10
Of ye first gate 1
Duc nigras pecudes ea prima piacula sunto.
ffirst calcine & after yt putrefy, dissolve destill sublime de
scend & fix wth aqua vitæ oft times. Ripl. Epist.
We have 3 mercuries w
ch Raymond calls his
☿ies menstrues
two of w
ch are superficial y
e 3
d essential to sun & moon
W
th y
e first we naturally calcine
bodies perfect bodies, but not
any uncleane ones except y
e green Lyon, who is y
e mean
of
joyning tinctures between y
e ☉ &
☽ of joyning tinctures. With
y
e 2
d, w
ch is a vegetable humidity reviving w
t was dead y
e
material & formal principles most be losed. W
th y
e 3
d
w
ch is a permanent incombustible unctuous humidity, o
r fire
natural, Hermes tree is burnt to ashes. Ripl.
Epist Pref.
Solution (wch is ye 2d Gate) intenuates thick things by ver
tue of ye first menstrue clear & bright in wch or bodies
eclypsed be to sight (viz in ye black pouder) & from their
hard & dry compaction form relent into their first matter
Ripley <illeg.> Gate 2.
The stone congeled
& not yet cold is nourished w
th its own menstrual
w
ch water
only [our 1st fire] did bring out of y
e earth [our matter] whose colour is green
in y
e first showing [during y
e digestion to
ye 1st putrefaction] & for
that time y
e Sun is eclipsed & darkned taking his course by
night through y
e north. This menstrue [brought out of o
r
earth
by the water] is y
e blood of y
e green Lyon & not of Vitriol, as dame
Venus
[that water] can tell you if you ask her in y
e beginning of y
e
work. ffor this secret is hid by all Philosophers. Ripl. Gate
6 pag 167
Our Vulcan lunati
or
ye watery fire (chiefly described
by
Artephius &
Pontanus) is of y
e same nature w
ch o
r matter
& both must be prepared by the Artist. The sages are very
reserved about both. The property of this fire is to calcine
[by a putrefaction of 40 days
in ye first Gate & afterwards to] dissolve &
sublime y
e stone [in y
e 2
d.] Tis y
e only fire in y
e world
that can do this. Tis of y
e nature of calx & no wise
a stranger to y
e subject of Philosophy. Consider how
Geber teaches y
e sublimations of this art. ffor my part
I can say no more then Sidera Veneris et cornicula
tæ Dianæ tibi propitia sunto.
Le Triomphe p
42 43, 44
Happy is he yt doth not only know ye stone but
also how to convert it into water. This is ye chief secret
& Key of ye art, & cannot be otherwise done then by
or secret fire wch calcines, dissolves & sublimes ye stone.
ib. p. 61.
The heaven & stars & particularly ye sun & moon
are ye principle of this fountain of or living water. ffor
saith Cosmopolite ye water was useless unles drawn out
of ye rays of ye sun or of ye moon ib p 87, 88
To <illeg.>
Despaire not. seeke y
e source of y
e liquor of y
e sages
w
ch conteins all y
t is requisite for y
e work. 'Tis hidden
under a stone. Strike upon it w
th y
e rod of y
e magical
fire, & then will come out of it a clear fountain.
Afterwards prepare y
e kings bath w
th y
e blood of y
e inno
cents
& <illeg.> (w
ch is y
e 🜍s of )
& you shall have y
e mercury of y
e sages animated, that is y
e
grand Lunary, o
r incombustible oyle w
ch congeles in cold like
ice & melts in heat like butter, w
ch is
Trevisans clear
fountain & y
e great Alkahest ib. p. 144, 145.
The purification of metalls is done by many opera
tions. ffirst y
e culinary fire separate y
e heterogeneities
Then y
e secret fire produces y
e same effect but more
efficaciously by introducing a fiery spirit into y
e matter w
ch
opens
2
inwardly y
e secret gate w
ch sublitises & sublimes the pure
parts separating them from y
e terrestrial & adust parts.
The solution w
ch follows by the addition of y
e astral quin
tessence w
ch animates y
e stone makes in it a third
depuration & the destillation completes it. To these
several degres
of purgations philosophers give the
many names of as many
operations & of y
e conversion of y
e elements. ib p. 109
After I knew ye true matter I studied five years
before I could extract out of ye stone its pretious juice
by reason I knew not ye fire secret fire of ye sages
a water wch wets wch makes to flow out of this
Plant wch is dry in appearance, a water wch wets
not ye hands & wch by ye magical union of ye dry
water of ye sea of ye sages resolves it self into a
viscous water, a dry li mercurial liquor wch is ye
principle the foundation & ye Key of or art. ib p. 150
After I had this fire I erred several years be-
fore I could arrive at ye misterious fountain where
the King baths & renues himself [yt is at ye 3d men
strue made by conversions of Elements] ib. p. 151.
We first triturate ye stone; then separate by ye
secret fire the feces & terrestrial heterogeneities, then
sublime, then dissolve it wth ye [saturnal] water of ye sea of
the sages, then coct it to make it a perfect medi-
cine ib p 46.
The work beginns wth two Parabolic Rivers mixing
secretly in ye triangular stone & then ye secret fire
burns ye matter to separate ye feces. ib in Emblem.
Introitus apertus cap 2 saith The work begins w
th thre things the fire, the liquor
of y
e vegetable saturnia & y
e venereal bond of
☿ described in y
e 3
next chapters under y
e names of y
e Chalybs y
e magnes
& y
e <illeg.> Chaos of y
e sophi, w
ch Chaos is composed of heaven & earth
& y
e things therein, & is there called a volatile air.
This
<illeg.> chaos he tells you is composed of y
e fire <illeg.> fiery
Dragon & juice of Saturnia (that is of y
e fire & liquor
of y
e vegetable saturnia)
& ye f<illeg.> & flows in y
e fire
like a melted metal, & yet is volatile, & y
t in respect
of its various states tis called o
r Arsenick (or Orpiment)
our Air, o
r ☽ our magnet o
r Chalybs. And in y
e next
words teaches
ye further preparat how to
perfect & proceed on
w
th this Chaos: Learn saith he who y
e companions of
cadmus are
[ye infants of Abraham ye Iew] & w
t y
t serpent is w
ch devoured them
[ye King wth a great sword] &
what y
e hollow oak is to w
ch Cadmus fastned y
e serpent
unto. Learn w
ch Dianas Doves are w
ch do vanquish
y
e Green Lyon by aswaging him, [that is, learn to sublime
this oak by y
e central salt of Venus, (as he elswhere
expresses it) to infold Diana in y
e arms of Venus, by
w
ch means y
e activity & dissolving faculty of y
e salt is
asswaged.] And then learn to turn these Doves into y
e
Caducean rod of
☿ w
th w
ch he worketh wonders & what y
e
nymphs are viz
t two serpents about his rod &c w
ch
he infects by incantation, & calcines into a black powder
For wthout this golden rod upon wch ye two doves sit, there is no going down to hell.
The hollow oak ye rose tree & ye white heavy water, in ye 3d Embl. of Abraham ye Iew, compose this rod. Thus
also, as saith Mary, fumus complectitur fumum et herba alba crescens super monticulis capit utrum. Maier. symb. l. 2.
&c. Thus do
This rod as was said is y
e fire of y
e Sophi called above
y
e bond of
☿. Vnless you had rather there understand by
that bond, the mountain of
♀ &
☿ without y
eother two principles of ye fire & ye liquor of saturnia fire. This
rod is also
Philaletha's waterbearer
<illeg.> who was all one w
th
his water &
<illeg.> his silver-coloured pitcher; in w
ch pitcher
was conteined fire shining like a lamp from y
e center on y
e starry
surface. ffor y
e water saith
ye Cosmopolite is extracted
out of y
e rays of y
e Sun & Moon. This rod was anciently
painted thus
with wings (whence this figure
☿) & therefore
tis
3
volatile
Maier Embl. 10..
The two serpents saith
Flamel are the two
Dragons w
ch in y
e whole work devour each other y
e
one male w
thout wings y
e other female & winged &
therefore they are y
e Chalybs & Magnet prepared.
They are the king & Queen w
th w
ch Philo together
w
th y
e waterbearer
Philaletha begins y
e work. The
King
was <illeg.> is
there descibed
<sic> one of y
e 7 metals cloathed down to y
e
ground w
th a roab of Gold & w
th a crown of gold
He is prepared artificially for he called y
e Son of
y
e waterbearer & of y
e Queen that is of a substance
common to them both whereby he is extracted. He
lies hid in y
e bottom of y
e great sea of y
e world
w
thout blood & bone & can stop the high ships of this sea
that is
of retain y
e spirits of y
e world. He is y
e treasure lying
hid in y
e cælestial aqua vitæ of o
r sea & is extracted
out of
it by y
e great sea by o
r Magnet. The natural
way to take him is to turn him first into water &
then into earth (Instructio patris de arb. solar. c.3.) This
is the metalli
fixt salt, through y
e ☿ help of w
ch Mercu
after he had by his wings brought y
e King
up to his throne, (that is
ye rod of ☿ after
he became y
e rod of
☿) established an
everlasting Kingdom (
Snyders Metamorp. Cap.6
p.15.) the carbuncle set in Mars's crown (
Sny
ders ib p 23) the martial ruby w
ch w
th y
e venereal
Emrauld
wch were stuck in Diana's crown &, by y
e
help of w
ch Diana was to bear solary children (ib.
p. 42.) This is y
e spere of
♂ & y
e living gold of P
rs.
Our Vulcan
The other serpent is o
r matter,
Saturnia vegetabilis The Queen called by
Philaletha, Dame nature w
ch saith he must is pre saith he, is naked
(that is divested of its impurities,) & metamorphised
<illeg.>
from its first state, after w
ch change she is beautifull
& a body w
ch is all spirit, that is a spiritual body. She
is the waterbearers daughter conteined in his pitcher invisibly
& arising out of y
e water
whereof of ye pitcher in w
ch was seen a lamp
burning, that is (as cosmopolite saith) out of y
e rays of y
e
moon. ffor this matter must be taken before y
e sun hath
cast his rays upon it. This matter saith y
e author of instructio
de arbore solari is o
r terra virginea o
r first matter no
no
<
sic> where to be found above y
e earth tis a corporeal spirit
& spiritual body, fat,
viscous heavy & juicy. Our niter, the mother
of
all metalls, o
r Hermaphrodite consisting of two natures
🜍 &
☿ (
ye w
ch Snyders calls y
e Solary soul & doubled spirit.)
Tis o
r Chameleon & Proteus. Tis not that earth w
ch we
tread on but that w
ch (by sublimation) hangs over o
r heads.
w
ch y
e wise call their terrra virginea foliata, (called
by Hermes a terra alba foliata in qua aurum seminan
dum & by
Pierce Terra terræ, that is after its prepa
tion. Tis y
e heavenly benediction indowed w
th y
e
<illeg.>tue of y
e starry heaven. Tis prepared by bringing
down y
e [sublimed] moon from heaven &
[by precipitation] placing her upon earth
&
then Turning her
first first into water & then into earth. For tis
necessary in y
e beginning to turn this matter into wa
ter by a singular & hidden artifice & after it has
naturally evaporated
then by a gentle & natural
hidden means
to turn it into earth: w
ch being done you shall have
the terra virginea of the wise. Thus far y
e author of
Instructio de arbore solari: Our Antimony, saith
Maier, is y
e
4
King w
ch crys in the
waters of ye Sea, Qui me liberabit
<illeg.> ego illum beabo abex aquis et in siccum: [denuò] reducet
Ego hunc divitijs beabo.
This is ye aqua salis nitri de terra alba in qua est rivulus et unda riva si ad genua fove foderis. Di
Thomas Antimonio Hispanico, non
tamen abs
singulari præparatione usus est, cum ex vulgari
bus ut Greverus loquitur, physica faciendæ sint Quicquid
enim opus philosophicum ingreditur, debet esse purum
homogeneum ab omni sua heterogeneitate et terra su
perflua purgatum in substantiam claram, operi physico
conventientem, quæ vel tota volet vel tota in fundo re
maneat pro operationis diversitate. Hæc
Mayerus l.8
Symb.
Our Vulcan Lunati
or fire described by Artephius, (saith y
e Triumph p 42) is of y
e same
nature w
th o
r matter & both must be prepared by the
Artist. The sages are very reserved about both. Alij
appellaverunt hanc terram, saith
Lullius, Leonem virid
fortem in prælio, alij draconem devorantem congelan
tem vel mortificantem caudam suam, i. e. suum argentum
vivum; alij appellaverunt illum locum desertum quia
depopulata est a suis spiritibus, alij Hyle occultum quia
totius naturæ est fundæmentum.
et sub, Hæc
Lullius
apud
Maierum,
Symb. l. 9. Cadmus in Rhodum veniens
Neptuno ædificavit templum et ollam æream obtulit
cum hac inscriptione vatidica, Terram Rhodum a ser
pentibus vastatum iri: quæ verba
totam rite intellecta totam
artem continent.
Maierus Hierogl l.1. p. 45 The double
saturn is y
e earth of y
e high mountain [or sublimed matter]
in w
ch y
e Dragons & Griffins of y
e north made their nests
& abode, in y
e second
ffigu Emblem of
Abraham ye Iew.
<illeg.>
<illeg.> Ascende in montem saith Flammel ut vegetabilem
Saturniam regalem et mineralem herbam videas, succus
eius sumatur purus abjectis fæcibus verus est hic ☿us Philos.
Flamm
Saturn, saith
Basil Valentine, will put into thy hand a
deep glittering minera w
ch in his mine is grown of y
e
first matter of all metalls. If that minera after its pre
paration w
ch he will shew unto thee, is set in a strong
sublimation mixed w
th three parts of bole or tyle meal
then riseth to y
e highest mount a noble sublimate,
like feathers or alumen plumosum w
ch in
in due time
dissolveth into a strong & effectual water w
ch bringeth thy
[martial] seed very suddenly into the first volatility if so there
be added to it a due quantity of [o
r fiery] water that it
may be dissolved therein. ffor then these two [mercuries] the
soul & y
e spirit unite & are able to ascend above y
e
highest mountain & stay inseparably together.
Bas. Val. Elucid
dation of ye Keys p. 127.
Now the rod & these two serpents are y
e three
principles & 4 elements, one of y
e principles viz
t y
e earth
or
☿ in several states being put for two
prin elements air & earth. These
are y
e elements w
ch Turba mentions in y
e beginning &
wh
whose conjunction he thus describes. Our Gumm, saith he, is y
e
water permanent w
ch is not mended but by Gold & w
ch Mer-
chants would not sell so cheap if they knew it. Accipe ita
gumæ candidissimæ [i.e.
sublimatæ præparatæ] partem unam et
urinæ albi vituli
partem [i.e.
♀is vel materiæ
æ] partem aliam
at ex felle piscis [Echineis]
qui aurum et partem unam et
de corpore gumæ [i.e. vel
purpuri impuri vel potius auri
de quo sine quo jam ante dixit
gumam emendari non posse] partem unam, & decoquite per
quadraginta dies. Whence
Bacon, Fac Elementorum æ-
quationem et habes. But yet y
e urin or water hides
in it two other substances not here mentioned. For Hermes
describes the first conjunction thus Intelligite filij sapien
tum scientiam quatuor Elementorum. Est enim eorum occul
ta operatio nam nihil agit nisi componatur Scitote filij
Sapient
5
sapientum quod priscorum Philosophorum aquæ est
divisio, quæ dividit ipsam in alia quatuor: unum [Solis]
duobus [Lunæ] & tria [Cad.
☿ij] uni [
☉is]: quorum colori [i.e.
Sulphuri colorum causæ] tertia pars est, humori scilicet
coagulanti
Duæ verè tertia [in
☉e et
☿io,] duæ verò
tertiæ aquæ sunt pondera. Accipe de humore
<illeg.>
[i.e. caduceo[ mercuriali] partis[i.e. aqua] unciam unam
et mediam & de rubore meridionali
[i.e. <illeg.>] id est
anima solis [seu igne] quartam partem id est mediam
unciam & de Seyre citrino [i.e. terra folijs aureis mi
cante] similiter unciam mediam & de auripigmento
[i.e. aere albo] dimidium quæ sunt octo id est unciæ
tres. Scitote quod vitis sapientum
succus [liquor vegetabilis] in quibus [diebus] (maier sym) in tribus extrahitur,
& vinum [forte sanguis leonis viridis] in fine triginta per
agitur. Intelligite igitur operationem: decoctio ipsum
minuit, tinctura ipsum augmentat, quia Luna post 15
dies diminuitur & in tertio [
trigentatricesimo] augmentatur. Hoc
igitur est initium et finis. Ecce vobis exposui quod
celatum fuerat. cap.1. And a little after in ovo nostro
compositio ex quatuor elementis coaptata et composita.
cap 2. And again Et scias fili quod lapis noster ex plu
ribus rebus & varijs coloribus
[id est sulphuribus] & ex quatuor coadu
natus et compositus est elementis quæ nos oportet di-
videre. cap.2. The proportion in this first work
(or perhaps in that of
♄ & his sith)
Maier describes by
say that his Mare & Mule would ingender w
thout this
proportion of their foder,
Dimidia quod agentis et illius adjice duplo.
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