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Réfer. : AL2401Q
Auteur : Philalethe.
Titre : An Open entrance to the closed palace of the King.
S/titre : By an anonymous Sage and Lover of the Truth.

Editeur : J. Elliot and Co., London.
Date éd. : 1893 .
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A N
O P E N E N T R A N C E
TO THE
C L O S E D P A L A C E
OF THE
K I N G.


BY
AN ANONYMOUS SAGE AND LOVER OF TRUTH.
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T A B L E O F C O N T E N T S.

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THE AUTHOR'S PREFACE.

Chapter I. Of the need of Sulphur for producing this Elixir.
" 2. Of the Component Principles of the Mercury of the Sages. " 3. Of the Chalybs of the Sages. " 4. Of the Magnet of the Sages. " 5. Of the Chaos of the Sages. " 6. Of the Air of the Sages. " 7. Of the first Operation -- Preparation of Mercury by means of the Flying Eagles. " 8. Of the Difficulty and Length of the First Operation. " 9. Of the Superiority of our Mercury over all Metals. " 10. Of the Sulphur which is in the Mercury of the Sages. " 11. Concerning the Discovery of the Perfect Magistery. " 12. The Generic Method of Making the Perfect Magistery. " 13. Of the Use of Mature Sulphur in the Work of the Elixir. " 14. Of the Circumstantial and Accidental Requisites of our Art. " 15. Of the Incidental Purgation of Mercury and Gold. " 16. Of the Amalgam of Mercury and Gold, and of their respective Proportions. " 17. Concerning the Size, Form, Material, and Mode of Securing the Vessel. " 18. Of the Furnace, or Athanor of the Sages.
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162 THE HERMETIC MUSEUM.
Chapter 19. Of the Progress of the Work during the First
40 Days. " 20. Of the Appearance of Blackness in the Work of the Sun and Moon. " 21. Of the Caution required to avoid Burning the Flowers. " 22. Of the Regimen of Saturn. " 23. Of the Different Regimens of this Work " 24. Of the First Regimen, which is that of Mercury. " 25. Of the Regimen of the Second Part, which is that of Saturn. " 26. Of the Regimen of Jupiter. " 27. Of the Regimen of the Moon " 28. Of the Regimen of Venus " 29. Of the Regimen of Mars. " 30. Of the Regimen of the Sun. " 31. Of the Fermentation of the Stone " 32. The Imbibition of the Stone. " 33. The Multiplication of the Stone. " 34. Of Projection. " 35. Of the manifold Uses of this Art.
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T H E A U T H O R'S P R E F A C E.

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I, BEING an anonymous adept, a lover of learning, and a
philosopher, have decreed to write this little treatise of medicinal, chemical, and physical arcana, in the year 1645 after the Birth of Christ, and in the 23rd year of my age, to assist in conducting my straying brethren out of the labyrinth
of error, and with the further object of making myself known to
other Sages, holding aloft a torch which may be visible far and
wide to those who are groping in the darkness of ignorance. The
contents of this Book are not fables, but real experiments which
I have seen, touched, and handled, as an adept will easily
conclude from these lines. I have written more plainly about
this Art than any of my predecessors; sometimes I have found
myself on the very verge of breaking my vow, and once or twice
had to lay down my pen for a season; but I could not resist the
inward prompting of God, which impelled me to persevere in the
most loving course, who alone knows the heart, and to whom only
be glory for ever. Hence, I undoubtedly gather that in this last
age of the world, many will become blessed by this arcanum,
through what I have thus faithfully written, for I have not
willingly left anything doubtful to the young beginner. I know
many who with me do enjoy this secret, and am persuaded that
many more will also rejoice in its possession. Let the holy Will
of God perform what it pleases, though I confess myself an
unworthy instrument through whom such great things should
be effected.

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CHAPTER I.
Of the need of Sulphur for producing the Elixir.
W HOEVER wishes to possess this secret Golden Fleece, which has virtue to transmute metals into gold, should know that our Stone is nothing but gold digested to the highest degree of purity and subtle fixation to which it can be brought by Nature
and the highest effort of Art; and this gold thus perfected is
called " our gold," no longer vulgar, and is the ultimate goal
of Nature. These words, though they may be surprising to
some of my readers, are true, as I, an adept, bear witness; and
though overwise persons entertain chimerical dreams, Nature
herself is most wonderfully simple. Gold, then, is the one true
principle of purification. But our gold is twofold; one kind is
mature and fixed, the yellow Latten, and its heart or centre is
pure fire, whereby it is kept from destruction, and only purged
in the fire. This gold is our male, and it is sexually joined to
a more crude white gold -- the female seed: the two together
being indissolubly united, constitute our fruitful Hermaphrodite.
We are told by the Sages that corporal gold is dead, until it
be conjoined with its bride, with whom the coagulating sulphur,
which in gold is outwards, must be turned inwards. Hence it
follows that the substance which we require is Mercury. Concerning
this substance, Geber uses the following words: " Blessed
be the Most High God who created Mercury, and made it an
all-prevailing substance." And it is true that unless we had
Mercury, Alchemists might still boast themselves, but all their
boasting would be vain. Hence it is clear that our Mercury
is not common mercury; for all common mercury is a male that
is corporal, specific, and dead, while our Mercury is spiritual,
female, living, and life-giving. Attend closely to what I say
about our Mercury, which is the salt of the wise men. The
Alchemist who works without it is like a man who draws a bow

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166 THE HERMETIC MUSEUM.
without a string. Yet it is found nowhere in a pure state above
ground, but has to be extracted by a cunning process out of the
substance in which it exists.

CHAPTER II. Of the Component Principles of the Mercury of the Sages.

Let those who aim to purify Mercury by means of salts, faeces, and other foreign bodies, and by strange chemical processes,
understand that though our water is variously composed,
it is yet only one thing. formed by the concretion of divers
substances of the same essence. The components of our water
are fire, the vegetable " Saturnian liquid," and the bond of
Mercury. The fire is that of mineral Sulphur, which yet can be
called neither mineral nor metallic, but partakes of both characters:
it is a chaos or spirit, because our fiery Dragon, that
overcomes all things, is yet penetrated by the odour of the
Saturnian liquid, its blood growing together with the Saturnian
sap into one body which is yet neither a body (since it is all
volatile) nor a spirit (since in fire it resembles melted metal).
It may thus be very properly described as chaos, or the
mother of all metals. From this chaos I can extract everything
-- even the Sun and Moon -- without the transmutatory Elixir.
It is called our Arsenic, our Air, our Moon, our Magnet, and our
Chalybs: these names representing the different stages of its
development, even unto the manifestation of the kingly diadem,
which is cast out of the menstruum of our harlot. Learn,
then, who are the friends of Cadmus; who is the serpent that
devoured them; what the hollow oak to which Cadmus spitted
the serpent. Learn who are the doves of Diana, that overcome
the green lion by gentleness: even the Babylonian dragon,
which kills everything with its venom. Learn, also, what are
the winged shoes of Mercury, and who are those nymphs whom
he charms by means of his incantations.

CHAPTER III.
Concerning the Chalybs of the Sages.
Our Chalybs is the true key of our Art, without which the Torch could in no wise be kindled, and as the true magi have

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AN OPEN ENTRANCE. 167
delivered many things concerning it, so among vulgar alchemists
there is great contention as to its nature. It is the ore of gold,
the purest of all spirits; a secret, infernal, and yet most volatile
fire, the wonder of the world, the result of heavenly virtues in the
lower world -- for which reason the Almighty has assigned to it
a most glorious and rare heavenly conjunction, even that notable
sign whose nativity is declared in the East. This star was seen
by the wise men of old, and straightway they knew that a Great
King was born in the world. When you sec its constellation,
follow it to the cradle and there you will behold a beautiful
Infant. Remove the impurities, look upon the face of the
King's Son; open your treasury, give to him gold, and after his
death he will bestow on you his flesh and blood, the highest
Medicine in the three monarchies of the earth.

CHAPTER IV. Of the Magnet of the Sages.
As steel is attracted towards the magnet. and the magnet turns towards the steel, so also our Magnet attracts our Chalybs.
Thus, as Chalybs is the ore of gold, so our Magnet is the true
ore of our Chalybs. The hidden centre of our Magnet abounds
in Salt, which Salt is the menstruum in the Sphere of the Moon,
and can calcine gold. This centre turns towards the Pole with
an archetic appetite, in which the virtue of the Chalybs is
exalted into degrees. In the Pole is the heart of Mercury, the
true fire (in which is the rest of its Master), sailing through this
great sea that it may arrive at both the Indies, and direct its
course by the aspect of the North Star, which our Magnet will
manifest.

CHAPTER V. Of the Chaos of the Sages.
Let the student incline his ear to the united verdict of the Sages, who describe this work as analogous to the Creation
of the World. In the beginning God created Heaven and
Earth; and the Earth was without form and void, and the Spirit
of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said,

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168 THE HERMETIC MUSEUM.
" Let there be light," and there was light. These words are
sufficient for the student of our Art. The Heaven must be
united to the Earth on the couch of friendship, so shall he reign
in glory for ever. The Earth is the heavy body, the womb of the
minerals, which it cherished in itself, although it brings to light
trees and animals. The Heaven is the place where the great
Lights revolve, and through the air transmit their influences
to the lower world. But in the beginning all was one confused
chaos. Our Chaos is, as it were, a mineral earth (by virtue
of its coagulation), and yet also volatile air -- in the centre of
which is the Heaven of the Sages, the Astral Centre, which with
its light irradiates the earth to its surface. What man is wise
enough to evolve out of this world a new King, who shall
redeem his brothers from their natural weaknesses, by dying,
being lifted on high, and giving his flesh and blood for the life
of the world ? I thank Thee, O God, that Thou hast concealed
these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them
unto babes!

CHAPTER VI. Of the Air of the Sages.
Our air, like the air of the firmament, divides the waters; and as the waters under the firmament are visible to us mortals,
while we are unable to see the waters above the firmament, so
in " our work " we see the extra central mineral waters, but are
unable to see those which, though hidden within, nevertheless
have a real existence. They exist but do not appear until it
please the Artist, as the author of the New Light has testified.
Our air keeps the extra central waters from mingling with those
at the centre. If through the removal of this impediment, they
were enabled to mingle, their un ion would be in dissoluble.
Therefore the external vapours and burning sulphur do stiffly
adhere to our chaos, and unable to resist its tyranny, the pure
flies away from the fire in the form of a dry powder. This then
should be your great object. The arid earth must be irrigated,
and its pores softened with water of its own kind, then this
thief with all the workers of iniquity will be cast out, the water
will be purged of its leprous stain by the addition of true

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AN OPEN ENTRANCE. 169
Sulphur, and you will have the Spring whose waters are sacred
to the maiden Queen Diana. This thief is armed with all the
malignity of arsenic, and is feared and eschewed by the winged
youth. Though the Central Water be his Spouse, yet the youth
cannot come to her, until Diana with the wings of her doves
purges the poisonous air, and opens a passage to the bridal
chamber. Then the youth enters easily through the pores,
presently shaking the waters above, and stirring up a rude and
ruddy cloud. Do thou, O Diana, bring in the water over him,
even unto the brightness of the Moon ! So the darkness on the
face of the abyss will be dispersed by the spirit moving in the
waters. Thus, at the bidding of God, light will appear on the
Seventh Day, and then this sophic creating of Mercury shall be
completed, from which time, until the revolution o! the year, you
may wait for the birth of the marvellous Child of the Sun, who
will come to deliver his brethren from every stain.

CHAPTER VII.
Of the First Operation -- Preparation of Mercury by means
of the Flying Eagles.
Know, my brother, that the exact preparation of the Eagles of the Sages, is the highest effort of our Art. In this first section
of our work, nothing is to be done without hard and persevering
toil; though it is quite true that afterwards the substance
develops under the influence of gentle heat without any
imposition of hands. The Sages tell us that their Eagles must
be taken to devour the Lion, and that they gain the victory all
the sooner if they are very numerous; also that the number of
the work varies between 7 and 9. The Mercury of the Sages is
the Bird of Hermes (now called a goose, now a pheasant). But
the Eagles are always mentioned in the plural, and number from
3 to 10. Yet this is not to be understood as if there should be
so many weights or parts of the water to one of the earth, but
the water must be taken so oftentimes acuated or sharpened as
there are Eagles numbered. This acuation is made by sublimation.
There is, then, one sublimation of the Mercury of the Sages,
when one Eagle is mentioned, and the seventh sublimation will
so strengthen your Mercury, that the Bath of your King will be

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170 THE HERMETIC MUSEUM.
read,. . . Let me tell you now how this part of the work
is performed. Take 4 parts of our fiery Dragon, in whose belly
is hidden the magic Chalybs, and 9 parts of our Magnet; mingle
them by means of a fierce fire, in the form of a mineral water,
the foam of which must be taken away. Remove the shell, and
take the kernel. Purge what remains once more by means of
fire and the Sun, which may be done easily if Saturn shall have
seen himself in the mirror of Mars. Then you will obtain our
Chameleon, or Chaos, in which all the virtues of our Art are
potentially present. This is the infant Hermaphrodite, who,
through the bite of a mad dog, has been rendered so fearful of
water, that though of a kindred nature, it always eschews and
avoids it. But in the grove of Diana are two doves that soothe
its rabid madness if applied by the art of the nymph Mercury.
Take it and plunge it under water till it perish therein;
then the rabid and black dog will appear panting and half
suffocated -- drive him down with vigorous blows, and the
darkness will be dispelled. Give it wings when the Moon is full,
and it will fly away as an Eagle, leaving the doves of Diana
dead (though, when first taken they should be living). Repeat
this seven times, and your work is done; the gentle coction
which follows is child's play and a woman's work.

CHAPTER VIII. Of the Difficulty and Length of the First Operation.
Some Alchemists fancy that the work from beginning to end is a mere idle entertainment; but those who make it so will
reap what they have sown -- viz., nothing. We know that next
to the Divine Blessing, and the discovery of the proper foundation,
nothing is so important as unwearied industry and perseverance
in this First Operation. It is no wonder, then, that so many
students of this Art are reduced to beggary; they are afraid of
work, and look upon our Art as mere sport for their leisure
moments. For no labour is more tedious than that which the
preparatory part of our enterprise demands . Morienus earnestly
entreats the King to consider this fact, and says that many Sages
have complained of the tedium of our work. " To render a
chaotic mass orderly, " says the Poet, " is matter of much time

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AN OPEN ENTRANCE. 171
and labour" -- and the noble author of the Hermetical Arcanum
describes it as an Herculean task. There are so many impurities
clinging to our first substance, and a most powerful intermediate
agent is required for the purpose of eliciting from our polluted
menstruum the Royal Diadem. But when you have once prepared
your Mercury, the most formidable part of your task is
accomplished, and you may indulge in that rest which is sweeter
than any work, as the Sage says.

CHAPTER IX.
On the Superiority of our Mercury over All Metals.
Our Mercury is that Serpent which devoured the companions of Cadmus, after having first swallowed Cadmus himself, though
he was far stronger than they. Yet Cadmus will one day transfix
this Serpent, when he has coagulated it with his Sulphur. Know
that this, our Mercury, is a King among metals, and dissolves
them by changing their Sulphur into a kindred mercurial substance.
The Mercury of one, two, or three eagles bears rule over
Saturn, Jupiter, and Venus. The Mercury of from three to seven
eagles sways the Moon; that of ten eagles has power over the
Sun; our Mercury is nearer than any other unto the first ens of
metals; it has power to enter metallic bodies, and to manifest
their hidden depths.

CHAPTER X.
On the Sulphur which is in the Mercury of the Sages.
It is a marvellous fact that our Mercury contains active Sulphur, and yet preserves the form and all the properties of
Mercury. Hence it is necessary that a form be introduced
therein by our preparation, which form is a metallic sulphur.
This Sulphur is the inward fire which causes the putrefaction of
the composite .Sun This sulphureous fire is the spiritual seed
which our Virgin (still remaining immaculate) has conceived.
For an uncorrupted virginity admits of a spiritual love, as experience
and authority affirm. The two (the passive and the
active principle) combined we call our Hermaphrodite. When

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172 THE HERMETIC MUSEUM.
joined to the Sun, it softens, liquefies, and dissolves it with gentle
heat. By means of the same fire it coagulates itself; and by its
coagulation produces the Sun. Our pure and homogeneous
Mercury, having conceived inward Sulphur (through our Art),
coagulates itself under the influence of gentle outward heat, like
the cream of milk -- a subtle earth floating on the water. When
it is united to the Sun, it is not only not coagulated, but the
composite substance becomes softer day by day; the bodies are
almost dissolved; and the spirits begin to be coagulated, with a
black colour and a most fetid smell. Hence it appears that this
spiritual metallic Sulphur is in truth the moving principle in our
Art; it is really volatile or unmatured gold, and by proper
digestion is changed into that metal. If joined to perfect gold,
it is not coagulated, but dissolves the corporal gold, and remains
with it, being dissolved, under one form, although before the
perfect union death must precede, that so they may he united
after death, not simply in a perfect unity, but in a thousand
times more than perfect perfection.

CHAPTER XI.
Concerning the Discovery of the Perfect Magistery.
There are those who think that this Art was first discovered by Solomon, or rather imparted to him by Divine Revelation.
But though there is no reason for doubting that so wise and profoundly
learned a sovereign was acquainted with our Art, yet
we happen to know that he was not the first to acquire the
knowledge. It was possessed by Hermes, the Egyptian, and
some other Sages before him; and we may suppose that they
first sought a simple exaltation of imperfect metals into regal
perfection, and that it was at first their endeavour to develop
Mercury, which is most like to gold in its weight and properties,
into perfect gold. This, however, no degree of ingenuity could
effect by any fire, and the truth gradually broke on their minds
that an internal heat was required as well as an external one.
So they rejected aqua fortis and all corrosive solvents, after long
experiments with the same -- also all salts, except that kind which
is the first substance of all salts, which dissolves all metals and
coagulates Mercury, but not without violence, whence that kind

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AN OPEN ENTRANCE. 173
of agent is again separated entire, both in weight and virtue,
from the things it is applied to. They saw that the digestion of
Mercury was prevented by certain aqueous crudities and earthy
dross; and that the radical nature of these impurities rendered
their elimination impossible, except by the complete inversion of
the whole compound. They knew that Mercury would become
fixed if it could be freed from their defiling presence -- as it contains
fermenting sulphur, which is only hindered by these
impurities from coagulating the whole mercurial body. At
length they discovered that Mercury, in the bowels of the earth,
was intended to become a metal, and that the process of
development was only stopped by the impurities with which it
had become tainted. They found that that which should be
active in the Mercury was passive; and that its infirmity could
not be remedied by any means, except the introduction of some
kindred principle from without. Such a principle they discovered
in metallic sulphur, which stirred up the passive sulphur in the
Mercury, and by allying itself with it, expelled the aforesaid impurities.
But in seeking to accomplish this practically, they
were met by another great difficulty. In order that this sulphur
might be effectual in purifying the Mercury, it was indispensable
that it should itself be pure. All their efforts to purify it, however,
were doomed to failure. At length they bethought them
that it might possibly be found somewhere in Nature in a purified
condition -- and their search was crowned with success. They
sought active sulphur in a pure state, and found it cunningly
concealed in the House of the Ram. This sulphur mingled
most eagerly with the offspring of Saturn, and the desired effect
was speedily produced -- after the malignant venom of the " air"
of Mercury had been tempered (as already set forth at some
length) by the Doves of Venus. Then life was joined to life by
means of the liquid; the dry was moistened; the passive was
stirred into action by the active; the dead was revived by the
living. The heavens were indeed temporarily clouded over, but
after a copious downpour of rain, serenity was restored. Mercury
emerged in a hermaphroditic state. Then they placed it
in the fire; in no long time they succeeded in coagulating it, and
in its coagulation they found the Sun and the Moon in a most
pure state. Then they considered that, before its coagulation,

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174 THE HERMETIC MUSEUM.
this Mercury was not a metal, since, on being volatilised, it left
no residue at the bottom of the distilling vessel; hence they
called it unmatured gold and their living (or quick) silver. It
also occurred to them that if gold were sown, as it were, in the
soil of its own first substance, its excellence would probably be
enhanced; and when they placed gold therein, the fixed was
volatilised, the hard softened. the coagulated dissolved, to the
amazement of Nature herself. For this reason they wedded
these two to each other, put them in a still over the fire, and for
many days regulated the heat in accordance with the requirements
of Nature. Thus the dead was revived, the body decayed
and a glorified spirit rose from the grave; the soul was exalted
into the Quintessence -- the Universal Medicine for animals,
vegetables, and minerals.

CHAPTER XII. The Generic Method of Making the Perfect Magistery.
The greatest secret of our operation is no other than a cohobation of the nature of one thing above the other, until the
most digested virtue be extracted out of the digested body of the
crude one. But there are hereto requisite: Firstly, an exact
measurement and preparation of the ingredients required;
secondly, an exact fulfilment of all external conditions; thirdly
a proper regulation of the fire; fourthly, a good knowledge of the
natural properties of the substances; and fifthly, patience, in
order that the work may not be marred by over great haste.
Of all these points we will now speak in their proper order.

CHAPTER XIII. Of the Use of Mature Sulphur in the Work of the Elixir.

We have spoken of the need of Mercury, and have described its properties more plainly and straightforwardly than has ever
been done before. God knows that we do not grudge the
knowledge of this Art to our brother men; and we are not afraid
that it can ever become the property of any unworthy person. So
long as the secret is possessed by a comparatively small number
of philosophers, their lot is anything but a bright and happy

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AN OPEN ENTRANCE. 175
one; surrounded as we are on every side by the cruel greed and
the prying suspicion of the multitude, we are doomed, like Cain,
to wander over the earth homeless and friendless. Not for us are
the soothing influences of domestic happiness; not for us the
delightful confidences of friendship. Men who covet our golden
secret pursue us from place to place, and fear closes our lips,
when love tempts us to open ourselves freely to a brother. Thus
we feel prompted at times to burst forth into the desolate
exclamation of Cain: " Whoever finds me will slay me." Yet
we are not the murderers of our brethren; we are anxious
only to do good to our fellow-men. But even our kindness and
charitable compassion are rewarded with black ingratitude --
ingratitude that cries to heaven for vengeance. It was only a
short time ago that, after visiting the plague-stricken haunts of a
certain city, and restoring the sick to perfect health by means of
my miraculous medicine, I found myself surrounded by a
yelling mob, who demanded that I should give to them my
Elixir of the Sages; and it was only by changing my dress and
my name, by shaving off my beard and putting on a wig, that I
was enabled to save my life, and escape from the hands of those
wicked men. And even when our lives are not threatened, it is
not pleasant to find ourselves, wherever we go, the central objects
of human greed.... I know of several persons who were found
strangled in their beds, simply because they were suspected of
possessing this secret, though, in reality, they knew no more
about it than their murderers; it was enough for some desperate
ruffians, that a mere whisper of suspicion had been breathed
against their victims. Men are so eager to have this Medicine
that your very caution will arouse their suspicions, and
endanger your safety. Again, if you desire to sell any large
quantity of your gold and silver, you will be unable
to do so without imminent risk of discovery. The very
fact that anyone has a great mass of bullion for sale
would in most places excite suspicion. This feeling will be
strengthened when people test the quality of our gold; for it is
much finer and purer than any of the gold which is brought
from Barbary, or from the Guinea Coast; and our silver is
better even than that which is convoyed home by the Spanish
silver fleet. If, in order to baffle discovery, you mix these

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176 THE HERMETIC MUSEUM.
precious metals with alloy, you render yourself liable, in England
and Holland at least, to capital punishment; for in those
countries no one is permitted to tamper with the precious metals,
except the officers of the mint, and the licensed goldsmiths. I
remember once going, in the disguise of a foreign merchant,
to a goldsmith's shop, and offering him 600 pounds worth of our
pure silver for sale. He subjected it to the usual tests, and then
said: " This silver is artificially prepared." When I asked him
why he thought so, his answer was: " I am not a novice in my
profession, and know very well the exact quality of the silver
which is brought from the different mines." When I heard
these words I took myself away with great secrecy and dispatch,
leaving the silver in the hands of the goldsmith. On this
account, and by reason of the many and great difficulties
which beset us, the possessors of this Stone, on every side, we
do elect to remain hidden, and will communicate the Art to
those who are worthily covetous of our secrets, and then mark
what public good will befall. Without Sulphur, our Mercury
would never be properly coagulated for our supernatural work;
it is the male substance, while Mercury may be called the
female; and all Sages say that no tincture can be made
without its latten, which latten is gold, without any double
speaking. Wise men, notwithstanding, can find this substance
even on the dunghill; but the ignorant are unable to discern
it even in gold. The tincture of gold is concealed
in the gold of the Sages, which is the most highly matured
of bodies; but as a raw material it exists only in our
Mercury; and it (gold) receives from Mercury the multiplication
of its seed, but in virtue rather than in weight. The Sages say
that common gold is dead, while their's is living; and common
gold is dead in the same sense in which a grain of wheat is dead
while it is surrounded by dry air; and comes to life, swells
softens, and germinates only when it is put into moist earth. In
this sense gold, too, is dead, so long as it is surrounded by the
corporeal husk, always allowing, of course, for the great difference
between a vegetable grain and metallic gold. Our, grain is
quickened in water only; and as wheat, while it remains in the
barn is called grain, and is not destined to be quickened, because
it is to be used for bread making -- but changes its name, when

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AN OPEN ENTRANCE. 177
it is sown in the field, and is then called seedcorn; so our gold,
while it is in the form of rings, plate, and coins, is called common
gold, because in that state it is likely to remain unchanged to
the end of the world; but potentially it is even then the gold of
the Sages, because if sown in its own proper element, it would in
a few days become the Chaos of the Sages. Hence the Sages
bid you revive the dead (i.e., the gold which already appeared
doomed to a living death) and mortify the living, i.e, the
Mercury which, imparting life to the gold, is itself deprived of
the vital principle. Their gold is taken in a dead, their water in
a living, state. and by their composition and brief coction, the
dead gold revives and the living Mercury dies, i.e., the spirit is
coagulated, the body is dissolved, and thus both putrefy together,
until all the members of the compound are torn into atoms.
The mystery of our Art, which we conceal with so great care, is
the preparation of the Mercury, which above ground is not to be
found made ready to our hand. But when it is prepared, it is
" our water " in which gold is dissolved, whereby the latent life
of the gold is set free, and receives the life of the dissolving
Mercury, which is to gold what good earth is to the grain of
wheat. When the gold has putrefied in the Mercury, there
arises out of the decomposition of death a new body, of the
same essence, but of a glorified substance. Here you have the
whole of our Philosophy in a nutshell. There is no secret about
it, except the preparation of Mercury, its mingling with the gold in
the right proportions, and the regulation of the fire in accordance
with its requirements. Gold by itself does not fear the fire;
hence the great point is, to temper the heat to the capacity of
the Mercury. If the Mercury is not properly prepared, the gold
remains common gold, being joined with an improper agent; it
continues unchanged, and no degree of heat will help it to put
off its corporeal nature. Without our Mercury the seed (i.e., gold)
cannot be sown; and if gold is not sown in its proper element,
it cannot be quickened any more than the corn which the West
Indians keep underground, in air-tight stone jars, can germinate.
I know that some self-constituted " Sages " will take exception
to this teaching, and say that common gold and running Mercury
are not the substance of our Stone. But one question will
suffice to silence their objections: Have they ever actually

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178 THE HERMETIC MUSEUM.
prepared our Tincture ? I have prepared it more than once and
daily have it in my power; hence I may perhaps be permitted
to speak as one having authority. Go on babbling about your
rain water collected in May, your Salts, your sperm " which is
more potent than the foul fiend himself," ye self-styled philosophers;
rail at me, if you like; all you say is conclusively
refuted by this one fact -- you cannot make the Stone. When I
say that gold and Mercury are the only substances of our Stone,
I know what I am writing about; and the Searcher of all hearts
knows also that I say true. The time has arrived when we may
speak more freely about this Art. For Elias the artist is at
hand, and glorious things are already spoken of the City oi God.
I possess wealth sufficient to buy the whole world -- but as yet I
may not use it on account of the craft and cruelty of wicked
men. It is not from jealousy that I conceal as much as I do:
God knows that I am weary of this lonely, wandering life, shut
out from the bonds of friendship, and almost from the face of
God. I do not worship the golden calf, before which our
Israelites bow low to the ground; let it be ground to powder
like the brazen serpent. I hope that in a few years gold (not as
given by God, but as abused by man) will be so common that
those who are now so mad after it, shall contemptuously spurn
aside this bulwark of Antichrist. Then will the day of our
deliverance be at hand when the streets of the new Jerusalem
are paved with gold, and its gates are made of great diamonds.
The day is at hand when, by means of this my Book, gold will
have become as common as dirt; when we Sages shall find rest
for the soles of our feet, and render fervent thanks to God. My
heart conceives unspeakable things, and is enlarged for the good
of the Israel of God. These words I utter forth with a herald's
clarion tones. My Book is the precursor of Elias, designed to
prepare the Royal way of the Master; and would to God that
by its means all men might become adepts in our Art -- lor then
gold, the great idol of mankind, would lose its value, and we
should prize it only for its scientific teaching. Virtue would be
loved for its own sake. I am familiar with many possessors of
this Art who regard silence as the great point of honour. But I
have been enabled by God to take a different view of the
matter; and I firmly believe that I can best serve the Israel of

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God, and put my talent out at usury, by making this secret
knowledge the common property of the whole world. Hence I
have not conferred with flesh and blood, nor attempted to obtain
the consent of my Brother Sages. If the matter succeeds
according to my desire and prayer, they will all rejoice that I
have published this Book.

CHAPTER XIV. Of the Circumstantial and Accidental Requisites of our Art.
We have weeded out all vulgar errors concerning our Art, and have shewn that gold and Mercury are the only substances
required. We have shewn that this gold is to be understood,
not metaphorically, but in a truly philosophical sense. We have
also declared our Mercury to be true quicksilver, without any
ambiguity of acceptation. The latter, we have told you, must
be made by art, and be a key to the former. We have made
everything as clear as noonday; and our teaching is based, not
on hearsay, or on the writings of others, but on our own personal
and oft repeated experience. The things we faithfully declare
are what we have both seen and known. We have made and
do possess the Stone -- the great Elixir. Moreover, we do not
grudge you this knowledge, but wish you to attain it out of this
Book. We have spoken out more plainly than any of our
predecessors; and our Receipt, apart from the fact that we have
not called things by their proper names, is perfectly trustworthy.
It remains for us to give you some practical tests by
which the goodness or unsuitableness of your Mercury may be
known, and some directions for amending its defects. When
you have living Mercury and gold, there remains to be accomplished,
first, the purging of the Mercury and the gold, then
their espousal, and finally the regulation of the fire

CHAPTER XV. Of the Incidental Purging of Mercury and Gold.
Perfect gold is found in the bowels of the earth in little pieces, or in sand. If you can meet with this unmixed gold, it

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180 THE HERMETIC MUSEUM.
is pure enough; if not, purge it with antimony or royal cement,
or boil it with aqua fortis, the gold being first granulated. Then
smelt it, remove the impure sediment, and it is ready. But
Mercury needs inward and essential purging. which radical
cleansing is brought about by the addition of true Sulphur,
little by little, according to the number of the Eagles. Then it
also needs an incidental purgation for the purpose of removing
from its surface the impurities which have, by the essential
purgation, been ejected from the centre. This process is not
absolutely necessary, but it is useful, as it accelerates the work.
Therefore, take your Mercury, which you have purified with a
suitable number of Eagles, sublime it three times with common
salt and iron filings, and wash it with vinegar and a moderate
quantity of salts of ammonia, then dry and distil in a glass
retort, over a gradually increasing fire, until the whole of the
Mercury has ascended. Repeat this four times, then boil the
Mercury in spirits of vinegar for an hour, stirring it constantly.
Then pour off the vinegar, and wash off its acidity by a plentiful
effusion of spring water. Dry the Mercury, and its splendour
will be wonderful. You may wash it with wine, or vinegar and
salt, and so spare the sublimation; but then distil it at least
four times without addition, after you have perfected all the
eagles, or washings, washing the chalybeat retort every time
with ashes and water; then boil it in distilled vinegar for half a
day, stirring it strongly at times. Pour off the blackish vinegar,
add new, then wash with warm water. This process is designed
to purge away the internal impurities from the surface. These
impurities you may perceive if, on mixing Mercury with purest
gold, you place the amalgam on a white sheet of paper. The
sooty blackness which is then seen on the paper is purged
away by this process.

CHAPTER XVI. Of the Amalgam of Mercury and Gold, and of their respective Proportions.
When you have done all this, take one part of pure and laminated gold, or fine gold filings, and two parts of
Mercury; put them in a heated (marble) jar, i.e., heated with

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boiling water, being taken out of which it dries quickly, and
holds the heat a long time. Grind with an ivory, or glass, or
stone, or iron, or boxwood pestle (the iron pestle is not so good;
I use a pestle of crystal): pound them, I say, as small as the
painters grind their colours; then add water so as to make the
mass as consistent as half melted butter. The mixture should be
fixable and soft, and permit itself to be moulded into little
globules -- like moderately soft butter; it should be of such a
consistency as to yield to the gentlest touch. Moreover, it
should be of the same temperature throughout, and one part
should not be more liquid than another. The mixture will be
more or less soft, according to the proportion of Mercury which
it contains; but it must be capable of forming into those little
globules, and the Mercury should not be more lively at the
bottom than at the top. If the amalgam be left undisturbed, it
will at once harden; you must therefore judge of the merits of
the mixture, while you are stirring it; if it fulfils the above
conditions, it is good. Then take spirit of vinegar, and dissolve
in it a third part of salt of ammonia, put the amalgam into this
liquid, let the whole boil for a quarter-of-an-hour in a long
necked glass vessel; then take the mixture out of the glass
vessel, pour off the liquid, heat the mortar, and pound
the amalgam (as above) vigorously, and wash away all
blackness with hot water. Put it again into the liquid, let
it boil up once more in the glass vessel, pound it as before, and
wash it. Repeat this process until the blackness is entirely
purged out. The amalgam will then be as brilliant and white
as the purest silver. Once more regulate the temperature of the
amalgam according to the rules given above; your labour will
be richly rewarded. If the amalgam be not quite soft enough,
add a little Mercury. Then boil it in pure water, and free it from
all saltness and acidity. Pour off the water, and dry the
amalgam. Make quite sure that it is thoroughly dried, by waving
it to and fro on the point of a knife over a sheet of white paper.

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182 THE HERMETIC MUSEUM.
CHAPTER XVII. Concerning the Size, Form, Material, and Mode of Securing the Vessel.
Let your glass distilling vessel be round or oval; large enough to hold neither more nor much less than an ounce of
distilled water in the body thereof. Let the height of the
vessel's neck be about one palm, hand-breath, or span, and let the
glass be clear and thick (the thicker the better, so long as it
is clear and clean, and permits you to distinguish what is going
on within) -- but the thickness should be uniform. The substance
which will go into this vessel consists of 1/2 oz. of gold, and one
oz. of mercury; and if you have to add 1/3 oz. of mercury, the
whole compound will still be less than 2 oz. The glass should
be strong in order to prevent the vapours which arise from our
embryo bursting the vessel. Let the mouth of the vessel be very
carefully and effectually secured by means of a thick layer of
scaling-wax. The utensils and the materials required are not
then very expensive -- and if you use my thick distilling-vessel
you will avoid loss by breakage. The other instruments that are
requisite are not dear. I know that many will take exception to
this statement; they will say that the pursuit of our Art is a
matter of all but ruinous expense. But my answer consists in a
simple question: What is the object of our Art ? Is it not to
make the Philosopher's Stone -- to find the liquid in which gold
melts like ice in tepid water ? And do those good people who
are so eager in their search after " Mercury of the Sun," and
" Mercury of the Moon," and who pay so high a price for their
materials, ever succeed in this object ? They cannot answer this
question in the affirmative. One florin will buy enough of the
substance of our water to quicken two pounds of mercury, and
make it the true Mercury of the Sages. But, of course, glass
vessels, coals, earthen vessels, a furnace, iron vessels, and other
instruments, cannot be bought for nothing. Without a perfect
body, our ore, viz., gold, there can be no Tincture; and our
Stone is at first vile, immature, and volatile, but when complete
it is perfect, precious, and fixed. These two aspects of our Stone
are the body, gold, and the spirit, or quicksilver.

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CHAPTER XVIII. Of the Furnace, or Athanor of the Sages.
I have spoken about Mercury, Sulphur, the vessel, their treatment, etc., etc.; and, of course, all these things are to
be understood with a grain of salt. You must understand that
in the preceding chapters I have spoken metaphorically; if you
take my words in a literal sense, you will reap no harvest except
your outlay. For instance, when I name the principal substances
Mercury and gold -- I do not mean common gold in the state in
which it is sold at the goldsmiths -- but it must be prepared by
means of our Art. You may find our gold in common gold and
silver, but it is easier to make the Stone than to get its first-
substance out of common gold. " Our gold " is the Chaos whose
soul has not been taken away by fire. The soul of common
gold has retired before the fiery tyranny of Vulcan into the
inmost citadel. If you seek our gold in a substance intermediate
between perfection and imperfection, you will find it; but otherwise,
you must unbar the gates of common gold by the first
preparatory process (ch. XV.), by which the charm of its body is
broken, and the husband enabled to do his work. If you choose
the former course, you shall use only gentle heat; in the latter
case, you will require a fierce fire. But here you will be hopelessly
lost in a labyrinth, if you do not know your way out of it.
But whether you choose our gold, or common gold, you will in
either case need an even and continual fire. If you take our
old, you will finish the work a few months sooner, and the
Elixir will be ten times more precious than that prepared from
common gold. If you work with " our gold," you will be assisted
in its calcination, putrefaction, and dealbation by its gentle
inward (natural) heat. But in the case of common gold, this
heat has to be applied externally by foreign substances, so as to
render it fit for union with the Virgin's Milk. In neither case,
however, can anything be effected without the aid of fire. It was
not, then, in vain that Hermes counts fire next to the Sun
and Moon as the governor of the work. But this is to be under
stood of the truly secret furnace, which a vulgar eye never saw.
There is also another furnace, which is called our common
furnace, made of potter's earth, or of iron and brass plates, well

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compacted with clay. This furnace we call Athanor, and the
shape which I like best is that of a tower with a " nest " at the
top. The " tower" should be about three feet high, and nine
fingers wide within the plates. A little above the ground, let
there be a little opening of about three or four fingers wide, for
removing the cinders; over that, there should be a fire-place
built with stones. Above this, we place the furnace itself, which
should be such as to exclude all draughts and currents of air.
The coals are put in from above, and the aperture should then be
carefully closed. But it is not necessary that your furnace
should exactly correspond to the description which I have given,
so long as it fulfils the following conditions: firstly, it must be
free from draughts; secondly, it must enable you to vary the
temperature, without removing your vessel; thirdly, you must
be able to keep up in it a fire for ten or twelve hours, without
looking to it. Then the door of our Art will be opened to you;
and when you have prepared the Stone, you may procure a
small portable stove, for the purpose of multiplying it.

CHAPTER XIX. Of the Progress of the Work during the first Forty Days.

When you have prepared our gold and Mercury in the manner described, put it into our vessel, and subject it to the
action of our fire; within 40 days you will see the whole substance
converted into atoms, without any visible motion, or perceptible
heat (except that it is just warm). If you do not yet rightly
know the meaning of " our gold," take one part of common gold
(well purified), and three parts of our Mercury (thoroughly
purged), put them together as directed (cap. XVI), place them
over the fire, and there keep them at the boiling point, till they
sweat, and their sweat circulates. At the end of go days you
will find that the Mercury has separated and reunited all the
elements of the common gold. Boil the mixture 50 days
longer, and you will discover that our Mercury has changed the
common gold into " our gold," which is the Medicine of the first
order. It is already our Sulphur, but it has not yet the power
of tinging. This method has been followed by many Sages, but
it is exceedingly slow and tedious, and is only for the rich of the

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AN OPEN ENTRANCE. 185
earth. Moreover, when you have got this Sulphur 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. Hereof I have now determined to write much,
although in the beginning of this Book I decreed to bury it in
silence. This is the one great sophism of all adepts; some
speak of this common gold and silver, and say the truth, and
others say that we cannot use it, and they too, say the truth.
But in the presence of God. I will call all our adepts to account,
and charge them with jealous surliness. I, too, had determined
to tread the same path, but God's hand confounded my scheme.
I say then, that both ways are true, and come to the same thing
in the end -- but there is a vast difference at the beginning. Our
whole Art consists in the right preparation of our Mercury and
our gold Our Mercury is our way, and without it nothing is
effected. Our gold is not common gold, but it may be found in
it; and if you operate on our Mercury with common gold
(regulating the fire in the right way), you will after 150 days
have our gold, since our gold is obtained from our Mercury.
Hence if common gold have all its atoms thoroughly severed by
means of our Mercury, and then reunited by the same agency,
the whole mixture will, under the influence of fire, become our
gold. But, if, without this preparatory purging, you were to use
common gold with our Mercury for the purpose of preparing the
Stone, you would be sadly mistaken; and 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). The gold of the Sages may then
be prepared out of our common gold and our Mercury,
from which there may afterwards be obtained by repeated
liquefactions, Sulphur and Quicksilver which is incombustible, and
tinges all things else. In this sense, our Stone is to be found in
all metals and minerals, since our gold may be got from them all
-- but most easily, of course, from gold and silver. Some have
found it in tin, some in lead, but most of those who have pursued
the more tedious method, have found it in gold. Of course, if
our gold be prepared in the way I have described, out of common

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186 THE HERMETIC MUSEUM.
gold (in the course of 150 days), instead of being found ready
made, it will not be so effectual, and the preparation of the Stone
will take 1 1/2 years instead of 7 months. 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 scathing
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. If you choose common gold, you
should espouse it to Venus (copper), lay them together on the
bridal bed, and, on bringing a fierce fire to bear on them, you
will see an emblem of the Great Work in the following succession
of colours: black, the peacock's tail, white, orange, and red.
Then repeat the same operation with Mercury called Virgin's
Milk), using the "fire of the Bath of Dew," and (towards the
end) sand mixed with ashes. The substance will first turn a
much deeper black, and then a completer white and red. Hence
if you know our Art, extract our gold from our Mercury this is
the shorter way), and thus perform the whole operation with one
substance (viz., Mercury); if you can do this, you will have
attained to the perfection of philosophy. In this method, there
is no superfluous trouble: the whole work, from beginning to end,
is based upon one broad foundation -- whereas if you take common
gold, you must operate on two substances, and both will have to
be purified by an elaborate process. If you diligently consider
what I have said, you have in your hand a means of unravelling
all the apparent contradictions of the Sages. They speak of
three operations: the first, by which the inward natural heat
expels all cold through the aid of external fire; the second,
wherein gold is purged with our Mercury, through the mediation
of Venus, and under the influence of a fierce fire; the third, in
which common gold is mixed with our Mercury, and the ferment
of Sulphur added. But if you will receive my advice, you will
not be put out by any wilful obscurity on the part of the Sages.
Our sulphur you should indeed strive to discover, and if God
enlightens you, you will find it in our Mercury. Before the
living God I swear that my teaching is true. If you operate on
Mercury and pure common gold, you may find " our gold " in
7 to 9 months, and " our silver " in 5 months. But when

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you have these. you have not yet prepared our Stone: that
glorious sight will not gladden your eyes until you have been at
work for a year-and-a-half. By that time you may obtain the
elixir by subjecting the substance to very gentle continuous heat

CHAPTER XX. Of the Appearance of Blackness in the Work of the Sun and Moon.
If you operate on gold and silver, for the purpose of finding our Sulphur, let your substance first become like a thin paste, or
boiling water, or liquid pitch; for the operation of our gold and
Mercury is prefigured by that which happens in the preparation
of common gold with our Mercury. Take your substance and
place it in the furnace, regulate the fire properly for the space of
twenty days, in which time you will observe various colours, and
about the end of the fourth week, if the fire be continuous, you
will see a most amiable greenness, which will last for about ten
days. Then rejoice, for in a short time it will be as a black coal,
and your whole compound shall be reduced to atoms. The
operation is a resolution of the fixed into the not fixed that both
afterwards, being conjoined, may make one matter, partly
spiritual and partly corporal. Once more, J assure you, the
regulation of the fire is the only thing that I have hidden from
you. Given the proper regimen, take the Stone, govern it as you
know how, and then these wonderful phenomena will follow:
The fire will at once dissolve the Mercury and the Sulphur like
wax; the Sulphur will be burnt, and change its colours from
day to day; the Mercury will prove incombustible, and only be
gradually tinged (and purified, without being infected) with the
colours of the Sulphur; Let the heaven stoop to the earth, till
the latter has conceived heavenly seed. When you see the
substances mingle in your distilling vessel, and assume the
appearance of clotted and burnt blood, be sure that the female
has received the seed of the male. About seventeen days afterwards
your substance will begin to wear a yellow, thick, misty,
or foamy appearance. At this time, you must take care not to
let the embryo escape from your vessel; for it will give out a
greenish, yellow, black, and bluish vapour and strive to burst the

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188 THE HERMETIC MUSEUM.
vessel. If you allow these vapours (which are continuous when
the Embryo is formed) to escape, your work will be hopelessly
marred. Nor should you allow any of the odour to make its
way through any little hole or outlet; for the evaporation would
considerably weaken the strength of the Stone. Hence the true
Sage seals up the mouth of his vessel most carefully. Let me
advise you, moreover, not to neglect your fire, or move or open
the vessel, or slacken the process of decoction, until you find that
the quantity of the liquid begins to diminish; if this happens
after thirty days, rejoice, and know that you are on the right
road. Then be doubly careful, and you will, at the end of
another fortnight, find that the earth has become quite dry and
of a deep black. This is the death of the compound; the winds
have ceased, and there is a great calm. This is that great
simultaneous eclipse of the Sun and Moon, when the Sea also
has disappeared. Our Chaos is then ready, from which, at the
bidding of God, all the wonders of the world may successively
emerge.

CHAPTER XXI. Of the Caution required to avoid Burning the Flowers.
The burning of the flowers is fatal, yet soon committed: it is chiefly to be guarded against after the lapse of the third week;
in the beginning there is so much moisture that if the fire be too
fierce it will dry up the liquid too quickly, and you will prematurely
obtain a dry red powder, from which the principle of
life has flown; if the fire be not strong enough the substance
will not be properly matured. Too powerful a fire prevents the
true union of the substances. True union only takes place in
water. Bodies collide, but do not unite; only liquids (and
spirits) can truly mingle their substance. Hence our homogeneous
metallic water must be allowed to do its work properly, and
should not be dried up, until this perfect mutual absorption has
taken place in a natural manner. Premature drying only
destroys the germ of life, strikes the active principle on the head
as with a hammer, and renders it passive. A red powder is
indeed produced, but long before the time: for redness should
be preceded by blackness. It is true that, in the beginning

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of our work, when heaven is wedded to earth, and earth
conceives the fire of nature, a red colour does appear. But the
substance is then sufficiently moist; and the redness soon gives
way to a green colour, which in its turn gradually yields to
blackness. Do not be in a hurry; let your fire be just powerful
enough, but not too powerful; steer a straight course between
Scylla and Charybdis: you will behold in your vessel a variety
of colours and grotesque transformations -- until the substance
settles down into a powder of intense blackness. This should
happen within the first fifty days. If it does not, either your
Mercury, or the regulation of your fire, or the composition
of your substance is at fault -- if, indeed, you have not moved or
shaken your glass vessel.

CHAPTER XXII. Of the Regimen of Saturn.
All the Sages who have written on our Art, have spoken of the work and regimen of Saturn; and their remarks have led
many to choose common lead as the substance of the Stone.
But you should know that our Saturn, or lead, is a much nobler
substance than gold. It is the living earth in which the soul of
gold is joined to Mercury, that they may bring forth Adam and
his wife Eve. Wherefore, since the highest has so lowered itself
as to become the lowest, we may expect that its blood may be
the means of redeeming all its brethren. The Tomb in which
our King is buried, is that which we call Saturn, and it is the key
of the work of transmutation; happy is he who can salute this
planet, and call it by its right name. It is a boon which is
obtained by the blessing of God alone; it is not of him that
willeth, or of him that runneth; but God bestoweth it on whom
He will.

CHAPTER XXIII. Of the different Regimens of this Work.
Let me assure you that in our whole work there is nothing hidden but the regimen, of which it was truly said by the
Sage that whoever knows it perfectly will be honoured by

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190 THE HERMETIC MUSEUM.
princes and potentates. I tell you plainly that if this one point
were clearly set forth, our Art would become mere women's
work and child's play: there would be nothing in it but a simple
process of " cooking." Hence it has always been most carefully
concealed by the Sages. But I have determined to write
in a more sympathetic and kindly spirit: know then that our
regimen throughout consists in coction and digestion, but that
it implies a good many other processes, which those jealous
Sages have made to appear different by describing them under
different names. But we intend to speak more openly in regard
to this subject.

CHAPTER XXIV. Of the First Regimen, which is that of Mercury.
This first regimen has been studiously kept secret by all the Sages. They have spoken of the second regimen, or that
of Saturn, as if it were the first, and have thus left the student
without guidance in those operations which precede the appearance
of that intense blackness. Count Bernard, of Trevisa, says,
in his Parable, that when the King has come to the Fountain
he takes off the golden garment, gives it to Saturn, and
enters the bath alone, afterwards receiving from Saturn a
robe of black silk But he docs not tell us how long it takes
to put off that golden robe; and thus, like all his brethren,
leaves the poor beginner to grope in the dark during 40 or 50
days. From the point where the stage of blackness is reached
to the end of the work their directions are more full and
intelligible. It is in regard to these first 40 days that the
student requires additional light. This period represents the
regimen of Mercury (of the Sages), which is alone active during
the whole time, the other substance being temporarily dead.
You should not suffer yourself to be deluded into the belief that
when your matters are joined, namely, our Sun and Mercury,
the " setting of the Sun " can be brought about in a few days.
We ourselves waited a tedious time before a reconciliation was
made between the fire and the water. As a matter of fact,
the Sages have called the substance, throughout this first period,
Rebis, or Two-thing: to shew that the union is not effected

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AN OPEN ENTRANCE. 191
till the operation is complete. You should know, then, that
though our Mercury consumes the Sun, yet a year after you
shall separate them, unless they are connected together by a
suitable degree of fire. It is not able to do anything at all
without fire. We must not suppose that when our gold is
placed in our Mercury it is swallowed up by it in the twinkling
of an eye. This conception rests on a misunderstanding of
Count Bernard's teaching about the King's plunge in the
fountain. But the solution of gold is a more difficult matter
than these gentry appear to have any idea of. It requires the
highest skill so to regulate the fire in the first stage of the
work as to solve the bodies without injuring the tincture.
Attend to my teaching therefore. Take the body which I have
showed you, put it into the water of our sea, and bring to bear
on the compound the proper degree of heat, till dews and
mists begin to ascend, and the moisture is diminished night and
day without intermission. Know that at first the two do not
affect each other at all, and that only in course of time the body
absorbs some of the water, and thus causes each to partake of
the other's nature. Only part of the water is sublimed; the
rest gradually penetrates the pores of the body, which are
thereby more and more softened, till the soul of the gold
is enabled gently to pass out. Through the mediation of
the soul the body is reconciled and united to the spirit, and
their union is signalized by the appearance of the black colour.
The whole operation lasts about 40 -- 50 days, and is called the
Regimen of Mercury, because the body is passive throughout,
and the spirit, or Mercury, brings about all the changes of
colour, which begin to appear about the 20th day, and gradually
intensify till all be at last completed in black of the deepest dye,
which the 50th day will manifest.

CHAPTER XXV. The Regimen of the Second Part, which is that of Saturn.

The Regimen of Mercury, the operation whereof despoils the King of his golden garments, is followed by the Regimen of
Saturn. When the Lion dies the Crow is born. The substance
has now become of a uniform colour, namely, as black as pitch,

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192 THE HERMETIC MUSEUM.
and neither vapours, or winds, or any other signs of life are seen;
the whole is dry as dust, with the exception of some pitch-like
substance, which now and then bubbles up; all presents an
image of eternal death. Nevertheless, it is a sight which gladdens
the heart of the Sage. For the black colour which is seen is
bright and brilliant; and if you behold something like a thin
paste bubbling up here and there, you may rejoice. For it is the
work of the quickening spirit, which will soon restore the dead
bodies to life. The regulation of the fire is a matter of great importance
at this juncture; if you make it too fierce, and thus
cause sublimation at this stage, everything will be irrecoverably
spoilt. Be content, therefore, to remain, as it were, in prison for
forty days and nights, even as was the good Trevisan, and employ
only gentle heat. Let your delicate substance remain at the
bottom, which is the womb of conception, in the sure hope that
after the time appointed by the Creator for this Operation, the
spirit will arise in a glorified state, and glorify its body -- that it
will ascend and be gently circulated from the centre to the
heavens, then descend to the centre from the heavens, and take
to itself the power of things above and things below.

CHAPTER XXVI. Of the Regimen of Jupiter.
Black Saturn is succeeded by Jupiter, who exhibits divers colours. F`or after the putrefaction and conception, which has
taken place at the bottom of the vessel, there is once more a
change of colours and a circulating sublimation. This Reign, or
Regimen, lasts only three weeks. During this period you see all
conceivable colours concerning which no definite account can be
given. The " showers " that fall will become more numerous as
the close of this reign approaches, and its termination is signalized
by the appearance of a snowy white streaky deposit on
the sides of the vessel. Rejoice, then, for you have successfully
accomplished the regimen of Jupiter. What you must be particularly
careful about in this operation, is to prevent the young
ones of the Crow from going back to the nest when they have
once left it; secondly, to let your earth get neither too dry by

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AN OPEN ENTRANCE. 193
an immoderate sublimation of the moisture, nor yet to swamp
and smother it with the moisture. These ends will be attained
by the proper regulation of the outward heat.

CHAPTER XXVII. Of the Regimen of the Moon.
When the Reign of Jupiter comes to an end (towards the close of the fourth month) you will see the sign of the waxing
moon (Crescent), and know that the whole Reign of Jupiter was
devoted to the purification of the Laton. The mundifying spirit
is very pure and brilliant, but the body that has to be cleansed is
intensely black. While it passes from blackness to whiteness, a
great variety of colours are observed; nor is it at once perfectly
white; at first it is simply white -- afterwards it is of a dazzling,
snowy splendour. Under this Reign the whole mass presents
the appearance of liquid quicksilver. This is called the sealing
of the mother in the belly of the infant whom she bears; and
its intermediate colours are more white than black, just as in the
Reign of Jupiter they were more black than white. The Reign
of the Moon lasts just three weeks, but before its close, the
substance exhibits a great variety of forms; it will become liquid,
and again coagulate a hundred times a day; sometimes it will
present the appearance of fishes' eyes, and then again of tiny
silver trees, with twigs and leaves. Whenever you look at it you
will have cause for astonishment, particularly when you see it all
divided into beautiful but very minute grains of silver, like the
rays of the Sun. This is the White Tincture, glorious to behold,
but nothing in respect of what it may become.

CHAPTER XXVIII. Of the Regimen of Venus.
The substance, if left in the same vessel, will once more become volatile and (though already perfect in its way) will
undergo another change. But if you take it out of the vessel,
and after allowing it to cool, put it into another, you will not be
able to make anything of it. In this Reign you should also give

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194 THE HERMETIC MUSEUM.
careful attention to your fire. For the perfect Stone is fusible;
and if the fire be too powerful the substance will become glazed,
and unsusceptible of any further change. This "vitrification"
of the substance may happen at any time from the middle of the
Reign of the Moon to the tenth day of the Reign of Venus, and
should be carefully guarded against. The heat should be gentle,
so as to melt the compound very slowly and gradually; it will then
raise bubbles, and receive a spirit that will rise upward, carrying
the Stone with it, and imparting to it new colours, especially a
copper-green colour, which endures for some time, and does not
quite disappear till the twentieth day; the next change is to blue
and livid, and at the close of this Reign the colour is a pale
purple. Do not irritate the spirit too much -- it is more corporeal
than before, and if you sublime it to the top of the vessel, it will
hardly return. The same caution should be observed in the
Reign of the Moon, when the substance begins to thicken. The
law is one of mildness, and not of violence, lest everything should
rise to the top of the vessel, and be consumed or vitrified to the
ruin of the whole work. When you see the green colour, know
that the substance now contains the germ of its highest life. Do
not turn the greenness into blackness by immoderate heat. This
Reign is maintained for forty days.

CHAPTER XXIX. Of the Regimen of Mars.
When the Regimen of Venus is over, and therein has appeared the philosophical tree, with all its branches and leaves, the Reign
of Mars begins with a light yellow, or dirty brown colour, but at
last exhibits the transitory hues of the Rainbow, and the
Peacock's Tail. At this stage the compound is drier, and often
shews like a hyacinth with a tinge of gold. The mother being
now sealed in her infant's belly, swells and is purified, but because
of the present great purity of the compound, no putridness can
have place in this regimen, but some obscure colours are chief
actors, while some middle colours come and go, and they are
pleasant to look on. Our Virgin Earth is now undergoing the
last degree of its cultivation, and is getting ready to receive and

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AN OPEN ENTRANCE. 195
mature the fruit of the Sun. Hence you should keep up a
moderate temperature; then there will be seen, about the
thirtieth day of this Reign, an orange colour, which, within two
weeks from its first appearance, will tinge the whole substance
with its own hue.

CHAPTER XXX. Of the Regimen of the Sun.
As you are now approaching the end of the work, the substance receives a golden tinge, and the Virgin's Milk which
you give your substance to drink has assumed a deep orange
colour. Pray to God to keep you from haste and impatience at
this stage of the work; consider that you have now waited for
seven months, and that it would be foolish to let one hour rob
you of the fruits of all your labour. Therefore be more and
more careful the nearer you approach perfection. Then you will
first observe an orange-coloured sweat breaking out on the body;
next there will be vapour of an orange hue. Soon the body
below becomes tinged with violet and a darkish purple. At the
end of fourteen or fifteen days, the substance will be, for the
most part, humid and ponderous, and yet the wind still bears it
in its womb. Towards the 26th day of the Reign it will begin
to get dry, and to become liquid and solid in turn (about a
hundred times a day); then it becomes granulated; then again
it is welded together into one mass, and so it goes on changing
for about a fortnight. At length, however, an unexpectedly
glorious light will burst from your substance, and the end will
arrive three days afterwards. The substance will be granulated,
like atoms of gold (or motes in the Sun), and turn a deep red
-- a red the intensity of which makes it seem black like very pure blood in a clotted state. This is the Great Wonder of
Wonders, which has not its like on earth.

CHAPTER XXXI. Of the Fermentation of the Stone.
I forgot to warm you in the last chapter to be on your guard against the danger of vitrification; too fierce a fire would render

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196 THE HERMETIC MUSEUM.
your substance insoluble and prevent its granulation. . .
You now possess the incombustible red Sulphur which can no
longer be affected in any way by fire. In order to obtain
the Elixir from this Sulphur by reiterate solution and coagulation,
take three parts of purest gold, and one part of this fiery
Sulphur. Melt the gold in a clean crucible, and then cast your
Sulphur into it (protecting it well from the smoke of the coals)
Make them liquid together, when you will obtain a beautiful
mass of a deep red, though hardly transparent. This you should
permit to cool, and pound into a small powder. Of this powder
take one part, and two parts oi our Mercury; mix them well,
and put them in a glass vessel, well sealed They should be
exposed to gentle heat for two months. This is the true
fermentation, which may be repeated if needful.

CHAPTER XXXII. The Imbibition of the Stone.
Many authors take fermentation in this work for the invisible external agent, which they call ferment; by its virtue
the fugitive and subtle spirits, without laying on of hands, are
of their own accord thickened, and our before-mentioned fermentation
they call cibation with bread and milk. But I follow
my own judgment There is another operation, called Imbibition
of the Stone, by which its quantity rather than its quality
is increased. It is this: Add to three parts of your perfect
Sulphur (either white or red) one part of water, and after six or
seven days' coction the water will become thick like the Sulphur
Add again as much water as you did before; and when this is
dried up, with a convenient fire, add three distinct times so much
water as shall be equal to one-third of the original quantity of
Sulphur. Then add (for the 7th imbibition 3 five parts of water
(the parts being equal to the original parts of the Sulphur).
Seal up the vessel; subject it to gentle coction, and let the compound
pass through all the different Reigns of the original
Substance, which will be accomplished in a month. Then you
have the true Stone of the third order, one part of which
will perfectly tinge 1,000 parts of any other metal.

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AN OPEN ENTRANCE. 197
CHAPTER XXXIII. The Multiplication of the Stone.
Take the perfect Stone; add one part of it to three or four parts of purified Mercury of our first work, subject it to gentle
coction for seven days (the vessel being carefully sealed up), and
let it pass through all the Reigns, which it will do very quickly
and smoothly. The tinging power of the substance will thus be
exalted a thousandfold; and if you go through the whole process
a second time (which you can do with ease in three days) the
Medicine will be much more precious still. This you may repeat
as often as you like; the third time the substance will run
through all the Reigns in a day, the fourth time in a single hour,
and so on -- and the improvement in its quality will be most
marvellous. Then kneel down and render thanks to God for
this precious treasure.

CHAPTER XXXIV. Of Projection.
Take four parts of your perfect Stone, either red or white (of both, for the Medicine); melt them in a clean crucible. Take
one part of this pulverisable mixture to ten parts of purified
Mercury; heat the Mercury till it begins to crackle, then throw
in your mixture, which will pierce it in the twinkling of an eye;
increase your fire till it be melted, and you w ill have a Medicine
of an inferior order. Take one part of this, and add it to a large
quantity of well purged and melted metal, which will thereby be
transmuted into the purest silver or gold (according as you have
taken white or red Sulphur). Note that it is better to use a
gradual projection, for otherwise there may be a notable loss of
the Medicine. The better the metals are purged and refined,
the quicker and more complete will the transmutation be.

CHAPTER XXXV. Of the Manifold uses of this Art.
He that has once found this Art, can have nothing else in all the world to wish for, than that he may be allowed to serve

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198 THE HERMETIC MUSEUM.
his God in peace and safety. He will not care for pomp or
dazzling outward show. But if he lived a thousand years, and
daily entertained a million people, he could never come to want,
since he has at hand the means of indefinitely multiplying the
Stone both in weight and virtue, and thus of changing all
imperfect metals in the world into gold.
In the second place, he has it in his power to make stones and diamonds far more precious than any that are naturally
procured.
In the third place, he has an Universal Medicine, with which he can cure every conceivable discase, and, indeed, as to
the quantity of his Medicine, he might heal all sick people in the
world.
Now to the King Eternal, Immortal, and sole .Almighty, be everlasting praise for these His unspeakable gifts and invaluable
treasures.
I exhort all that possess this Treasure, to use it to the praise of God, and the good of their neighbours, in order that
they may not at the last day be eternally doomed for their
ingratitude to their Creator.

T O
G O D A L O N E
B E
T H E G L O R Y .
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