P. Allen ~
A Christian Rosenkreutz Anthology
Anonymous ~
The Allegory of Merlin
Anon. ~
On the Philosophers' Stone
Anon. ~
Rosarium Philosophorum
Anon. ~
Untitled
S. Bacstrom ~
The Work of Pontanus, According to
Mr. F.
D. Beuther ~
The Transmutation of Base
Metals...
P. Bonus ~
The New Pearl of Great Price
Cyliani ~
Hermes Unveiled
A. Eleazar ~
The Book of Abraham the Jew
B. Figulus ~
A Golden and Blessed Casket of
Nature's Marvels
Fulcanelli ~
The Mystery of the Cathedrals
Fulcanelli ~
The Dwelling of the Philosophers
J. Grashof ~
The Greater & Lesser Edifyer
C. Grummet ~
Sanguis Naturae
J. Helvetius ~
The Golden Calf
J. I. Hollandus ~
De Lapide Philosophorum
J. I. Hollandus ~
Vegetable Work
K. Jnana ~
Dictionary of Alchemical
Philosophy
N. LeFebre ~
Secret of Secrets
R. Lully ~
Letter or Epitome to King Rupert
J. Muller ~
Hyle and Coahyl
Myriam ~
Her Conversation with Aros, King
of Egypt
Paracelsus ~
The Philosophical Canons
Eir. Philalethes ~
An Open Entrance to the Closed
Palace of the King
Eir. Philalethes
~ Ripley Revived
Eug. Philalethes ~
A Short Enquiry Concerning the
Hermetic Art
G. Ripley ~
Medulla Alchemiae
M. Rulandus
~ A Lexicon of Alchemy
S. Salztal ~
Fountain of Philosophical Salts
Theophrastus ~
The Sacred Art
Arnold de Villanova ~
Rosarium Philosophorum
The
Philosophers' Stone can be prepared in two general
ways: "wet" (solutions) and "dry" (fusions). Much has
been written about the wet way; it is long, dangerous,
tedious and expensive. The Short, Dry, or Royal Path,
the Ars Brevis, is little known, having been mentioned
only a few times in the literature of Alchemy. It can be
quick, simple and easy, but it is also very dangerous
and difficult to control. Here are most of the explicit
references to the subject:
Paul M.
Allen ~ A Christian Rosenkreutz Anthology
And thereupon
followeth the mixture, observe!
And so it cometh to a wondrous
strength,
The finished figures with the
unfinished.
And if the fire be likewise rightly
controlled,
It will be entirely perfect
In much less time than a year.
Now thou hast the entire way in its
length
On which there are not more than two
paths.
From these one soon wandereth and
goest astray,
Else it all standeth clear and
plain.
The one is the water of the Wise
Men,
Which is the Mercurius alone.
The other is called a vinegar,
And it is known only to a very few.
And this vinegar doth circle
Away from the philosophical lion.
It is Lord Aes whom it makes glad.
Therefore they have combined to so
closely
Many hundred forms and names are
given
After each has chosen it.
One way springeth from a true
source,
A few have worked on it for a whole
year
But many through their art and craft
Have shortened so long a space of
time.
And quickly is the preparation set
free
As Alchemy doth point out.
Anonymous ~
The Allegory of Merlin
Brother,
keep secret this treatise for it is of an importance
amongst the fools, and no importance amongst wise men,
and this is the Royal way of three days, for they will
have but little labour and great lucre.
Anonymous ~
On the Philosophers' Stone
But some,
who were adepts in the art, have by painful processes
taken gold for their male, and the mercury, which they
knew how to extract from the less compacted metals, for
a female: not as an easier process, but to find out the
possibility of making the stone this way; and have
succeeded, giving this method more openly to conceal the
true confection, which is most easy and simple.
Anon. ~
Rosarium Philosophorum
Aristotle in the Second Book of his Politics
--- There is a double way in this art according to the
Philosophers, that is --- universal and particular. The
universal way is easy and rare, and it is that which is
brought forth from true and natural beginnings, by which
a speedy and reformative virtue doth presently and in a
moment hardens Mercury, and it tinctureth any metal that
is duly prepared, into true Gold or Silver.
But the
second way is called particular and it is hard and
laboursome. Note this, although Alchemy in the universal
way be partly natural and partly artificial, yet it is
more natural than otherwise, because by nature no
strange or foreign thing is brought in the way of true
Alchemy, for nature hath whereon to work because actives
are joined to passives by a competent union and
application, but the rest nature worketh by herself.
Out of
the Lucidary of Arnoldus --- I demand in what
time this blessed Stone may be made, to which it is
answered as a certain author Lelius the Philosopher
witnesses, that his magistery was finished in eight
days, and that another did it in seven days, and another
in three months, and some in four months, and some in
half a year, and some in the space of a whole year, and
Maria says she did it in three days. To this I say that
the cause of diversity, that is of shortness and length
of time, might be defect in the virtue of the water of
Mercury or because it worketh of Sol and Luna. And some
of the Philosophers added more and some less. But Sol is
fixed and not flying, and with that only did they work.
Raymund
Lully in his Epistle to Rupert, King of France
--- Wherefore I speak things which are miraculous, which
seemed to be incredible to all the ancient Philosophers,
that is, that thou shalt know well to separate this oil
from the wateriness and thou shalt labour in the manner
of the mixtion of them, and thou shalt be able to make
the Stone in 30 days, but this is not necessary by
itself because the solutions and coagulations of it (as
hath been said) are quickly made and done.
Anonymous ~
Untitled Ms
Accordingly
there is now, besides the work of three years, a work of
three months, three weeks, three days, and, surpassing
all of these, three hours. Mary the Prophetess was
trained in this last work; a philosopher of keen
intellect, or a well-trained artisan, will be able to
investigate what she has learned from her discussions
with the Philosopher Aros. In addition, there are other
works, called the work of one natural day, one month,
one year, and nine months. Anyone who does not know the
distinctions among these and other such things lays
claim to this saying: "He should take his hand off the
reins." And though all these aforesaid works are to be
understood only by the time of operation from first to
last, nevertheless it can happen that other works are
mixed in with them, and then both operations, antecedent
and consequent, are included in the timespan listed
above. But since the purpose here has been merely to
give you a casual warning about these matters, there is
no need to dwell on them further...
What
follows is how the Philosophers multiplied their work in
the moist path, and perhaps also by the same token in
the dry path. Multiplication takes place in quantity as
well as in quality, always with ten parts of its water
or of philosophical mercury duplex and so on to
infinity. The first time it does not tinct, but if it is
put in fire the second time it is perfected in two
months time, and one part tincts only ten parts. If you
put it in fire a third time, it is finished in three
weeks and one part tincts a hundred parts. If you put it
in fire a fourth time, it is perfected in three days,
and one part tincts a thousand parts. After that a work
of multiplication is completed in three days at a time,
and this is the work of three days.
Sigismund
Bacstrom ~ The Work of Pontanus According to Mr. F.
Pontanus
had his knowledge from Artephius, therefore followed
him, having read and understood him, except that
Artephius worked by the long humid way, but Pontanus by
the dry short way, and Mr. F. believes that it can be
done in a very Short Time, probably sooner than we are
aware of.
David
Beuther ~ The Transmutation of Base Metals into
Silver and Gold
If we now wish to proceed
further, we must now go on to Paracelsus’ School of Work
and to the brief passages which follow, as are readily
to be noted and learned from his Scriptis. Then
we desired to learn from the Subjectum Materiae vel
Tincturae, which is reported clearly enough and
shown with the fingers, so he also set up thereby the
welcome preparations and said that from one (of the
materials noted) two would result, namely, sulfur and
mercury, since one of them (mercury) gives the body, on
earth, wherein we plant the seeds, i.e., the
Sulfur of the Sun, which sulfur is called the Blood of
the Red Lion, while the mercury is called the Gluten of
the White Eagle. He further stated that when the two
coagulated together, then the tincture thus prepared was
ready to be used. This is, indeed, a shorter way of
preparation, though it gives poorer and inferior
results...
One also sees how the work
is brought to completion from a material in an oven,
glass container, or other type of receptacle, in one
experiment after another, by using increased amounts to
heat. And, even though the work and the art by you
yourself is completely inferior in quality, the
philosophers have also pointed out that, “It is wife’s
work and children’s play”. Even so, it still requires a
well-qualified artisan to be the fire-master. Moreover,
the work may be completed easily enough without danger
in 16 weeks...
Petrus Bonus
~ The New Pearl of Great Price
This Art is noble, brief,
and easy. It requires one thing, which everybody knows.
It is in many things, yet it is one thing. It is found
everywhere, yet it is most precious. You must fix it and
tame it in the fire; you must make it rise, and again
descend. When conjunction has taken place, straightway
it is fixed. Then it gives riches to the poor and rest
to the weary. The operation is good, if it become first
dry and then liquid, and what Rebis (Twothing) is, you
will find in the practical part of this work.
Cyliani ~
Hermes Unveiled
At this
point, I must warn you that only two matters of the same
origin are needed: One volatile, the other fixed. That
there are two ways, the dry and the humid. I personally
follow the latter by preference and by duty, though the
former is known to me. It is done with only one matter.
The azoth
unites easily with sulfur, fire with fire, and the
double mercury or rebis in powder or oil forms the true
potable gold or the Universal medicine in white or red.
Finally the seed of gold lies within the gold itself.
Few
combustibles are necessary; even less receptacles. The
work costs very little to undertake and can be performed
in any place, but it is convenient to begin it with that
of nature in order to finish it well...
Rabbi
Abraham Eleazar ~ The Book of Abraham the Jew
That
however you know and become acquainted with the
Materiam; so is such our old Albaon Abacschozdii, is a
Minera, so there in the mountains is found, and such is
of three different sorts... The third is grey and white
and a very poisonous kind, a right Saturn, which has the
power, with its poisonous breath to kill. Therefore one
must be very careful when working with this, when in a
dry form, to get it sweat... and also such a materia is
found in the pits, because they often throw such away,
because it gives from itself a strong smell, and also
often kills the men...
Formerly I
have pointed out and shown to you the wet way, and how
you can find and prepare in such a way the Mysterium,
and such a way is without danger.
This dry
way, that I will describe to you and teach you, is
somewhat dangerous, yet if you follow my teaching, then
it will not fall heavy on you, for as I have described
to you in all my Figures throughout, two ways, so to the
intelligent it is not difficult to understand, and have
also wished to show that in this Figure [3]; for here
you see flowing from a desert a white Lunar Water, which
is the old progenitor of all things, prepared in two
ways:
Firstly
however, you must understand, what of the two ways is
taken; namely the first proceeds from the Fatness of the
Earth, out of the Primordial Chaos. The other from our
black heavy lump; that however the serpents crawl in the
grass, and is of divers colors, the Phyton in the dry
way, for this promptus is very poisonous, yet some times
it ascends in the hills, and so becomes a flower, nearly
medicinal, whilst then it is not so poisonous...
...This is
that, which the Ancients said, how they finished their
stone in four hours. They have taken of such one part
and added to four parts of Ophiris Sol in flux, so it
will become pure tincture; of which they have
incorporated half of this with one part of Columba
Dianae, as has been taught till the seventh time, and in
such a manner increased their work in infinitum, whereby
they supported themselves in their need and came to the
help of their poor imprisoned brethren...
...But
there is prepared from the green Lion a crawling Dragon,
and you have it before your eyes, and can compare with
the Old one the wet way, and the Dragons the dry way. In
the preparatory work you go on, in the Dry way, there is
another Modus than in the Wet...
Benedictus
Figulus ~ A Golden and Blessed Casket of Nature's
Marvels
The Natural Philosopher’s
Tincture --- Theophrastus also means that, when
you have obtained the two things by the short method,
viz., the rosy blood and the Eagle’s white gluten, you
shall thereto add nothing foreign…
The Natural Philosopher's
Tincture [ Alexander von Suchten ] --- This is
the first process of our Philosophical Birth, the
Returning into the Mother’s Womb, whereby the Rule of
God is followed, and the first precepts of chemists are
fulfilled, viz., the Reduction into Pimary Matter, into
the Three Natural Principles, i.e., Animated Spirit,
Mercury, and Sulphureous Vapour of Earth... which is
nothing less than... The Process with Double Smoke of
Paracelsus. But the above method entailed heavy expenses
and much time and labour, all of which the Ancient Sages
could have avoided, and obtained the Lion’s treasure by
a shorter cut, had they enquired into the matter as
diligently as Theophrastus.
Now, I wot there is no one who
would not wish to know this shorter method; and that you
may not have to complain of Theophrastus, he shews you
another short way, admonishing you also to let the above
tedious process be, and to take from the Lion nought but
his rosy blood, and from the Eagle the white gluten.
These two bodies you must coagulate together and bring
into one body, as it were male and female seed.
Now, someone might object thus.
Dear Theophrastus, that is the old story which I have
heard long ago. The Ancients took nothing more than the
Lion’s blood and water, and coagulated them. Yet you
tell me the same is a brief way to obtain the aforesaid
two Mercurial Substances, with little labour and in a
short time.
Well, that is true so far.
Theophrastus is not so clear here as he might be. But
you may easily imagine what the mode of preparation must
be if you have diligently studied Theophrastus’s other
books and preparations, and are otherwise experienced in
Chemical labours. You will then find that Chemistry, in
the preparation of all arcana (secrets), has two
methods, viz., Distillation and Extraction. Whatsoever
is to be prepared by Chemistry and brought into its
Arcanum, its Tincture, or Quintessence (in which is he
power and virtue of all creatures), or is to be cleansed
from impeding impurities, that must be done by
Distillation or Extraction (which is the same as
Solution). There is no other means. As Bernhardus says:
“The King never goes forth except the Fountain attract
him”.
Now, having already heard that
he rejects the tedious process of much distillation and
purification by reason of its expense, etc., you
perceive that he must have used the only other means,
viz., Extraction by Solution.
According to Calid, son of
Jazichus: “Solution is the Extraction of the Interior of
Things to their Superficies, so that the hidden become
manifest”. Hence his (Theo.’s) meaning is this: When you
of one thing have made two --- or have taken two things
differently constituted by Nature --- let the old
process alone; take from the Lion his blood only ---
i.e., cut out his heart with his own sharp spear --- or
as Bernhardus says: “Slay the King with his own sharp,
poisonous Mercurial Water”. In plain words: Extract but
from the earth its Tincture or Arcanum, and the blood,
the sunshine, the dry spirit immediately all distills
over. By such extraction or solution more will be done
in a few hours than the Ancient Sages could effect in
six months. By the above process the whole work may be
completed in ten or twelve months, in which time the
Ancients could barely achieve the first step --- i.e.,
Reduction into Primary Matter --- as all those know whom
God has enlightened, and thought worthy you know this
Solution and Extraction.
But misunderstand me not! I
speak here, not of the second solution of the earth, but
of the first solution of the crude body...
This is also the aforesaid
short process of Paracelsus, whereby you, in a short
time, and with little trouble and expense, may find the
two said things (of which one is the Father, or Sun, or
Red Water, and the other the Mother, or Moon, or White
Water) which are necessary for the perpetration of the
miracle of the One Thing, and for which good counsel you
owe Theophrastus many thanks...
Fulcanelli ~
La Mystere Des Cathedrales
Let us
retrace our steps and pause at the south portal, still
called the Porch of St. Anne. It offers us only a single
motif, but the interest of this is considerable, because
it describes the shortest practice of our Science and
among lessons in stone it therefore deserves pride of
place.
"See," says
Grillot de Givry, "sculptured on the right portal of
Notre Dame of Paris, the bishop perched above an athanor,
where the philosophical mercury, chained in limbo, is
being sublimated. It teaches the origin of the sacred
fire; and the Chapter of the cathedral, by leaving this
door closed all the year in accordance with a secular
tradition, shows that this is not the vulgar way, but
one unknown to the crowd and reserved for the small
number of the elite of wisdom."
Few
alchemists will admit the possibility of two ways, one
short and easy, called the dry way, the other longer and
less rewarding, called the moist way. This may be due to
the fact that many authors deal exclusively with the
longer process, either because they do not know of the
other, or because they prefer to remain silent about it,
rather than to teach its principles. Pernety refuses to
believe in those alternative methods, while Huginus a
Barma, on the contrary, asserts that the ancient
masters, such as Geber, Lully and Paracelsus, each had
his own particular process.
Chemically
speaking, there is no objection to a method, employing
the moist way, being replaced by another, which makes
use of dry reactions, in order to arrive at the same
result. Hermetically the emblem we are studying is a
proof of this. We shall find a second one in the 18th
century Encyclopedia, where the assurance is given that
the Great Work may be accomplished in two ways; one,
called the moist way, being longer but held more in
honour and the other, or dry way, being much less
esteemed. In the latter "the celestial Salt, which is
the Philosophers' mercury, must be boiled for four days
in a crucible over a naked fire, together with a
terrestrial metallic body."
In the
second part of the work, attributed to Basil Valentine,
but which seems rather to be by Senior Zadith, the
author appears to have the dry way in mind when he
writes that "in order to arrive at this art, neither
great labor nor trouble is required and the expenses are
small, the instruments of little worth. For this Art may
be learnt in less than 12 hours and brought to
perfection within the space of 8 days, if it has its own
principle within itself."
Philalethes, in Chapter XIX of the Introitus,
after having spoken of the long way, which he describes
as tiresome and good only for rich people, says: "But by
our way no more than a week is necessary; God has
reserved this rare and easy way for the despised poor
and for abject saints."
Furthermore, Langlet-Dufresnoy, in his Remarques
on this chapter, thinks that "this way is achieved by
the double philosophical mercury" and adds: "The work is
thereby accomplished in 8 days, instead of taking nearly
18 months by the first way."
This
shortened way, which is, however, covered by a thick
veil, has been called by the Wise the Regime of Saturn.
The boiling of the Work, instead of necessitating the
use of a glass vase, requires only the help of a simple
crucible. "I will stir up your body in an earthenware
vase, in which I will inter it", writes a famous author,
who says again further on: "Make a fire in your glass,
that is to say in the earth which holds it enclosed.
This seems to me to be the shorter way and the true
philosophical sublimation, in order to arrive at the
perfection of this difficult task." This could be the
explanation of the basic maxim of our Science: "One
single vessel, one single matter, one single furnace."
In the
preface to his book, Cyliani refers to the two process
in these terms: "I would like to warn you here never to
forget that only two matters of the same origin are
needed, the one volatile, the other fixed; that there
are two ways, the dry way and the moist way. I follow
the latter for preference as my duty although the former
is very familiar to me; it is done with a single
matter."
Henri de
Lintaut also gives a favorable testimonial to the dry
way when he writes: "This secret surpasses all the
secrets in the world, for by it you can in a short time,
without great trouble or labour, arrive at the great
transmutation. For information about this, see Isaac
Hollandois, who speaks of it more fully." Unfortunately
our author is no more forthcoming than his colleagues.
"When I consider," writes Henckel, "that the artist
Elias, quoted by Helvetius, claims that the preparation
of the Philosophic stone is begun and finished in the
space of four days, and that he has actually shown this
stone, still adhering to the fragments of the crucible,
it seems to me that it would not be so absurd to ask
whether what the alchemists call great months may not be
as many days, which would mean a very limited space of
time. And to ask further whether there may not be a
method, which consists only in keeping the matters in
the greatest degree of fluidity for a long time, which
could be achieved by a violent fire, maintained by the
action of the bellows. However, this method cannot be
carried out in all laboratories and perhaps not everyone
would find it practicable."
Fulcanelli ~
The Dwellings of the Philosophers
The
Man of the Woods --- Our
mercury, we believe it has been mentioned, is this
pilgrim, this voyager to whom Michael Maier has
consecrated one of his best treatises! [Viatorium:
Hoc est de Montibus Planetorium septem seu metallorum.
Rouen, Jean Berthelin, 1651]. By using the dry path,
represented by the earthly road followed at first by our
traveler, one can successfully but progressively exalt
the diffuse and latent virtue, transforming into
activity that which was only potential. The operation is
completed when, on the surface, appears a shining star,
formed of rays emanating from a single center, prototype
of the great roses of our gothic cathedrals. A sure sign
that the pilgrim has successfully reached the end of his
first trip. He has received the mystical blessing of St
James, confirmed by the luminous imprint which radiated,
it is said, above the tomb of the apostle. The humble
and common shell which he bore on his hat turned into a
shining star, a halo of light. Pure matter whose
hermetic star consecrates the perfection: it is now our
compost, the holy water of Compostella (Latin compos,
who has received, possesses ---- and stella,
star) and the alabaster of the sages (albastrum
contraction of alabastrum, white star). It is
also the vase of perfumes, the vase of alabaster (Greek
alabastron, Latin alabastrus) and the
newly blooming bud of the flower of wisdom, rosa
hermetica, the hermetic rose.
From
Compostella the return can be made either by the same
path, following a different itinerary or by the wet or
maritime path, the only way the authors indicate in
their writings...
The
Castle of Dampierre V (Panel 1)
--- The two paths of the Work require two different
manners of undertaking the animation of the initial
mercury. The first belongs to the brief way and requires
only one technique by which the fixed is gradually
dampened --- because any dry matter avidly drinks its
own humidity --- until the repeated affusion of the
volatile on the body causes the compound to swell and
turn into a pasty or syrupy mass, as the case may be.
The second method consists in digesting the totality of
the sulphur in three or four times its weight in water,
decanting the resulting solution, then drying up the
residue and reiterating the operation with a
proportional quantity of fresh mercury. When the
dissolution is complete, the faeces, if any, are
separated and the collected liquors are subjected to a
slow distillation in a bath. Thus the superfluous
humidity is released, leaving the mercury at the
required consistency without any loss of its qualities,
and ready to undergo hermetic coction.
The
Castle of Dampierre V (Panel 8)
--- Two vases, one in the form of an embossed and
engraved flagon, the other a common earthen pot, are
represented in the same frame occupied by this saying of
Saint Paul: ALIVD VAS IN HONOREM ALIVD IN CONTUMELIAM.
One vessel for honorable uses, another for base uses.
But in a great house", says the Apostle [II Timothy 2:
20], "There are not only vessels of gold and silver, but
also of wood and of earth; and some to honour, and some
to dishonour."
Our two
vases appear well defined, clearly marked and in
absolute agreement with the precepts of hermetic theory.
One is the vase of nature made with the same red clay
God used to form the body of Adam with. The other is the
vase of the art, whose entire material is composed of
pure, red, incombustible, fixed, and diaphanous gold, of
an incomparable brightness. And these are our two
vessels which truly represent only two distinct bodies
containing the metallic spirits, the only agents we
need.
If the
reader is acquainted with the traditional manner of
writing of the philosophers --- which manner we try to
imitate correctly so that the Ancients can be explained
through us and so we can be controlled by them, it will
be easier for him to understand what the hermeticists
meant by vessels. For these vessels represent not only
two matters, or rather one matter in two states of
evolution, but they also symbolize our two ways based on
the use of these different bodies.
The first
of these ways which uses the vase of the art is
time-consuming, painstaking, thankless, accessible to
wealthy people, but it is in a place of great honor in
spite of the expenditures it entails, because it is the
one which authors preferably describe. It is used as a
support for their reasoning as well as for the
theoretical development of the Work, requires an
uninterrupted labor of twelve to eighteen months, and
starts with natural gold prepared and dissolved in the
philosophical mercury which is then cooked in a glass
matrass. This is the honorable vase reserved for noble
use of these precious metals which are the exalted gold
and mercury of the sages.
The second
way demands, from beginning to end, only the help of a
coarse clay abundantly available, of such a low cost
that in our time ten francs are sufficient to acquire a
quantity more than enough for our needs. It is the clay
and the way of the poor, of the simple and the modest,
of those whom nature fills with wonder even by her most
humble manifestations. Extremely easy, it only requires
the presence of the artist, for the mysterious labor
perfects itself by itself and is achieved in seven to
nine days at the most. This way, unknown to the majority
of practicing alchemists, is elaborated from start to
finish in one crucible made of fireproof clay. It is the
way that the great masters called woman's work and
child's play; it is to it that they apply the old
hermetic axiom: una re, una via, una dispositione. A
single matter, a single vessel, a single furnace. Such
is our earthen vase, a despised, plain vase of common
use, which everyone has before his eyes, which costs
nothing, which can be found at everyone's house, yet
which no one can recognize without a revelation.
The
Castle of Dampierre VI (Panel 3)
--- Lying on the altar of sacrifice, a forearm is
consumed by fire. The sign of this fiery emblem holds in
two words: .FELIX.INFORTUNIUM. Happy unhappiness!
Although the topic seems a priori quite obscure and
without equivalent in the hermetic literature and
iconography, yet it yields to analysis and perfectly
agrees with the Great Work's technique.
The human
forearm, which the Greeks simply called the arm
(brachion), is the hieroglyph for the short, abridged
way (ars brevis). As a matter of fact, our Adept,
toying with words as the learned cabalist he is, hides
under the substantive brachion, arm, a
comparative of brachus, written in the same
fashion. The latter means short, brief, of short
duration, and forms several compounds, including
brachutes, brevity. Thus the comparative brachion,
meaning brief, the homonym of brachion, arm,
takes on the specific meaning of brief technique, ars
brevis.
But the
Greeks used yet another expression to qualify the arm.
When they evoked the hand (cheir), they applied
by extension the idea to the entire upper limb and gave
it the figurative value of a skilled artistic production
of a special process, of a personal style of work, in
short, of a tour de main, a flick of the wrist, whether
acquired or revealed. All these acceptions of the word
exactly characterize the fine points of the Great Work
in its swift, simple and direct realization, for it
requires the application of a very energetic fire to
which the flick of the wrist boils down [pouring a
crucible properly]. Now this fire on our bas-relief is
represented not only by the flames, it is also
represented by the limb itself which the hand indicates
as being the right arm; and it is well known from the
proverbial expression that "to be the right arm" always
applies to the agent responsible for the executing of
the will of a superior -- the fire in the present case.
Apart from
these reasons --- which are necessarily abstract because
they are veiled in the form of a stone with a concise
image --- there is another one, practical, which comes
to uphold and confirm in the practical domain the
esoteric affiliation of the first ones. We shall state
it by saying that whosoever being ignorant of the flick
of the wrist of the operation yet takes the risk to
undertake it, must fear everything from the fire; that
person is in real danger and can hardly escape the
consequences of a thoughtless and reckless action. Why
then, one could say to us, not to provide this means? We
will answer this by saying that to reveal an experiment
of this sort would be to give the secret of the short
way and that we have not received from God nor from our
brothers the authorization to uncover such a mystery. It
is already much that, prompted by our solicitude and
charity, we warned the beginner whose lucky star leads
to the threshold of the cave, that he should be on his
guard and redouble his prudence. A similar warning is
rarely encountered in the books, and quite succint as to
what concerns the Ars brevis, but which the Adept of
Dampierre knew as perfectly as Ripley, Basil Valentine,
Philalethes, Albertus Magnus, Huginus a Barma, Cyliani
or Naxagoras.
Nevertheless, and because we deem it useful to warn the
neophyte, it would be wrong to conclude that we are
trying to dishearten him. If he wants to risk the
adventure, let it be for him the trial by fire to which
the future initiates of Thebes and Hermopolis had to be
put through before receiving the sublime teachings.
Isn’t the inflamed arm on the altar the expressive
symbol of the sacrifice, of the renunciation the science
demands? Everything is paid for down here, not with
gold, but with work, with suffering, often by leaving a
part of oneself; and one could not pay too much for the
possession of the least secret, of the tiniest truth.
Therefore should the candidate feel endowed with faith
and armed with the necessary courage, we fraternally
wish him to come forth safe and sound from this
difficult experience, which most often ends with the
explosion of the crucible and the projection of the
furnace. And then he could cry out, like our
philosopher: Happy unhappiness! For the accident,
forcing him to ponder the mistake he has committed, will
undoubtedly lead him to discover the means to avoid it
and the flick of the wrist for the proper operation.
The
Castle of Dampierre VI (Panel 7)
--- The geometric figure which we encounter here
frequently ornamented the frontispieces of medieval
alchemical manuscripts. It was commonly called Solomon's
Labyrinth, and we mentioned elsewhere that it was
reproduced on the stone floors of our great gothic
cathedrals. This figure bears as a motto: .FATA.VIAM.INVENIENT.
The fates will well find their way. Our bas-relief,
specifically characterizing the long way, reveals the
formal intention, expressed by the plurality of
Dampierre's motifs to primarily teach the Work of the
rich. For this labyrinth offers only one entrance, while
other drawings of the same subject usually show three,
which entrances, by the way, correspond to the three
porches of the gothic cathedrals placed under the
invocation of the Virgin mother. One entrance,
absolutely straight, leads directly to the median
chamber --- where Theseus slayed the Minotaur ---
without encountering the least obstacle; it conveys the
short, simple, easy way of the Work of the poor. The
second, which likewise leads to the center, only opens
onto it after a series of detours, twists and turns, and
convolutions; it is the hieroglyph for the long way and
we have said that it refers to the preferred esotericism
of our Adept. Finally, a third gallery of which the
opening is parallel to that of the preceding ones, ends
abruptly as a dead end a short distance from the
threshold, and leads nowhere. It cause the despair and
ruin of those who have gone astray, of the presumptuous
ones, and of those who, without serious study and solid
principles, nevertheless set out on the way and chanced
the adventure.
The
Castle of Dampierre IX (Panel 4)
--- Closed by its narrow lid, with a fat albeit split
belly, a common clay pot fills with its plebeian and
cracked majesty the surface of this panel. Its
inscription states that the vase of which we see the
image, must open by itself and manifest by its
destruction the completion of that which it holds:
INTVS.SOLA.FIENT.MANIFESTA. RUINA. (Only the inside
makes the ruin manifest).
Among so
many diverse figures, so many emblems with which it
fraternizes, our subject seems to be all the more
original because its symbolism relates to the dry path,
also called the Work of Saturn, as rarely translated
into iconography as it is described in texts. Based on
the use of solid and crystallized materials, the brief
way (ars brevis) only requires the help of a crucible
and the application of high temperatures. This truth,
Henckel had glimpsed, when he remarks that the "artist
Elias, quoted by Helvetius, claims that the preparation
of the philosopher’s stone is accomplished, from start
to finish, in four days time; and that he has indeed
shown the shown still adhering to the sides of the
crucible; it seems to me, the author continues, that it
would not be so absurd to question whether that which
the alchemists called long months, would not really only
be days --- that is to say a very short period of time
--- and whether there did not exist a method whereby the
entire operation would consist in holding, for a very
long time, the matters in a great degree of fluidity
which could be obtained by a violent fire maintained by
the action of bellows; but this method cannot be
undertaken in all laboratories and perhaps not everyone
would find it practical." [J.F. Henckel, Traite de
l’Appropriation (Treatise on Appropriation)
in Pyritologie ou Histoire naturelle de la pyrite
(Pyritology or Natural History of Pyrites).
Paris, J-T. Herissant, 1760, p. 370, para. 416.]
Nevertheless, contrary to the humid way, whose glass
utensils allow for easy control and accurate
observation, the dry way cannot enlighten the operator
at any time in the process of the Work. So, although the
time factor reduced to a minimum constitutes a serious
advantage in the practice of the ars brevis, the
necessity of high temperatures, on the other hand,
presents the serious inconvenience of an absolute
uncertainty as to the progress of the operation.
Everything happens in the deepest mystery inside the
crucible which is carefully sealed, buried at the core
of the incandescent coals. It is therefore important to
be very experienced and to know the fire's behavior and
power well as one could not find in it, from the
beginning to the end the least of indications. All the
characteristic reactions of the humid way having been
indicated among the classical authors, it is possible
for the studious artist to acquire indications precise
enough to allow him to undertake his long and difficult
work. Here, on the contrary, it is without any guide
that the traveler, brave to the point of rashness,
enters this arid and burnt desert. No road laid out, no
clue, no landmark; nothing save the apparent inertia of
the earth, of the rock, of the sand. The shiny
kaleidoscope of the colored stages does not brighten up
his uncertain walk; it is as a blind man that he
continues his path, without any other certainty save
that of his faith, without any other hope but his
confidence in divine mercy...
Yet at the
end of his path, the investigator will notice a sign,
the only one whose appearance indicates success and
confirms the perfection of the sulphur by the total
fixation of mercury; this sign consists in the
spontaneous bursting of the vessel. Once the time has
elapsed, by laterally uncovering a part of its side, we
notice, when the experiment has succeeded, one or more
lines of dazzling clarity, clearly visible on the less
brilliant background of the envelope. These are the
cracks revealing the happy birth of the young king. Just
like at the end of incubation the hen's egg breaks under
the effort of the chick, similarly the shell of our egg
breaks as soon as the sulphur is produced. There is,
among these results, an evident analogy in spite of the
different causes, for in the mineral Work, the breaking
of the crucible can logically be attributed to a
chemical action, unfortunately impossible to conceive or
to explain. Let us note however that the rather well
known fact often occurs under the influence of certain
combinations of lesser interest. Thus, for example,
while leaving aside, after having cleansed them well,
new crucibles which have only been used once, for the
fusion of metallic glass, the production of hepar
sulphuris, or diaphoretic antimony, they are found
cracked after a few days without one being able to
explain the obscure reason of this late phenomenon. The
considerable spacing of their bulges shows that the
fracture seems to occur by the push of an expansive
force acting from the center towards the periphery at
room temperature and long after the use of these
vessels.
Finally,
let us point out the remarkable match which exists
between the motif of Dampierre and that of Bourges
(Hotel Lallemant, in the ceiling of the chapel). Among
the hermetic panels of the latter, one can also see an
earthen pot tilted, whose opening, bell-mouthed and
rather wide, is enclosed with a parchment’s membrane
tied on the edges. Its belly with holes in it lets
beautiful macles of different sizes escape from it. The
indication of the crystalline form of the sulphur
obtained by the dry way is thus very clear and confirms
by its added details, the esoteric quality of our
bas-relief.
The
Castle of Dampierre (XII)
--- But before we leave this masterful ensemble, we will
allow ourselves to connect its teachings to that of a
curious stone picture that can be seen in Jacques
Couer’s palace in Bourges and which apparently can serve
as a conclusion to, and summary of, our collection. This
sculpted panel forms the tympanum of a door opening on
the main courtyard, and represents three exotic trees
--- a palm tree, a fig tree, and a date tree --- growing
in the midst of herbaceous plants; a frame of flowers,
leaves, and twigs surround the bas-relief (Plate
XXXIII).
The palm
and date trees, of the same family, were known to the
Greeks under the name of phoenix, and Phoenix in Latin,
which is our hermetic phoenix; they represent the two
Magisteries and their results, the two white and red
stones, which partake of one and the same nature
included in the cabalistic denomination of Phoenix. As
for the fig tree occupying the center of the
composition, it indicates the mineral substance out of
which the philosophers draw the elements of the
miraculous rebirth of the Phoenix, and it is this work
of rebirth as a whole which constitutes what is commonly
referred to as the Great Work.
According
to the apocryphal Gospels it was a fig or sycamore fig
tree (a.k.a. the fig tree of the Pharoah) which had the
honor of sheltering the Holy Family during their flight
to Egypt of nourishing them with its fruit and of
quenching their thirst, thanks to the clear and fresh
water that the child Jesus had drawn out from between
its roots. Fig tree in Greek is suke, from sukon, fig, a
word frequently used for kusthos, with the root
kuo, to carry in the womb, to contain; it is the
Virgin Mother who bears the child, and the alchemical
emblem of the passive, chaotic, and cold substance, the
matrix and vehicle of the spirit incarnate. Sozomene, a
4th century author, asserts that the tree of Hermopolis
which bowed before the infant Jesus was called Persea (Hist.
Eccl., Lib. V, ch. 21). It is the name of the
balanus (Balanites Aegyptica), a shrub from Egypt
and Arabia, a kind of oak, called by the Greeks balanis,
acorn, a word by which they also called the myrobalan,
fruit of the myrobalan tree. These diverse elements are
perfectly related to the subject of the sages and the
technique of the ars brevis that Jacques Couer
seems to have practiced.
Christopher
Grummet ~ Sanguis Naturae
This is a
Short and Secret way which few also have known. The
other way is longer...
This way is
long, and lasteth almost two years, and is very tedious,
which also the Ancient Philosophers taught...
Johan
Grashof ~ The Greater and Lesser Edifyer
Lastly, I
will also gladly perform certain processes which
comprehend the true foundation, so that you may see that
if you had understood the philosophy properly at first,
then you could have attained the end in a much more
rapid time. Such a failure with the Materia comes
especially through misunderstanding of the first
Resolution or dissolving and also of the correct
composition, as you shall hear. For several philosophers
have finished the Work and brought it to a happy
conclusion in 378 days and others in 30 days.
Johan F.
Helvetius ~ The Golden Calf
He would
not tell me anything about the cost and the time; "As to
its substance," he continued, "it is prepared from two
metals or minerals; the minerals are better because they
contain a larger quantity of mature Sulfur. The solvent
is a certain celestial salt, by means of which the Sages
dissolve the earthy metallic body, and this process
elicits the precious Elixir of the Sages. The work is
performed from beginning to end in a crucible over an
open fire; it is consummated in four days, and its cost
is only about three florins. Neither the Mineral from
the Egg nor the Solvent Salt are very expensive." I
replied that his statement was contradicted by the
saying of the Sages, who assign seven or nine months as
the duration of the Work. His only answer was that the
sayings of the Sages were to be understood in a
philosophical sense and no ignorant person could
apprehend their true meaning.
J. Isaac
Hollandus ~ De Lapide Philosophorum
You must
know that the old alchemists made the Stone in many
different ways, and at the end it was always good. Know
that the old masters worked as I have told you. But
their descendants discovered many other forms of the
works by which they could shorten the Art, such as using
aquafort... They also sought to shorten the time and to
try doing it according to Nature. The work involves
great worry, much labor and much expense and
uncertainty...
J. I.
Hollandus ~ Vegetable Work
Know, my
son, that the stone of the philosophers must be made by
means of Saturn, and that once it is obtained in its
perfect state, it performs the projection both in the
human body, internally as well as externally, and in the
metals. Know also that in all vegetable works, there is
no greater secret than in Saturn, for we find the
putrefaction of gold only in Saturn where it is hidden.
Saturn contains within it the honest gold, on which all
philosophers agree, provided all its superfluities,
i.e., its faeces are removed from it, only then has it
been purged. The outer is brought inside; the inner
manifests outer, and that is its redness and then that
is the honest Gold.
Besides,
Saturn easily enters into solution and coagulates
similarly. It lends itself readily to the extraction of
its Mercury. It can be easily sublimated, to such an
extent that it becomes the mercury of the sun. For
Saturn contains within itself the gold which the Mercury
needs, and its mercury is as pure as that of gold. For
these reasons, I say that Saturn is, for our Work, by
far preferable to gold; for if you want to extract
mercury from gold, you will need more than a year to
extract this body out of the sun, while you can extract
mercury from Saturn in 27 days. Both metals are good,
but you can assert with more certainty yet, that Saturn
is the stone that the philosophers do not want to name
and whose name until today has been hidden. For were its
name known, many would have found it, who are eagerly
looking for it, and this art would have become common
and vulgar. This work would then become brief and
without much expense. Thus to avoid these drawbacks, the
philosophers have hidden its name with great care. Some
have enveloped it in marvelous parables, saying that
Saturn is the vase to which nothing foreign must be
added, except that which comes from it; in such a way
that there is no man, however poor, who cannot be
occupied with this Work, since it does not require great
expense and since little work and few days are needed to
obtain the Moon from it, and a little bit later the Sun.
We therefore find in Saturn everything necessary for the
Work. In it is the perfect mercury, in it are all the
colors of the world which can be manifested, in it is
the true blackness, the whiteness, the redness and in it
also is the weight.
I therefore
confide in you that it is easy after that to understand
that Saturn is our philosophical stone, and that Bronze
from which mercury and our stone can be extracted, in
little time and without a lot of disbursements, using
our brief art. And the stone we obtain from it is our
Bronze, and the acute water, which is within it, is our
stone. Here are the Stone and the Water about which the
philosophers have written mountains of books.
Kamala Jnana
~ Dictionary of Alchemical Philosophy
Wet Way: This
is the most commonly followed path. It is also far more
described than others are. It lasts for 28 philosophical
months. This dictionary will be mostly about this way.
It is relatively easier, because comments on it can be
easily found. It is also the less toxic and less
dangerous.
Dry Way: This
is a less known path, although quicker, lasting four
philosophical months. The main difference resides on the
first Solve operations. The wise men then use their
Agent in the form of earth. This remaining unaltered by
humidity in the air is more active and cooks the matter
more strongly. It is nevertheless very harmful if
breathed and given the heat required it may easily
happen that the vessel explodes.
Nicolas
LeFevre ~ Secret of Secrets
Table
VII: The Time~ By the
long first humid but finally dry way, seven months are
sufficient for the Artist, but for the quick dry way,
five hours are enough.
The humid
and dry way is but One Way, which by diligence or
negligence of the operator, may be abbreviated or
prolonged.
Raymond
Lully ~ Letter or Epitome to King Rupert
You ask which of the three
Stones is more useful, readily obtained, and
efficacious: Well, the mineral method is long and full
of risks. It consists in two waters, one of which makes
the Stone volatile without labour or danger; the other
fixes it, and is fixed with it, and this operation is
attended with risk. This latter water is extracted from
a certain fetid menstruum; it is stronger than any other
water, and the danger consists in the ease with which,
in ablution, its spirit may escape.
The Animal Stone is far
more difficult of composition, so that far greater
knowledge is required for it; yet it enables you not
only to transmute metals into gold, but to change
anything into any other thing, whence the potency of
this Stone is infinite. The Vegetable Stone takes still
longer to prepare, and has still more wonderful virtues
than the Animal Stone. It should follow the Animal Stone
as far as the rectification of elements, and, if thus
prepared, its effect passes into the animal. Everything
transmuted by means of the Vegetable Stone, far
transcends Nature in excellence and size, because it is
impregnated with the quintessence which performs so many
wonderful things in the world. All alchemical gold is
composed from corrosives, and from the incorruptible
quintessence which is fixed with the ferment by the
skill of the artist. Such quintessence is a certain
mortified and empoisoned spirit in the Mineral Stone.
The Animal Stone may be the most miraculous medicine for
the human body, just as if it were an extract of human
blood. The quintessence which is in the Vegetable Stone
restores youth, and preserves the human body from all
accidental corruption. The spirit of the quintessence,
as you know, is that which tinges and transmutes, if it
be mixed with its proper ferment. The Vegetable Stone is
more noble, and useful, and efficacious, than all the
rest.
You ask me whether the work
can be shortened; I tell you that all abbreviation
diminishes perfection, so that the medicine which is
composed by accurtation has less transmutatory power.
There is, however, a multiplex accurtation of the
Mineral Stone. In order to curtail its effect as little
as possible, you should after the first calcination and
putrefaction, which is performed with the most limpid
and clear first water during a space of 20 days, and not
less, separate from the substance a red powder, and
distill it with the second water so as to prevent the
escape of the spirit. Take only the last part of this
water, after rubefaction in the alembic. Dissolve
therein the powders, by placing both in hot water in a
sealed vessel; then set over it an alembic, and distill
as much as will ascend. This water pour away; that which
remains with the body coagulate in a well-closed vessel
among hot ashes; make other water and pour over it, then
distill and coagulate ten times. Thus the Stone will be
made perfect. If you wish to increase its efficiency,
you may go on distilling and coagulating it as often as
you like, or until it is impossible to congeal the body
further. This Medicine will change metals into gold, and
may be completed in 80 days at the most.
In the case of the Animal
Stone, there is no possibility of abridgment, except,
indeed, that the earth may be ruled with fire, and the
water with air, when its efficacy will be the same; this
is called the accurtation of middle time. As to the
Vegetable Stone, the same may be said. The following
directions will be found useful in the preparation of
this Stone…
Wherefore I speak things
which are miraculous, which seemed to be incredible to
all the ancient Philosophers, that is, that thou shalt
know well to separate this oil from the wateriness and
thou shalt labour in the manner of the mixtion of them,
and thou shalt be able to make the Stone in 30 days, but
this is not necessary by itself because the solutions
and coagulations of it (as hath been said) are quickly
made and done...
I demand in what time this
blessed Stone may be made, to which it is answered as a
certain author Lelius the Philosopher witnesses, that
his magistery was finished in eight days, and that
another did it in seven days, and another in three
months, and some in four months, and some in half a
year, and some in the space of a whole year, and Maria
says she did it in three days. To this I say that the
cause of diversity, that is of shortness and length of
time, might be defect in the virtue of the water of
Mercury or because it worketh of Sol and Luna. And some
of the Philosophers added more and some less. But Sol is
fixed and not flying, and with that only did they work.
Dr. Johan
Muller ~ Hyle and Coahyl
You see, I
have taught you the complete work from its beginning to
the end, but many don't like this way because of the
long time that it takes; but the other way, the second
way, I will teach you herewith, and in not too long a
time you will attain to the secret of the Work Adamists.
Myriam
Prophetessa ~ Her Conversation with Aros, King of
Egypt
Myriam: My
dear Aros! I can accomplish the work of our Stone not
only in one day, but even in part of a day.
Doest thee
not know, Aros! That there is a Water or a Thing, which
Whiteneth hendrages?
Hermes has
mentioned that the philosophers are accustomed to whiten
the stone in one hour.
If I did
not find a steady mind in thee, O Aros! I would say no
more!
Take Alum
from Spain, the White Gum, and the Red Gum, the Kibru of
the Philosophers, their Gold, and the Great Tincture.
Make a
marriage of the Gum with the Gum, by a true union;
Proceed
therewith, that they may flow like water; this well
prepared water Thou must vitrify, that is, thou must
make a glass thereof.
This glass
is composed of Two Subjects and a fixed body. Render
this matter fusible by the secret operation of nature in
the Philosophical Vessel.
Take care
of the Fume, and beware, that nothing of the fume may
escape! Attend the work, with a gentle fire, such as the
Sun gives in July.
Be not
absent from the Vessel, that thou mayst observe, how the
matter becomes Black, White and Red, in less than 3
hours of a day, and the fume will penetrate the body,
the Spirits will keep together and will become like
Milk, which softens, and renders fusible and
penetrating.
And this is
the Secret, O Aros!
My dear
Aros! I could tell Thee another Secret, which the
Philosophers before me, did not know or make use of! And
that was not anything Medicinal. It is this: Take that
White, Clear and much-honoured herb, which is found in
the low Hills, pound it fresh and sift the powder very
finely.
This is the
true fixt body, which does not flee from the fire, but
rather melts into glass.
Aros: Is
this the truth?
Myriam:
Yes, truly. But very few know this regimen and the
quickness in the fire.
Vitrify or
make a glass over the matter; over the Kibrick and
Zubreck, over the two Fumes which contain two Lights,
and when it is perfect, throw or project therein the
fulfilling or ferment of the Tincture and of the
Spirits, according to the true Weight.
Then
pulverize it, it is very brittle, and make use of it in
a strong fire, and thou wilt see strange things
performed thereby.
The whole
Regimen depends on the moderation of the Fire. It will
pass from one Colour to another, in one hour's time,
before it becomes White and Red. When thou hast obtained
perfect Redness, let the fire go out and let the matter
grow cold, open the Vessel.
And thou
wilt find the body appears now like a fine pearl, with a
tint of the wild Poppy intermixed with white, and this
is the substance, which inceriates, giveth ingress,
mollifies and penetrates.
And this
Stone can be projected on 1200 parts of Lead or Tin.
Myriam said
further to King Aros: I will teach thee, how to proceed
by the shortest way: with the Clear Fixt Body, found on
small hills: this body cannot be conquered by
putrefaction. Take that body finely powdered and sifted;
rub it up gently with Gum Elsaron, rub it very finely
and unite the two powders.
If you
project this or unite this with her spouse, it will flow
like water, and when it cools, it will be coagulated and
They will become one Body; project some part of this
body, and thou will see wonderful things.
The before
mentioned Two Fumes are the White Kibrick: but the fixt
body is from the heart of Saturn, which preserves the
Tincture.
The
Philosophers have given various names to this fixt body,
which is taken from small hills, and it is a Clear White
Body.
These are
the principles of this art, which can partly be bought,
partly it is found on small hills.
In our work
enter Four Stones, and the Regimen is as I have said;
the first are: Seoyare, Ade and Zilket.
The
Philosophers have always indicated a long Regimen, and
have concealed the Work, that no man should easily
undertake it, and they pretend to be a whole year in
doing the magistery; But all this is done with no other
view, than to hide the work from the ignorant, until
they can comprehend it, because it is only accomplished
with fine Gold, which is a great and Divine Secret.
Myriam said
further to King Aros: The Vessel of Hermes does consist
in the Degree of the Fire. The Root of our Art is a
Brittle Leprous Body and venomous matter which destroys
all mineral and metallic bodies and reduces them into a
powder. It coagulates Mercury by its fumes.
Myriam
added, by saying: I swear unto thee by the living God,
that if the before-mentioned venomous matter be
dissolved and opened, it coagulates Mercury into Luna,
by its strength, and tinges Jupiter into Luna and the
Art is in all the Metals, but especially in the Fixt
metals, wherein lie the Tingeing Elements.
Paracelsus ~
The Philosophical Canons
[ 44 ] The
Philosophers’ work can be carried on without much labour
or expense at all ties, in every place, and by all, if
only the true and sufficient matter be forthcoming.
[ 87 ] The long
method is the open secret of philosophy, but it is a
veil and an evasion.
[ 88 ] There is a
certain short method by which the Sulfur is removed from
gold and silver, whereby every Mercury is permanently
changed into gold or silver.
[ 119 ] The Wise
reduce years to months, months to weeks, weeks to days
Eirenaeus
Philalethes ~ Ripley Revived
An Exposition Upon
Sir G. Ripley’s Epistle --- I know many pitiful
Sophisters do dote on many Stones, Vegetable, Animal,
and Mineral; and some to those add the fiery Angelical,
Paradaical Stone, which they call a Wonder-working
Essence; and because the mark they aim at is so great,
the ways also by which they would attain their scope,
they make also agreeable, that is a double way; One way
they call Via Humida, the other they call Via
Sicca, (to use their languages:) the latter way is
the Labyrinthian path, which is fit only for the great
ones of the earth to tread in; the other the Daedalean
Path, an easie way of small cost for the poor of the
world to enterprise.
But this I know, and can
testifie, that there is but one way, and bit only one
Regimen, no more colours than ours; and what we say or
write otherwise, is but to deceive the unwary: For if
every thing in the world ought to have its proper
causes, there cannot be any one end which is produced
from two wayes of working on distinct Principles.
Therefore we protest, and
must again admonish the Reader, that in our former
writings) we have concealed much, by reason of the two
ways we have insinuated, which we will briefly touch;
There is one Work of ours, which is the Play of
Children, and the Work of Women, and that is
Decoction by the Fire; and we protest that the lowest
degree of this our work, is, that the matter be stirred
up, and may hourly circulate without fear o breaking the
Vessel, which for this reason ought to be very strong;
but our lineal Decoction is an Internal Work, which
advances every day and hour, and is distinct from that
of outward heat, and therefore is both invisible and
insensible…
But trust me this is not
for a Tyro, nor for every one of us, unless he have the
Secret from his own Studies, and not by Tradition from a
Master or Guide. Know then that this fore-recited way is
true, but involved with a thousand broileries.
But our way which is an
easie way, and in which no man may erre, our broad way,
our Linear way, we have vowed never to reveal it but in
Metaphors; I being moved with pity, will hint it to you.
Take that which is not yet perfect, nor yet wholly
imperfect, but in a way to perfection and out of it make
what is most noble and most perfect: This you may
conceive to be an easier Receipt, then to take that
which is already perfect, and extract out of it what is
imperfect, and then make it perfect, and after out of
that perfection to draw a plusquam perfection: and yet
this is true, and we have wrought it, And because it is
an immense Labour for any to undertake, we describe that
way; but this last discovery which I hinted in few
words, is it which no man ever did so plainly lay open,
nor may any man make it more plain, upon pain of an
Anathema…
Pray then to God, that he
would be propitious unto your studies and labours, in
giving thee the true knowledge of this secret Mystery;
it is the gift of God, I have holpen thee what I can,
but venture not to practice barely upon my words, for
know that what I have only hinted, is far more then what
I have discovered; and what I have declared to thy first
apprehension most openly, hath yet its lurking Serpent
under the green Grass, I mean some hidden thing which
thou oughtest to understand, which thou being Cock-sure
at first blush wilt neglect; but yet it will bite thee
by the heel when thou approachest to practice, and make
thee begin again, and it may be at last throw away all
as a man desperate: for know that this is an Art very
Cabalistical, and we do study expression such as we know
will suit almost with any mans fancy, in one place or
other; but be sure to take this Maxim from one who knows
best the sence of what he hath written: Where we speak
most plainly, there be most circumspect, for we do not
go about to betray the Secrets of Nature; especially
then in those places which seem to give Receipts so
plain as you would desire, suspect either a Metaphor, or
else be sure that something or other is supprest, which
thou wilt hardly without Inspiration ever find of thy
self, which in tryal will make all thy confident
knowledge vanish; yet to a Son of Art, we have written
that which never heretofore was by any revealed…
For ‘tis a Labour hardly to be
borne,
So many tricks and turnings in it be,
And he that tryeth it is surely forlorne,
Unless a crafty Master, credit me;
For I have tried both, yet could not see
How any in this way can be secure:
I therefore who have vowed secrecy
Have writ this way, which we can scarce endure
For knowledge-sake to try, its ease will none
allure.
Our Kingly road I also
hinted have,
Our way in which a Fool can hardly erre,
Our secret way, which much mad toyl will save,
Which is so easie, that I may aver,
If thou shouldst see it, thou wouldst it prefer
To any earthly pleasure; yet beware
That you mistake not, for I do aver,
A mingled Doctrine these lines do declare,
I or both ways in this Book of mine do claim a
share.
Learn to distinguish every
sentence well,
And know to what Work it doth appertain;
This is great skill, which few as I can tell
By all their reading yet could ere attain,
And yet of Theory this is the main:
Also to know accordingly to give
Due heat, which in one way thou must be fain
T’ increase ten-fold, thou mayst me well believe,
For what we decoct, t’other away will drive.
Also their Operations
different
Appear, the one thou must sublime and boyl,
O tedious way! In which much time is spent,
And many errours, which the Work will spoyl:
The other silently doth make no toyl,
Like the still voice which to Eliah came,
About which Work thou needest not to broyl,
Nor wantst thou fiery Vulcan’s parching flame,
A far more gentle heat begins and ends this Game.
But if thou canst each Work
perform apart,
And knowst them afterward to reconcile,
Then art thou Master of a Princely Art,
The very success will thy hopes beguile;
Thou hast all Natures Works ranks in a File,
And all her Treasures at command dost keep,
On thee the Fate shall never dare but smile,
No Mystery is now for thee too deep,
Th’ art Natures Darling, whether thou dost wake or
sleep.
Pardon my plainness, if the
Art thou knowst,
‘Twas the fruit of my untamed desire
To profit many; and without a boast,
No man above my Candour shall aspire:
My zeal was kindled with Minerva’s Fire,
And thou who to this Art wilt now apply,
My Book in Natures way shall lead thee higher,
Then ever thou alone mayst hope to fly,
If only thou shalt favour’d be by Destiny.
Peruse these lines, and
being read, review
And read again, and on them meditate,
Each reading shall fresh Mysteries and new
Discover, which are scatter’d in each Gate;
For they so linked are, that all relate
To each, and we our words have woven so,
That thou mayst soon erre by misleading Fate,
Unless for to distinguish thou do know;
Remember that ‘mongst Briars thick, sweet Roses
grow.
Eir.
Philalethes ~ An Open Entrance to the Closed Palace
of the King
Chapter XIX --- This method has been followed by
many Sages, but it is exceedingly slow and tedious, and
is only for the rich of the earth. Moreover, when you
have got this Sulfur do not think that you possess the
Stone, but only its true matter, which you may seek in
an imperfect thing, and find it within a week, by our
easy yet rare way, reserved of God for his poor,
contemned, and abject saints...
This is the
Great Labyrinth in which most beginners go astray,
because the Sages in writing of these ways as two ways,
purposely obscure the fact that they are only one way
(though of course the one is more direct than the
other)... I know both ways, and prefer the shorter one;
but I have described the longer one as well in order
that I may not draw down upon myself the wrath of the
"Sages". The great difficulty which discourages all
beginners is not of nature's making: the Sages have
created it by speaking of the longer operation when they
mean the shorter one, and vice versa.
Eugenius
Philalethes ~ A Short Enquiry Concerning the Hermetic
Art
"There is a
pure Matter" (saith another) "which is the Matter of
Gold, containing in itself the heat that giveth
increase" (Fire of Generation). This is locked under
thick Folds in common Gold; nor is it to be extracted,
but by a strong and tedious Decoction, which is a Work
liable to many Errors, and hath always occasioned those
that wrought in it to complain of the length and trouble
of it. But in the other Work, the Body is soon
dissolved, by a sweet and kindly bath, or moist Fire.
As the
former path requires much Pain and Patience to effect
the Work, so this requires great Skill and Application
to find it out, being deeply concealed. The Masters of
these Secrets do also affirm, that these Works (which
are all one in the Beginning) may be conjoined, and made
their Grand Medicine. And I have been informed, that the
way of making them one is but slenderly hid...
And that he
will find himself in the High Road of Nature which is
that Secret Way of the Philosophers, viz., most easie,
delightful and speedy; in which are no Storms, no
Heterogeneities, nor any Fire, but the gentle one of
Generation.
Norton
asserts, That there are but few clerks that comprehend
this Work, it being truly Philosophical. And he saith,
That in this Work you must not begin with Quicksilver
and Metals, as if in another Work you might; which other
Work, he adds, if it be done in three years, would be a
blessed Chance, and which belongs to great Men; advising
poor Men not to meddle with it, for that Errors in it
may be committed above a hundred ways; that it is a work
of Pain and labour, as well as full of Perils.
George
Ripley ~ Medulla Alchymiae
The first
Matter of this unclean Alchymical Body is a Viscous
Water, which is thickened in the Bowels of the Earth.
And therefore of this Impure Body (as Vincent saith) is
made the great Elixir of the Red and White, whose name
is Adrop, or Adrup, viz., the Philosophers' lead. From
the which Raymundus commands an Oyl to be drawn: from
the Lead of the Philosophers (saith he) let there be an
Oyl drawn of a Golden Colour; if you can separate this
Oyl (wherein is Our second Tincture and Fire of nature)
from its Phlegm, which is its waterishness, and wisely
search out the Secret thereof, you may in the space of
30 days perform the Work of the Philosophers' Stone.
Martin
Rulandus ~ A Lexicon of Alchemy
Water --- Dry
Water which does not wet the hands. It must be
remembered in this connection that those Adepts who give
this name to their Mercury are followers of the Dry Way
in the operation of the Magisterium; those who, like
Paracelsus, Basil Valentin, etc., are operators of the
Humid Way, apply to the same substance the appellation
of Virgin's Milk, because it is a white liquor which
does wet the hands, while the other is a fluid Mercury
of the nature of Vulgar Quicksilver.
Gold: Its Artificial
Production --- ...This chemical secret is
contained in the Hermetic Cabinet, and the
facility with which the experiment can be performed has
led many persons to undertake it. The authority cited in
support of it is no less than that of the most learned
Basil Valentine, who also affirms that the operation of
the Grand Work of the Philosophers can be performed in
less than three or four days, that the cost should not
exceed three or four florins, and a few earthen vessels
are sufficient for the whole experiment.
Solinus
Salztal ~ Fountain of Philosophic Salts
At this
point the old man said: "Behold, now I have doubled
mercury in my possession. Now I own it --- white lily,
powder of adamantine, chief central poison of the
dragon, spirit of arsenic, green lion, incombustible
spirit of the moon, life and death of all metals, moist
radical, universal dissolving nutriment, true menstruum
of the philosophers, which without doing any damage or
harm reduces metal to first matter. This is the true
water for sprinkling, in which the living seeds of
metals inhere, and from which other metals can be
produced. Through this water their potency remains in
solution in this water. In all kinds of aqua fortis and
other such unknown philosophic waters, they lose and
relinquish this potency. In this exalted water is the
true vitriol of the wise, of which Rupicessa said:
"Vitriol or salt is the proper seed to generate all
metals, including both the remote and the proximate
seed." I will show you its power as clearly as in a
mirror: for this water from the fountain radically,
silently, and wondrously dissolves all metals, white and
black, by its own innate power and magnetic force. In an
instant it liquifies metals by its own internal fire. It
opens their pores and enters them like feminine seed,
attracting the soul of the metal. It leaves the lifeless
body behind like refuse that cannot endure the fire.
Certainly it is a very marvelous thing that this water
strips metals of their dignity. It is the dry path of
the philosophers, by which metals are reduced to their
first matter. It is considered very swift, but
compendious. Since we want to proceed on the humid path,
in which common water is added to this water to make it
liquid, we must first make the metals very bright. This
operation takes a great deal of time and effort, but it
is beautiful to look at...
Theophrastus
~ The Sacred Art
The white
augmented thrice within a fire
In three days time is altogether
changed
To lasting yellow and this yellow
then
Will give its hue to every whitened
form.
This power to tinge and shape
produces gold
And thus a wondrous marvel is
revealed.
Arnold de
Villanova ~ Rosarium Philosophorum
Aristotle in the
Second Book of his Politics --- There is a
double way in this art according to the Philosophers,
that is --- universal and particular. The universal way
is easy and rare, and it is that which is brought forth
from true and natural beginnings, by which a speedy and
reformative virtue doth presently and in a moment
hardens Mercury, and it tinctureth any metal that is
duly prepared, into true Gold or Silver.
But the second way is
called particular and it is hard and laboursome. Note
this, although Alchemy in the universal way be partly
natural and partly artificial, yet it is more natural
than otherwise, because by nature no strange or foreign
thing is brought in the way of true Alchemy, for nature
hath whereon to work because actives are joined to
passives by a competent union and application, but the
rest nature worketh by herself.