter1, paragraphI. (P.S.)
Number III. "Author of the HermeticArcanum." Arcanum HermetiaePhilosophuE Opus, a
treatise attributed to Jean d'Espagnet. (P.S.)
Number V. Quern Bernard.usTrevisanussuum fontem appellat. These six words are missing in
the other Editions. (Missing, for instance, in the Musteum Hermeticum.(P .S.))

CHAPTER X
This Chapter shows what the effect is of the animated Mercury, or Mercury of the Sages.
Number I. Vel dispositum;is missing in the others.
Number III. Calid, is missing in the other Editions.
Number II. Lunarrt4ue, the other Editions put Eurrt4ue,which is not as good.
Number III. Externo, is missing in the other Editions.
Number IV. Mercuriusest hie,the other Editions put Sulphurhocest.

CHAPTER XI
This Chapter contains · the conjectures of Philalethes upon the manner in which the
Philosophic Mercury is found: he only begins to be instructive at number IX, and what he
says afterwards is very useful to the Artist.
Number I. " ... hyssop" In the Bible, the hyS.50pwas a plant, the twigs of which were used in
ceremonial sprinklings. " ... and the pellitory" A Pyrethrumof Southern Europe used in
medicine for certain skin disorders. (P.S.)
Number IV. Interiore,this word is not in other Editions.
Number VI. Sulphur,is missing in the other editions.
"thuslifereceiveslife."According to Rene Alleau, this axiom of Philalethes constitutes the
true key of the Great Work and its fundamental operations.

CHAPTER XII
This Chapter serves as a preliminary for the subsequent Chapters, which are most important.
Number I. Ex digestocorpore;this latter word is missing in the other Editions.

CHAPTER XIII
In the first twelve articles of this chapter, Philalethes makes reflections and lamentations
upon his situation; he does not become more instructive for the Artist, until article XIII.It
is therefore at this article that the Author begins to explain the Philosophical sulphur,
which is drawn out of the gold of the Sages. In article XXIV he shows the necessity of
exactly purging the true Mercury. But in article XXX the Author recommences his moral
reflections, of which he seems pervaded.
Number III. Ac nutriuntur. This is the same way as is conveyed in the English Edition,
instead of the others which put ac educantur.
Number XIV. Sine latanesuo, vel. Latone, vel are missing in the other Editions.
Number XV. "Hence the noble Sendivogius saith: ... " This quotation is from the Preface
of Sendivogius' TreatiseOf Sulphur.(P.S.)
Number XVI. Ac vivificatum&c. up to the end of this number: instead of what is read in the
ancient Editions, in aquasoldnostraest reducibile& tune vivum est granumnostrum.
Number XVII. Sed cum aquanostramixtum, Philosophicum est. all this is missing in the other
Editions.

41
Number XX. Vive fit semen auri;instead of these words, one reads in the ancient Editions,
vivefit Aurum mortuum.
Number XX.III. Solem in eo absconditumextrahe:re
&c. is missing in the ancient Editions.
Et in quantum cum Mercuriounitur, in tantum capaxredditurad igniresistendum;this entire
sentence is missing in the other Editions.
Number XX.IV. Cum ibinon est vivum agensthis is missing in the other Editions.
Number XXV. Nostervero Mercuriusest animavivens, ac viuificans: instead of these words,
one reads in the ancient Editions, nostervero Mercuriusnon est talis.
Number XX.VI. Scepequemanibuspropriisperforma.vi; qucescioscribo,sednon vobis.all this is
missing in the other Editions.
Number XXIX. The coming of EliasArtistaseems to have originated with Paracelsus. In his Book
on theTinctureof thePhilosophers, he wrote: "There are still many more of these arcana which
exhibit transmutations, though they are known to few. And although these may by the Lord
God be made manifest to anyone, still, the rumour of this Art does not on that account at once
break forth, but the Almighty gives therewith the understanding how to conceal these and other
like arts even to the coming of Elias the Artist,at which time there shall be nothing so occult that
it shall not be revealed." (TheHermetic& Alchemical, Writingsof Paracelsus
, i. p. 27 .) But beneath
the millenialistic overtones, Elias is alsoa symbol for the coming of the Philosopher's Stone, with
its spiritual and psychic properties. (P .S.)
Number XXX. QuarevituUinstaraurei.The ancient F.ditions put; Quareserpentis instarAhenei.
Number XX.XI. Quod postpaucosannospecuniaerit sicutscoria;instead of which one reads in
the other Editions, Quod post paucosannospecus eritpecunia,fulcrumque&c.
Number XXXII. Insidiasin vitam nostram stTuctasampliusnon timebimus:instead of which
one reads in the other Editions, nee ampliustimebimus.

CHAPTER XN
This Chapter warns the Artist to not take too close to the letter what the Author there
indicates concerning the Solar Sulphur and the Mercury of the Sages. Here now are the
differences that are found between this Edition and the precedents .
Number I. Solem aurum esse, sine ulla ambiguitate,ac dubitatione, neque metapharice,sed in
vero sensu Philosophicointelligi,debereostendimus;Mercurium&c. Nearly all these words are
missing in the other editions, wherein is read only the following, solum aurum sine ulla
metapharaostendimus;Mercurius&c.
Number II. Et clavemesse, are missing in the other Editions.
Number III. Cujus prcecipuusnodus est &c. up to directurusadsit, all these words, which are
very important, are missing in the other Editions.
Number IV. Aqua!,is missing in the other Editions.

XV
CHAPTER
This Chapter treats of the quality and of the purification of the gold, which must be employed in
the work, and I suspect that that of which Phila1ethes speaksin numberII and which has served
him,is drawn out of the stone of Emery, calcined and placed in aqua regia. But in number III the
Author begins to treat of the purification and sublimation of the Mercury of the Sages. And the
rest of this Chapter must be considered by the intelligent Artist.
Number I. Cimentum Regale,the other Editions put only Cineritium.(fhe Cooper edition
translates this as "Royal cement". (P .S.))
Number II. Aurum nostTum&c. All of this number is completely missing in the ancient
Editions, and I believe that there he is still speaking of the gold drawn out of the stone of
Emery .

42
Number III. Hoc sulphur&c. up to the words ejectas,abluendas&c. of Number V, all this
discourse, which is important and extensive enough, is missing in all the other Editions; in
lieu of which one reads only: At insuperaccidentalem poscitmundationem,ad extemassardes
a centroejectas,abluendas&c. which does not explain the thought of Philalethes with as
much detail, as what we have put according to the English Edition.
Number VI. Hoc ter aut amplius &c. The ancient Edition puts only, hocquater reitera&c.
"Sceria of Mars" alternatively, read "Dross of Mars". (P.S.)
Number VII. " ... chalybeate" Containing iron salts. (P .S.)
Number VIII. RecipehuncMercurium,Aquil.is septemaut novemprt.eparatum;amalgamailludcum
&c. Instead of these words, the ancient Edition puts only; Mercuriumamalgama cum &c.

CHAPTER XVI
An important Chapter in order to begin to labour at the conjunction of the Philosophical
gold and the Mercury of the Sages. In this Chapter there are very few differences between
the English Edition and the Latin Editions.
Number 1. "·... I myself use a pestle of white coral only." Note that "white coral" is sometimes
taken as symbolic of the White Stone, and that the Mortar and pestle may be symbolic of
the dissolvent Mercury. (P.S.) ·
Number VI. Propriisui ponde:ris; these three words are missing in the other Editions.

XVII
CHAPTER
One sees in this Chapter something important, which is, that the Mercury of bodies, even
perfect, is not more useful to the Hermetic Work, than vulgar Mercury. Thus one· fatigues
himself needlessly in seeking it.
Number I. Vel spitamte,vel decemdigitorum.These words are missing in the other Editions.
Number II. " ... and this proportion is exquisite." The Cooper version adds the clarification
that the first proportion is two to one, while the second is three to one; i.e., l&l/2 ounces
of Mercury to one of gold, which adds to two ounces total. (P.S.)
Number III. Vel triumflorenorum,are also missing in the ancient Editions.
Number IV. " ... all which may be bought for a great price, will be found to be false in our
Work." Many of the oldest Philosophers agree with this. Alphidius, for instance: "Know
this, that God hath not ordained this stone of which this great secret entreateth to be
bought for a great price, for it is found out being cast in the way, and may as well be had of
a poor man as of a rich man, that every man may come unto it by reason and knowledge. "
Number V. Summopereindagatus&c. These words up to the end of this number, are missing
in the other Editions.
Number VI. Corpare,nostraVeneris& Diantesobole&c. These words and the following up
to the end of the Chapter, are missing in the other Editions, to the place at which one
reads; Corpore,£erenostro,nempeaura,nunquamulla tincturahaberipotest,estq_ue lapisnoster
ex uno laterevilis,immaturus,volatilis;ex al.teroperfectus,pretiosus& fixus. Qute dute species
sunt carpus,aurum & spiritus,nempeargentumvivum.

CHAPTER XVIII
This Chapter, which is important and extensive enough, speaks not only of the Philosophical
gold, but further of the Furnace or Athanor of the Sages. This entire Chapter, which in our
Edition is very different from the others, must be exactly considered by the industrious
Artist.
Number II. Messisprcetertemporisamissionem,dispenJium,ac la.harem colliges:
in lieu of these
words, one reads in the ancient Editions only, messisprceterdisperulium coUiges.
43
Ibidem. Unum vulgoVenale&c. up to the end of the Chapter: accordingly in place of these
words and of all that follow, this is what the other Editions put: Unum verude,
alterumarte
fabricandum; sdas Mercuriumnostrumde se aurum dare,quad si non noris,quodsit Secretorum
nostrarumsubjectum,oportetut proSolevulgarivendas;estq_ue in omniexamineSol terUS, acproinde
venaiis est, id est, vendipotest,cuivissinescrupulo. nosterest vul.go
Solproiru:le venalis,at non vulgo
emendus, quiaut nostersit, nostrd opusest art:e.Possisin Sole,Lunaquevulgaribus Solemnostrum
reperire; egoipsein hisquc;e ...siviacreperi.At haudopusestfacil.e. negotiolapi.s
I..eviori ipsefaciendusest,
quamlapidis proximammateriamin aurovulgariter emendoinvenies.Quareaurumnostrumestlapides
nostrimateriaproxima,aurumvulgipropinqua,aeterametallaremota,eaquequa non sunt metallica,
remotissima, sivepotiusaliena.Quia aurumnostrumestChaos;cujusanimaperignemnon fugataest.
Aurum vulgiest,cujusanima,ut abigneaVulcaniTyrannidesit tut.a, in arcemclausamserecepit.Sed
si aurumnostrumqw:erisin re media,interperfectum& imperfectum, qum-e& invenies:sin minus,
repagu}a aurivulgari.s solve,qw:ediciturpr~paratio prima,quaincantamentum carporisejussolvitur,sine
quoopusMaritine.q_uit perficere. Siprioremwmingressus fueris,
ignebenigni.ssimo procedere teneris; sin
posteriorem, toniditum Vulcanioperamimplorare debes.Talem,puta, ignemadhibere oport:et,qualemin
multiplicatione subministramus, dumrorporalis Solis,LauevevulgiElixiriperficiendo profermentoadhibetur.
H'icsane labyrinthus erit,nisite quomodoextrices, noris.In quolibettamen progressu calorecequali
i:ndi.ges
ac continuo,sivein Solevulgari,sivenostrooperatus fueris.
Utrumquesdas,quodSol nosterdabittibi
opusaut temismensibusdtius perfectum,quamaurum vulgi,eriuJ.ue Elixirin prima suaperfecdone
virtutismillenaris, quodin alteroaperevix Centenarueerit.Insupersi opusSolenostroperfeceris, opartet
te illumcibare, inbibere,fermentare, &c.quibusvisejuscrescetin immensum;in alioveroopereopartet
te illumilluminare acincerare, ut abundein RosarioMagnodocetur.Pr~terea si in Solenostrooperatus
fueris, possi.s calcinare, putrefacere,ac albifacere, ignebenignointrinseco adjuvante,cum teporerorido
extra administrato. Cum Solevulgisioperatus fueris,sublimando acbul1iendo aptanda suntmateriala, ut
posteailiacum virginisUJCte unirevaleas. Utcumquetamen progressum feceris,nil tamen citraignem
ullatenuspoterisefficere.Quarenon gratisHermesveriaicus ignem Soli.,Luruequeproximumoperis
gubemat.arem statuit.Hunc tamendefurnonostroveresecretoint.elligi vellem,querncxul,usvidgaris vidit
nunquam. Est tamen & aliusfumus, querncommunemappellamus, quiaut lateritius,aut ex lut.ofiguli,
erit conflatus,aut ex lamellis ferreis,/Eneisquelut.obenelaricatis. Hunc sumum Athanorappellamus,
cujusformamihimagisarridens turns r_

cum nido.Quareestoturris triumeirciter pedumaltitudini.s, lata

novemdigitos, seuspitamam rommunem;postsol.earn, stratumvefundamentale estoostiolum proexpurgandis
cineribus triumquatuorve digitorum, undiquaq_uecumlapideadaptato, supraquodstatim craticulastatuatur;
pauloa cratesuepme foraminasunto bina,dumum circiterdigitorum,perqua calorin appositum
Athanoremittatur.Cceterumestoturrisexaae arimisclausa;supemeveroimmittendisuntcarbonesqui
accensi primiJ,deinaliiinjiciantur, tum demumose.xact:e obturetur.Talifumn opusproanimivotopossi.s
camplere. c~terumsicuriosus fueris,aliam,atq_uealiamviamreperire ignemdebitumadmini.strandi.
possi.s
FiatergoAthanorin huncma:lum,ut in eopostimpositam materiam,sinevitri amotione quemviscaloris
gradumadhibere possis,provoto,acaloreFebrili adignemusquereverberii minoris,inqueintensissimo suo
graduperse duretperhorasadminusdecernaut duodecim.Tum patet tibioperisjan:ua.Verumcum
lapide jam potituses, possisutilius fumum partatilemconfingere, quia minori tempareac benigniare
naturceignelapissemelfactusmultiplicatur .
Number VIII. "It was not then in vain that the veridical Hermes,next to the Father Sun,
and Mother Moon, establishes fire as the third and next governor of the whole ... " This
reference was inspired by the EmeraldTablet,precept IV. But it was apparently taken from
the ViridariumChymicum(1624) of Daniel Stolcius, wherein he interprets a plate depicting
Hermes Trismegistus: " ... The Father of the Martial Union is the Sun; The Moon is the
Mother thereof. The third that directs it all must be the Fire."
Number IX. " ... which is our Henri--le...Lent," Rene Alleau noted that the Henr'icusLentusis
sometimes called Henr'icusPiger,or "Henri ...le...Paresseux".

44
 CHAPTER XIX
This Chapter is not less important than the preceding; but the Author, beyond the extended
and common way, insinuates therein of yet another, more abridged, way, but which •
he
does not detail; this latter is done with the double Philosophic Mercury, and thusly the
work is accomplished in eight days, instead of the nearly eighteen months required for the
first way. This Chapter is filled with a large number of essential differences which now
follow.
Number I. " ... within forty days you will see the entire matter turned into a shadow ... " This
agrees with other Authors, e.g., Synesius: "And this blackness appears S9metimes in forty
dayes ... " (See The True Bookof Synesius.)(P.S.)
Number II. Sin autem Solisnostriinven#onemnondumin latitudine sua noveris,at Mercuriinostri
sdentiamesaaeptus, & quando prapxrationeaptandus estrorporiperfeao,quodestmysteriummagnum;
tum capeSoliswlgipartem unam benepurificatam, & Mercurii nostriprimoilluminati partestres&c.
Instead of this sentence, this iswhat isput in the ancient Editions: Sinautem mysteriumSolisnostri
nondumin latitudine suanoveris,& Mercuriinostriscientiames adeptus, tum cape Solisvulgipartem
unam benepurificatum& Merruriinostrisum.meluddipartestres&c.
Ibidem. Circuletur sineintermissione&c. These last two words are missing in the ancient Editions.
Ibidem. Etvidebis in hacoperatione Solemtuum vulgaremcanversumin Solemnostrum&c. Instead of
which the ancient Editions put: & videbis Solemvulgi.perMercuriumnostrumcanversumin Solem
nostrum&c.
Nwnber III. Lapidem,sedtantum&c. up to these words: Propauperibus
~
rontemptis,&c. In lieu of all
the words of these five lines, one reads the following in the other Editions, lapidem,at ejusveram
materiam,quampossisin re imperfectaintraseptimanam estvia rwstra,facilis
& reperire.H<£C
qiu;erere
& rara,& reserwvithancDeuspropauperibus & cantemptis&c.
" ... tincture." that which tinges metals. (P .S.)
Number V. Dicoergo,quodutraq_ue viaestvera&c. up to the end of number VIII. Instead of these
rn10 pages, one reads in the ancient Editions what follows: Dicoergoquodutraqueviaestvera,quia
viaest tantumunain fine, at nan in principio,quiatotumestin Meratrionostro & Solenostro.Mercurius
nosterestvianostra,& sineeonihilfiet. Solquoquenosternon est aunmi wl.gi& Ulmen in eo est.Et si
operatusfuerisin Mercurionostrocum auravulgi,regiminedebito, ex iiscentum& quinquagint;a diebus
habebis au.rumnostrum,quiaSolnosterest ex Meratrionostro.QuaresiaurumvulgifueritperMercurium
nostrumin elementa sua disgregatum, iterumquet;anjunctum,t.ota mixturaignisbeneficio erit aurum
nostrum,quodaurumsi deinde perMercuriumiterau,decoqUlltUr, dabitprocerto omniasignadescripta
a Phil.osophis tali igne,qualiipsiscripse:runt.Jam verosi decoctioni Sdis vulgi,ut ut purissimi,cum
Mercurionostroregimenlapidisaahibueris, in errorisvia esprocerto:& hismagnusesti1lelabyrinthus in
quotyranesfereomnesluerent,quiaPhilosophi in librissuisdeutraq_ue
via scribunt,qu<-e
reveranon sunt
nisi via una, nisiquoduna sitdirecta magisquamaltera.
" ... same road at the end," Rene Alleau observed that Philalethes here makes allusion to
the last stage of the Work; the vulgar gold is then utilized in the preparation of the "metallic
medicine" or "Powder of projection", which is only one of the physico.-chemical applications
of the "Philosophers' Stone" or "universal medicine".
Number VIII. " ... direct than the other." Rene Alleau observed that the "short Road" or
"Work of Saturn" or '.'dry Road" has never been taught clearly by any Adept. In return,
certain descriptions of the "long Road" or 11humid Road~' relate it by analogy. In particular,
those of Philalethes.
Number IX. Aliquando,is missing in the other Editions.
Number XI. Reperiendus,is missing in the other Editions.
Ibidem. lwc in Solisvulgi,&c. until these words, hocest aurum nostrum &c. in lieu of which
one reads in the other Editions, tu hoc in Sole vulgi immediatenon invenies,at ex illo per

45
Mercuriumnostrum,digerendoper diescentum & quinquagintainveniesveramhanc,eamdemque
•
materzam, quceest aurum nostrum.
Number XII. Velfart.eduorum annorum;these four words are mj~ing in the ancient Editions.
Ibidem; commendotamen omnibusingeniosisfaciliarum&c. instead of these words, one reads
in the ancient Editions; laudotamenfaciliorum&c.
Number XV. Cave ut Diante,Venerisquematrimoniumproruresin prindpi.onuptiarumMercurii
tui, deindenidoimpane&c. instead of these words, one reads in the ancient Editions, caveut
Venerisconnubiasollicitecompares,deindethorosuo impone&c.
Ibidem, towards the end. Et hoc cum dulceprocessu;in igneenim ac vento Deus non erat, sed
tanquam wee Eliamcompellavit&c. instead of these words, one reads in the other Editions,
& hoc nutu Dei in aura leni, qui voce tacitaEliam compellavit&c.
" ... Elias." According to Rene Alleau, Philalethes here alludes to the divine revelation
without which the "secret fire" of the Great Work cannot be discovered through the sole
agency of human reason nor, less still, through vulgar chemistry.
Number XVI. Tum omnia tua arcanaex unica imagineemergent,quod &c. instead of which
this is what one reads in the ancient Editions, tum ex una re opus perficies,quod&c.
Number XVII. Quibusrelationibustriplexdoctrinasua propartionumconcordat,ubi est mysticus
valde&c. instead of these words, one only reads in the ancient Editions; atqueita intelligendus
est. In Doctrinii.proportionumsuarum obscurusvalde&c.
" ... apply to three operations." Rene Alleau understood these as referring to the three parts
of the Great Work, narrowly enchained by the "Thread of Ariadne" thanks to which
Theseus never lost his way through the labyrinth.
Number XIX.In Solevulgi,,Mercurioquenostro &c. instead of which one reads in the other
Editions in Solepurgatocum Mercurionostro &c.
Number XX. Potensad implendumpossessoremdivitiisacsanitate.Instead of these words, one
reads in the ancient Editions, potens tam ad opes,quam adsanitatem.
Number XXI. TemporeSolem & Lunam nostramparabis. One reads in the other Editions,
temporeidemparabis.
Ibidem; Nam ·sub fide bonajuro, quodin aliisrebus verum omninodetexi &c. instead of these
I

words; one reads in the vulgar Editions: Nam sub fide bonajuro, quodverum detexerim.
"If the fates thee call." This phrase was offset by Cooper, but not in the original Latin
edition. According to Rene Alleau, the phrase Si te fata vocant, is a symbolically illustrated
motto from the seventh ceiling compartment of the hermetic emblems of the chateau of
Dampierre. (Cf. Fulcanelli, Les DemeuresPhilosophales, p .. 252.) This motto seems to have
been common i the ancient world, appearing for instance in the phrase:
Site fata vocant, aliasnan viribusullis,
Neque etiamduropoterisconuellereferro. -Virgil. (P.S.)
Number XXII. Accipe ergo &c. up to the end of the Chapter; instead of in the ancient
Editions [where] one reads: in Mercurio quern descripsiac Sole purissimovulgi,laboraveris,
debitoq_ueigneSolemnostrum inveniesintra mensesseptem,aut novem ad summum, Lunamque
nostram intra mensesquinque. Et hi sunt veri terminiad complendasulphuraluec, ~ si tum
lapidesnostros,adhucerras.At ex hisreiteratolabore,cum igne saltemsensibili,verum
credi.deris
Elixiremhabebis,& hoctotum intra annum cum dimulio,DEo dante, cui gloriain secul.um.

CHAPTERXX
Since Philalethes declares that he could not reveal the abridged way, he begins in this
Chapter to reveal the longer practice.
Number II. "Wherefore saith the Philosopher: 'Take the Corascene Dog and the Armenian
bitch, join them together, join them together, and they shall beget thee a son of the colour

46
of heaven' ... " This is from the liber SecretorumArtis (Book of the Secrets of Alchemy) by
Calid, son of Jazich: " ... take the dog Corascene,& the bitch of Armenia,put them together,
and they shall bring a dog of the colour of heaven ... " {Chapter VIII) (P.S.)
" ... like unto the spume of the sea ... " Alternative reading: "foam of the sea." {P.S.)
Number Ill. Sit igi,tursanete cognoscere velleregi,men,accipelapidem&c. instead of which one
reads in the ancient Editions: cognitoautem regi,mine,arripe lapidem&c.

CHAPTER XXI
This Chapter is important for the regime of fire: but there is no difference between our
Edition and the ancients.
Number V. " ... navigate your ship between Scylla and Charybdislike a skillful Pilot ... "
Scylla is a rock at the entrance to the Straits of Messina, between Sicily and Italy, opposite
to Charybdis, which is a dangerous whirlpool in the midst of the narrow channel. Many an
ancient mariner and ship was lost in seeking passage through this channel to or from the
open sea-if not by the one, then by the other. In essence, the fire must be neither too
strong, nor too weak. {P.S.)
" ...if you would gather the wealth of both Indies." See the note for Chapter N, Number II.
Number VI. "Indeed the earth, eager to germinate, will always be producing something ... "
Potentially, this unstable, chaotic state of the matter, can give rise to nearly anything, as it
is itself undetermined, and hence presents no certain aspect. {P.S.)

CHAPTER XXII
This Chapter concerns the abridged way, which is done by the Saturn of the Sages, or
Antimony disposed so as to make the matter aurific.
Number I. Quidam sic adauctinimia confidentia,quamvisparvoemolumentoin plumbo sunt
operati.Such is our new Edition, instead of which the others put, Quidam hinc abductiin
plumbo,spemaxima, at fructu nimimo,sunt operati.
Number II. Clavis operistransmutationis.Instead of which the anc ient Editions put clavis
nummorumartis.

CHAPTER XXIII
This Chapter and the following deal with all the rest -of the operation of the Hermetic
Science, as well as the colors which appear, and indicate what no other philosopher had
explained before Philalethes.
Number II. Nos idemfecisse,quamvisvisifuerimusloquidegradu caloris,
uimen &c. Instead of these
words, the ancient Editions have the following: nos fu taalrn · idemfecisse,tamen &c.
There are no differences in Chapter XXN and the following up to the XXXe.

CHAPTER XXIV
Number I. " ... which no Sage has ever spoken;" According to Rene Alleau, this critique of
Philalethes is justified from the reading of the most celebrated treatises of the Adepts, in
which the long, preliminary effort of the "first work" is passed over entirely in silence.
Number II. " ... if the Fates thee call." See the note for cap. XIX, #XXI.{P.S.)

CHAPTER XXV
Number III. " ...from the centre it shall ascend unto the Heavens, and again from the Heavens it
shall descend to the centre, and it shall receive the strength of that which is above, and that
which is below." A variation on precepts VIII and IX of the EmeraldTable.{P.S.)

47
 XXX
CHAPTER
Number II. Postquatuardecim aut quindeeimdierum&c. Instead of which the ancient Editions
put, post duodecimaut quatuardecimdierum&c.
" ... yet it will be wholly carried within the belly of the wind." A variation on precept V. of
the EmeraldTableof Hennes. (P.S.)
Number III. A more literal reading: "But in the end, at the will of Goo, a light shall
irradiate thy matter, which thou canst not imagine .•. " (P.S.)

CHAPTER XXXI
Number III." ... then pour it out into a receiver ... " Other translations put "Ingot" or "ingot--
mould" for receiver. (P.S.)

CHAPTER XXXII
Number N. Quod jam unam quartampartem&c. up to & hacproportione; instead of which
the ancient Editions put, Quodjam quartamunam partem coagulavit;at respectusulph.uris
ante
imbibitionemprimam,quaexsiccataadderespectutriumpartiumsulphuris,primoanteimbibitionem
primamlibratarum& hacpropartione&c.

CHAPTER XXXIII
Number III. Si modoin operereiteratamultiplicationi
procedas;instead of which one reads in
the other Editions: Si modoin hocopereperseveraveris.

CHAPTERXXXV
Number I. Nisi ut tutus ab omnibusfraudulentis,ac dolosismoninibus,Deo sine distractione
servirepossit;vana autem res essetpompa exteriorevulgaremauram anhelare&c. instead of
these words one reads in the other Editions, nisiut tutus ab omni malafraude& dolo,DEO suo
jugiterservirepossit,vanumautem,imoomniumvanissimumerit, pompii.vulgaremauramanhelare.
Number II. Qui longepopulariadmirati.one est di.gnior;
these words are missing in the other
Editions •
.
Ibidem. Ita ut si homo,puta Adeptum, omniaqiu;eimperfectasunt &c. instead of these words
one reads in the ancient Editions, ita ut omnia imperfectaqiu;esunt &c.
Ibidem. Terrio ac tandemuniversalem,medicinamtam ad vita prolongationem.Sit unus &c.
instead of which one reads in the other Editions, tertio ac tandem universalemomnium
morborummedicinamhabet,sic ut unus &c.
"... if he should live a thousand years, and each day provide for a thousand thousand
11
men ... Compare with the RosariumPhilosopharum: "He who shall bring this Art to a full
end, if he should live a thousand years, and should every day nourish four thousand men,
yet he should never want." (Attributed to Geber and Hermes - P .S.)
Number Ill. Inenarrabilia,ac thesaurosiruestimabiles. These four words are missing in the
other Editions.
Number V. This entire number is missing in the other Editions.
" ... birth, citizen of the World." Rene Alleau observed that the first words of this celebrated
treatise are Adepto me and the last, natu Angl,icum,habitationeCosmopol,itam. The mystery
which surrounds the true personage of Eirenaeus Philalethes allows some comparison with
the enigma posed by the life, death and works of one of his contemporaries, an Adept, of
English or Scottish origin known under the psuedonym of the Cosm.opolite, Alexander
Seton.