Chymical Phantasticks dream for although the ☉ joyn with our ☿ yet a year after you shall separate each from the other in its own nature unless you decoct them together in a convenient degree of fire otherwise they will not be altered he who will affirm the contrary is no Philosopher They who wander in Errours Path do dream that it is a matter of very light concernment to dissolve the perfect bodies in our ☿ in so much that according to their imaginations Gold in this will be devoured in the twinkling of an eye not well understanding the place of Bernard Trevisan in his Parable concerning his Golden Book irrecoverably drowned in his Fountain But how hard a Work it is to dissolve Bodies they can witness who have taken pains in this dissolution I my self who have been oft taught this Lesson by ocular testimony can be a witness that it is a most ingenious thing to govern the fire even after the matter is prepared such a fire as may dissolve the Bodies as they ought to be dissolved without burning their tinctures Attend then to my Doctrin Take the Body which I have shewed you and put it into the water of our Sea and decoct it continually with a due heat of fire that both Dews and Clouds may ascend and drops may descend both night and day without intermission and know that in this Circulation the ☿ doth arise in its former nature and leaves the body beneath its former nature so long until after a long time the body begin to retain part of its soul so by degrees both begin to partake each of other but because the whole water doth not ascend by sublimation part of it remains below in the bottom of the vessel therefore is the body boyled in the water that remains beneath and by its means it is sifted and the drops which are continually running down do perforate the masse marvelously and by continual Circulation the water is made more subtle and doth sweetly extract the soul of the Sun so by the mediation of the soul the spirit is reconciled with the body and an union of both is made at the utmost within fifty dayes and this Operation is called the Regimen of ☿ because the ☿ is circulated above and in it the body of the Sun is boyled beneath and the body is in his work passive until the colours shall appear which will be a little about the twentieth day in a good and continual ebullition which colours are afterwards increased multiplyed and varied until all be at last completed in black of the blackest most black which the fiftieth day will give thee If Fates thee call CHAP. 25. Of the second Regimen of the Work which is of Saturn HAving run through the Regimen of ☿ which is to strip the King of his golden Robes to assault the Lion with divers conflicts to weary him and at length to kill him the next Regimen that apears is that of ♄ for it is the will of God that the Work when once it 's begun should be carried on even unto the end and the law of those Operations is that the ending of one is the entrance of another the period of one the beginning of another Nor doth the Regimen of ☿ sooner pass away but his succesor ♄ comes in who is the next higher in succession the Lion dying the Crow is ingendred This Regimen lineal in respect of the colour for there is but one only colour and that is the blackest black but neither fumes nor winds nor any symbole of Life only the Compound will at some seasons appear dry otherwhiles boyling like to melted Pitch O sad sight the Image of eternal Death But withal a most pleasant Messenger to the Artist for the blackness is not ordinary intense so that it shines again for blackness and when thou seest thy Matter swelling beneath like unto a Paste rejoyce for know that within this there is shut a quickening spirit which in its appointed time will restore Life from the Almighty and these Carkases Be thou only careful of the fire which thou must be sure to govern with a sound judgement and I swear unto thee upon the Faith of an honest Man that if thou urge thy Fire so as to make ought to sublime in the dayes of this Regimen thou wilt destroy the Work irrecoverably be content then with good Trevisan to be detained in prison forty dayes and nights and suffer the tender Nature to remain below in the bottom which is the Nest of their Conception knowing for certain then that when the period of time is expired which the Almighty hath appointed the spirit will arise glorious and glorifie its body it will ascend I say and be circulated sweetly and without violence and from the Centre it shall ascend unto the Heavens and again from the Heavens it shall descend to the Centre and it shall receive the vertue of that which is above and that which is beneath CHAP. 26. Of the Regimen of Jupiter AFter black ♄ ♃ succeeds who is of divers colours for after the putrefaction and corruption which is made in the bottom of the vessel through the command of God thou shalt again see change the colours and a circulating sublimation This Regimen is not durable for it continues not more than three weeks space in which time all colours imaginable in the World will be to be seen of which no certain account can possibly be rendred In these dayes the showres shall be multiplyed continually and at the last after all these things most beautiful to behold there shall shew it self a whiteness at the sides of the vessel like unto rays or hairs then rejoyce for now thou art hapily run through the Regimen of ♃ The greatest caution in this Regimen is lest when the Chickens of the Crow have left their Nest they return to it again also lest you draw out the water too immoderately so the earth beneath want it and be left dry and unprofitable in the bottom lastly lest thou waterest thy earth so intemperately as to suffocate it which errour thou shalt help by the good Regimen of external Fire CHAP. 27. Of the Regimen of Luna AFter the finishing of Jupiter's Regimen about the closing of the fourth moneth the sign of the Moon Crescent shall appear unto thee and know that the whole Regimen of ♃ is imployed about the washing of Letton the washing Spirit is very white in its nature but the body which is to be washed is very black in the passage whereof to white all the middle colours shall be seen after which all will become white not in a day but gradually it shall arise from white to the whitest of all and know that in this Operation there shall be a season in which all shall appear like to liquid Argent Vive and this is called The sealing of the Mother in the belly of her own Infant which she brought forth and in this Regimen there shall
time which after large showers became clear again Thus came out an Hermaphroditical ☿ him therefore they put in the fire and they coagulated him in time yet not very long time and in his coagulation they found most pure ☉ and ☽ Then returning to themselves they considered that this depurated ☿ not as yet coagulated was not as yet a Metal but volatile enough and they saw that in its distillation it left nothing remaining in the bottom therefore they termed it their unripe ☉ and their living ☽ they also considered that being that out of which the true first Ens of Gold was and being as yet volatil what should it be but the ground wherein ☉ being sown would be encreased in his virtue therefore they put ☉ in the same and to their admiration the fire became therein volatile the hard soft the coagulated dissolved Nature her self being amazed thereat Therefore they Married these two together and shut them in a glass and placed them at the fire and governed the Work a long time as Nature required so the vivified became dead and the dead living the body putrified and rose a glorious Spirit and the soul is at last resolved into a Quintessence the highest Medicine for Animals Metals and Vegetals CHAP. 12. Of the manner of making the perfect Magistery in general VVE ought to give immortal thanks to God because he hath shewed these Secrets of Nature to us which he hath hidden from the eyes of most men Those things therefore which are freely given to us by that great Giver we will lay open freely and faithfully to other studious men Know therefore That the greatest secret of our Operation is no other thing than a cohobation of the Natures of one thing above the other until the most digested virtue be extracted out of the digested body by the Crude one But there is hereto requisite first an exact preparation and fitness of the things that enter into the Work secondly a good disposing of external things thirdly things being thus prepared there is required a good Regimen fourthly a fore-knowledge of the appearances in the Work is required that your procedure therein be not blindfold fifthly Patience that the Work be not hastened or head-longly governed Of all which we will speak in order as much as one Brother to another CHAP. 13. Of the Vse of a ripe 🜠in the Work of the Elixir VVE have spoken of the necessity of the ☿ and have delivered many secrets of ☿ which before me were barren enough to the World because almost all Chymical Books do abound either with obscure Aenigmas or sophistical Operations or with a heap of rough and uncouth words I have not done so resigning my will in this thing to the Divine Pleasure who in this last period of the World seems to me to be about the opening of these Treasures Therefore I do no more fear that the Art will be disesteemed far be it from me this cannot be for true Wisdom will defend it self in external Honour I could wish That Gold and Silver would at last be of as mean in esteem as Dirt which hath been hitherto the great Idol adored by the whole World then we who know these things should not need so studiously to hide our selves For we judge our selves to have received as it were the Curse it self of Cain for which we weep and sigh that is to say We are driven as 't were from the Face of the Lord and from the pleasant Society which we heretofore had with our Friends without fear But now we are tossed up and down and as it were beset with Furies nor can we suppose our selves safe in any one place long We oftentimes take up Complaints and the Lamentations of Cain unto the Lord Behold whosoever shall find me shall kill me We Travel through many Nations just like Vagabonds and dare not take upon us the Care of a Family neither do we possess any certain Habitation And although we possess all things yet can we use but a few What therefore are we happy in excepting speculation only wherein we meet with great satisfaction of the Mind Many do believe that are strangers to the Art that if they should enjoy it they would do such and such things so also even we did formerly believe but being grown more wary by the hazard we have run we have chosen a more secret Method For whosoever hath once escaped the eminent perils of his Life he will believe me become more wise for the time to come 'T is a Proverb Batchelors Wives and Maids Children are well cloathed or nourished I have found the World placed in a most wicked posture so that there is scarce a Man found whatsoever Face he bears of Honesty and howsoever he seems to heed publick things That doth not propound unto himself some private base and unworthy end Nor is any mortal Man able to effect any thing alone no not in the works of Mercy except he would run the hazard of his Head which my self have of late experienced in some strange or forreign places where I have administred the Medicine to some ready to dye distressed and afflicted with the miseries of the Body and they having recovered miraculously there hath presently been a rumour spread of the Elixir of the Wisemen insomuch that once I have been forced to flie by night with exceeding great troubles having changed my garments shaved my head put on other hair and altered my name else I had fallen into the hands of wicked Men that lay in wait for me meerly for suspition only accompanied with the most greedy thirst after Gold I could reckon up many such like things which will seem ridiculous to some for they 'll say Did I but know these and these things I would do otherwise than so But yet let them know that it is a tedious thing for ingenious Men to have converse with blockish Men. And as for those that are ingenious they are subtile crafty quick-sighted and some of them have as many eyes as Argus some are curious some are Machiavilians that search into the life manners and actions of Men most throughly from whom to hide our self is very difficult especially if there is any familiar knowledge or converse If any one doth think thus of himself viz. That he would do so and so were he a Possessor of the Stone I would willingly say unto him thus viz. Thou art perchance a familiar acquaintance of an Adeptist he would presently consider with himself and say This is impossible for 't is great chance but I should once see it and by my familiar converse with him it could not be but that I should smell it out Thou that imaginest these things of thy self Thinkest thou that others do not abound with as much quick-sightedness as thy self who would be able to discern thee For 't is expedient to have converse with some else thou shalt seem to be another quick Diogenes But if thou
clear and thick the thicker the better so it be clear and clean to discover the actions which are within it let it not at all be thicker in one place than in another The proportion of matter to this glass let it be half an Ounce of Gold with an Ounce of ☿ which is two to one and if thou add three to one of the ☿ yet the whole Compound will be less than two Ounces and this proportion is exquisite Moreover unless the glass be strong it will not hold in the fire the winds which are in the vessel in the forming of our Embryo which will easily break a slight vessel Let the glass be sealed at the top with so great caution that there be not the least hole or chinck else the work would be destroyed So you see that our Work as to our Principles is costlier than the price of three Florens yea in the making of the water the price of what enters into a pound will hardly exceed a brace of Crowns There wants I confess some Instruments but they are not deer and if you had my distilling Instrument you may easily excuse the use of brittle glasses yet there are some Doctors who dreams That the price of one Imperial or Crown will suffice for the whole Work to whom I have a ready answer to return that is That I by that perceive that they speak without any Easis of Experiment For there are in the Work other things that are pretious and require charge But they will urge out of the Philosophers That all which may be bought for a great price will be found a false Principle in our Work To whom I may answer And what is our Work Namely to make the Stone That indeed is our finall work but our main Master-piece is To find a moisture or humidity in which the ☉ will melt as Ice in warm water This is our Work to find for this many seek even to weariness to attain this ☿ of ☉ others for the ☿ of the ☽ but all in vain For in this our Work whatsoever is sold deer will prove deceitful Verily I say That of the material Principle of our Water as much may be bought for the price of one Floren as will prepare or vivifie two whole pounds of our ☿ it may become true Philosophical ☿ so much sought Out of this we make a Sol which by that time it is perfect is hardly so little chargeable to the Artist as if he had bought it at the price of the most fine ☉ for it is indeed as good in all other essayes and far more excellent in our Work Moreover we need Glasses Coals Earthen-vessels a Furnace Ironvessels and Instruments which are not to be provided for nothing away then with these Sophisters their vile pratling impudent lyes by which they seduce many Without our perfect body our off-spring of Venus and Diana which is pure Gold there can never be any tincture permanent So then it is in respect of its nativity very vile on one hand immature and volatile on the other hand perfect pretious and fixt which species of the Body and the Spirit is ☉ and ☽ Gold and Argent Vive CHAP. 18. Of the Philosophical Furnace or Athanor OF ☿ we have spoken its Preparation Proportion and Vertue of 🜠also its necessity and use in our Work which how they are to be Prepared I have shewed how to be mixed I have taught of the vessel also in which they are to be sealed I have discovered much which are all to be understood with a grain of salt else if you proceed too literally you may happen to erre oftentimes the which the unusual can doe For we have so mingled our Philosophical subtleties with unusual candor that unless you smell out many Metaphors in our foregoing Chapters your Harvest will hardly prove better than loss of Time Costs and Pains as for Example Where we without any ambiguity told you that one of our Principles was ☿ the other ☉ one commonly vendible the other to be made by our Art If you know not the latter you know not the subject of our Secrets and may instead of it work in Sol vulgar yet mistake me not for our ☉ is in all examens good Gold and therefore it 's vendible that is it may be if reduced to a Metal sold without any scruple But our Gold is not to be bought for money though you would give a Crown or Kingdom for it for it is the gift of God for our Gold is not to be had made to our hand at least not commonly But before it comes to be our ☉ it stands in need of our Art yet thou mayest in ☉ and ☽ vulgar also seek our Sol and find it if thou seek aright So then our Gold is the next matter to our Stone and ☉ and ☽ vulgar are near matters but other Metals are the remote matter and those things which are not Metalline are most remote that is alien from it I my self have sought it in ☉ and ☽ vulgar and found it yet it is a far easier work out of our Matter to make the Stone than to abstract our true Matter out of any vulgar Metal for our Gold is a Chaos whose soul is not put to flight by the fire but Gold vulgar is a body whose soul is retired into a strong hold that it may there be defended from the violence of the fire therefore saith the Philosophers That the Fire of Vulcan is the artificial death of the Metals and as many as have suffered fusion have in it lost their Life If thou canst apply it wittily both to thy imperfect body and to thy Fiery Dragon thou needest no other Key to all our Secrets for if thou wilt seek our ☉ in a middle substance between perfection and imperfection thou mayest find it Also loose the body of common Sol which is an Herculean Work and it 's called the first Preparation by which the Incantation is loosed by which its body was bound from performing the part of a Male. If thou goest in our former way thou needest a most benign fire from the beginning to the end but if thou entrest the latter way thou must imploy the help of Fiery Vulcan such as we use in multiplication when corporal ☉ or vulgar ☽ is added to our Elixir for a Ferment This I fear will prove a Labyrinth to thee except discretion help thee out of it Yet in either one progress or other thou art in need of an equal and continual heat whether thou workest in ☉ vulgar or in our ☉ only Know also That thy ☿ in both Works although it be one radically yet it 's far different in its Preparation Also thy Stone with our Gold shall be sooner perfected by two or three Moneths than our first Matter shall be made to appear out of either ☉ or ☿ vulgar and the Elixir of the one will be at the first degree of perfection of a greater vertue