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all ye seekers after this Science and Wisdom, that whatsoever the envious may have enjoined in their books
concerning the composition of natures which agree together, in savour there is only one, albeit to sight they are as
diverse as possible. Know, also, that the thing which they have described in so many ways follows and attains its
companion without fire, even as the magnet follows the iron, to which the said thing is not vainly compared, nor to a
seed, nor to a matrix, for it is also like unto these. And this same thing, which follows its companion without fire,
causes many colours to appear when embracing it, for this reason, that the said one thing enters into every regimen,
and is found everywhere, being a stone, and also not a stone; common and precious; hidden and concealed, yet
known by everyone; of one name and of many names, which is the Spume of the Moon. This stone, therefore, is not
a stone, because it is more precious; without it Nature never operates anything; its name is one, yet we have called it
by many names on account of the excellence of its nature.
The Turba answereth:- O! Master! wilt thou not mention some of those names for the guidance of seekers?
And he:- It is called White Ethelia, White Copper, and that which flies from the fire and alone whitens copper.
Break up, therefore, the White Stone, and afterwards coagulate it with milk. Then pound the calx in the mortar,
taking care that the humidity does not escape from the vessel; but coagulate it in the vessel until it shall become a
cinder. Cook also with Spume of Luna and regulate. For ye shall find the stone broken, and already imbued with its
own water. This, therefore, is the stone which we call by all names, which assimilates the work and drinks it, and is
the stone out of which also all colours appear. Take, therefore, that same gum, which is from the scoriae, and mix
with cinder of calx, which you have ruled, and with the faeces which you know, moistening with permanent water.
Then look and see whether it has become a powder, but if not, roast in a fire stronger than the first fire, until it be
pounded. Then imbue with permanent water, and the more the colours vary all the more suffer them to be heated.
Know, moreover, that if you take white quicksilver, or the Spume of Luna, and do as ye are bidden, breaking up
with a gentle fire, the same is coagulated, and becomes a stone. Out of this stone, therefore, when it is broken up,
many colours will appear to you. But herein, if any ambiguity occur to you in our discourse, do as ye are bidden,
ruling the same until a white and coruscating stone shall be produced, and so ye find your purpose.
The Fourteenth Dictum.
Acsubofen saith:- Master, thou hast spoken without envy, even as became thee, and for the same may God reward
thee!
Pythagoras saith:- May God also deliver thee, Acsubofen, from envy!
Then he:- Ye must know, O Assembly of the Wise, that sulphurs are contained in sulphurs, and humidity in
humidity.
The Turba answereth:- The envious, O Acsubofen, have uttered something like unto this! Tell us, therefore, what is
this humidity?
And he:- Humidity is a venom, and when venom penetrates a body, it tinges it with an invariable colour, and in no
wise permits the soul to be separated from the body, because it is equal thereto. Concerning this, the envious have
said: When one flies and the other pursues, then one seizes upon the other, and afterwards they no longer flee,
because Nature has laid hold of its equal, after the manner of an enemy, and they destroy one another. For this
reason, out of the sulphureous mixed sulphur is produced a most precious colour, which varies not, nor flees from
the fire, when the soul enters into the interior of the body and holds the body together and tinges it. I will repeat my
words in Tyrian dye. Take the Animal which is called Kenckel, since all its water is a Tyrian colour, and rule the
same with a gentle fire, as is customary, until it shall become earth, in which there will be a little colour. But if you
wish to obtain the Tyrian tincture, take the humidity which that thing has ejected, and place it therewith gradually in
a vessel, adding that tincture whereof the colour was disagreeable to you. Then cook with that same marine water
until it shall become dry. Afterwards moisten with that humour, dry gradually, and cease not to imbue it, to cook,
and to dry, until it be imbued with all its humour. Then leave it for several days in its own vessel, Until the most
precious Tyrian colour shall come out from it to the surface. Observe how I describe the regimen to you! Prepare it
with the urine of boys, with water of the sea, and with permanent clean water, so that it may be tinged, and decoct
with a gentle fire, until the blackness altogether shall depart from it, and it be easily pounded. Decoct, therefore, in
its own humour until it clothe itself with a red colour. But if ye wish to bring it to the Tyrian colour, imbue the same
with continual water, and mix, as ye know to be sufficient, according to the rule of sight; mix the same with
permanent water sufficiently, and decoct until rust absorb the water. Then wash with the water of the sea which thou
hast prepared, which is water of desiccated calx; cook until it imbibe its own moisture; and do this day by day. I tell
you that a colour will thence appear to you the like of which the Tyrians have never made. And if ye wish that it
should be a still more exalted colour, place the gum in the permanent water, with which ye shall dye it alternately,
and afterwards desiccate in the sun. Then restore to the aforesaid water and the black Tyrian colour is intensified.
But know that ye do not tinge the purple colour except by cold. Take, therefore, water which is of the nature of cold,
and steep wool therein until it extract the force of the tincture from the water. Know also that the Philosophers have
called the force which proceeds from that water the Flower. Seek, therefore, your intent in the said water; therein
place what is in the vessel for days and nights, until it be clothed with a most precious Tyrian colour.
The Fifteenth Dictum.
Frictes saith:- O all ye seekers after Wisdom, know that the foundation of this Art, on account of which many have
perished, is one only. There is one thing which is stronger than all natures, and more sublime in the opinion of
philosophers, whereas with fools it is more common than anything. But for us it is a thing which we reverence. Woe
unto all ye fools! How ignorant are ye of this Art, for which ye would die if ye knew it! I swear to you that if kings
were familiar with it, none of us would ever attain this thing. O how this nature changeth body into spirit! O how
admirable is Nature, how she presides over all, and overcomes all!
Pythagoras saith:- Name this Nature, O Frictes!
And he:- It is a very sharp vinegar, which makes gold into sheer spirit, without which vinegar, neither whiteness, nor
blackness, nor redness, nor rust can be made. And know ye that when it is mixed with the body, it is contained
therein, and becomes one therewith; it turns the same into a spirit, and tinges with a spiritual and invariable tincture,
which is indelible. Know, also, that if ye place the body over the fire without vinegar, it will be burnt and corrupted.
And know, further, that the first humour is cold. Be careful, therefore, of the fire, which is inimical to cold.
Accordingly, the Wise have said: "Rule gently until the sulphur becomes incombustible." The Wise men have [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]