VIII.3

Turba Philosophorum

The Assembly of the Wise

 

He who has ears, let him open them and listen;

He who has a mouth, let him keep it closed.

The Turba Philosophorum is one of the most quoted texts of the ancient Hermetic-alchemical authors. While its dating is uncertain, it is definitely among the most ancient alchemical manuscripts to have entered circulation in Europe during the period when classical culture returned via the Arabs. Part of the text, in fact, consists of sayings from Arab and Hellenistic alchemists.

Various editions of the Turba exist, somewhat different from one another. We have consulted the two contained in Manget’s Bibliotheca Chemica Curiosa (Geneva, 1702): Turba Philosophorum ex antiquo Manuscripto Codice excerpta, qualis nulla hactenus visa est Editio (vol. I, 445–65) and Turba Philosophorum, aliud exemplar (vol. I, 480–94). However, we have preferred the one contained in vol. II of the Bibliothèque des Philosophes Chimiques (Paris, 1741), as being much more concise, and for a colorful and lively quality that the others lack. The best work on these texts and their sources is Ruska, Die Turba Philosophorum (Berlin: Springer, 1931).¹

The commentary will necessarily be very limited. Among the most variegated forms of symbolism, enigmatic games and traps set for the inexpert reader alternate with things given out in quite an explicit way. The reader will be helped by what has already been said in our preceding volume, or else he may return to the text after having gained further elements of Hermetic exegesis as the present series of essays proceeds. The italics are ours.

ARISTEUS said: I tell you that our Master Pythagoras is the foot of the Prophets and the head of the Wise, and that he has had more gifts of wisdom from God than any other since Hermes. Thus he wished to gather his Disciples—sent from all lands and regions to treat this precious Art—so that their word could serve as a rule for those who came after. And he ordered IXIMANDRUS to speak first, being the best in council, who said:

All things have a beginning and a nature, which of itself, without help from any other, can multiply itself to infinity; else all would be lost and corrupted.

The TURBA said: Master, if you begin, we will follow your words.

And PYTHAGORAS said: Know, all you who seek this Art, that a true Tincture will never be made except with our red Stone;² thus do not lose your souls or your money, nor let sorrow enter your hearts. Be sure of this, and receive this teaching from me, as your Master. If you do not transmute this red Stone into white, and then make it red again, thus making a Tincture of the Tincture, you will achieve nothing ³ Therefore cook this Stone, break it, remove its blackness by cooking and washing until it becomes white. Then raise it up again, as is fitting.

ARISTEUS said: The Key to this Work is the Art of whitening. Therefore take the body that I have shown you and of which your Master has spoken, make from it thin tablets and put them into our Sea Water, a Water that is permanent and the governess of our Body;⁴ then place it all on a slow fire,⁵ until the tablets break up and dissolve in the Water. Mix and cook it continuously with a mild fire, until a pigmented fat appears, to be cooked and converted in its Water until it congeals and makes the eyes (of the fat) appear like the flowers we call Sunflowers. Cook it until there is no more black, and the whiteness appears; then treat it and cook it with the soul of Gold, and mix it all by means of the Fire, without touching it, until it has all become red. Have patience and do not fret: have it drink its Water, which came out of it [from the body], a Water that is permanent, until it is red. This is the burnt Copper, the Flower and Yeast of Gold, which you cook together with the permanent Water that always remains with it; digest and cook it until it is dry.⁶ Do this continuously until there is no more humidity, and it all becomes an extremely fine powder.⁷

PARMENIDES said: Know that envious people have spoken in different ways of Water, Fats, Stones, and Metals in order to deceive you who are seeking this secret Science. Leave all that, and make the red white and the white red. First know and examine what Lead and Tin represent, first one then the other; and know that if you do not take the Natures, and if you do not join the Kindred with their own closest Kindred, those which are of the same blood, you will succeed at nothing.⁸ For the Natures meet each other and follow one another, in putrefaction and generation; and Nature is dominated by Nature, by whom it is destroyed, reduced to dust, turned to nothing. Then it renews and regenerates it many times. Study and read, so as to penetrate the truth and know what it is that putrefies and renovates; what things are involved; how they love one another and how, after their love, hostility and corruption ensue; and how (in the end) they embrace until they become One. Knowing this, set your hand to this Art; if not, do not undertake this divine Work, for it will bring you nothing but misfortune, sorrow and despair. Consider, then, the words of the Wise, and how they have summarized the whole Work in these words, saying: “Nature rejoices in Nature, Nature dominates Nature, Nature contains Nature.” The entire Work is contained in these words. Therefore abandon all superfluous things, take the living Water and congeal it in its Body and in its incombustible Sulfur,⁹ make its nature white and thus all will become white. By cooking it still more, the red will arise, the Sea Water will become blood-colored—this being a sign of God’s time, the final sign of His advent, He who comes to glorify the righteous. But first, the Sun will lose its Light and the Moon will assume the function of the Sun; then the Moon itself will be darkened and turned to blood, and Sea and Earth will open up, and the Bodies of those who were dead will arise from the tombs and be glorified, and they will have a more glorious and splendid face than a thousand Suns. And the Body, the Spirit, and the Soul will be glorified in unity and will render thanks to God, that after such torments, pains, and tribulations they have come to such goodness and perfection as to be no more subject to separation nor corruption. If you [plural. —Trans.] do not understand me, study no more and do not try to mingle with us, because you are not numbered with the Wise. I could not speak more clearly.¹⁰ If you [singular. —Trans.] do not understand me the first time, study a second, third, or fourth time, and so on, until you do understand. For in this Image everything is contained, from the beginning to the end, explained in the best way possible to man. Break your head to understand it, so that you can work and feed on it.

LUCAS said: Know that Body and Spirit help one another. At first the Spirit breaks the Body, so as to be helped by it later [in the Red Work]. When the Body is dead, feed it with its Milk, with what it has within it, taking care that the Spirit does not escape but always remains connected to the Body. And if one f lees the Fire, but the other bears it, when they are joined together they support one another. Know, moreover, that one part of the Body contains more power than ten parts of the Spirit, and that it fortifies the Spirit. And know that our Sulfur burns everything, and that it is self-made from beginning to end, helping itself according to Nature.

The VICAR said: Know that without the Fire, nothing was ever generated. Put your Compound into its vessel and light a moderate fire all around it, not a strong and violent fire, otherwise the parts will not move with respect to each other [that is the true separation]. Take care that the Fire be slow, for should it be too strong, the red would appear prematurely.¹¹ Instead, we want first the black, then the white, then the red, because Nature works only through stages and transformations. I have told you enough about the Art, if you have sense; for you do not have to work with many things, but only with one, which alters¹² step-by-step until its perfection.

PYTHAGORAS said: Let us add another thing, which is not really another because only the names are different. Know that the thing we allude to, which the Philosophers speak of in so many ways, pursues and reaches its Companion without fire, as the magnet attracts iron. And this thing, in its embrace, gives forth various colors, and is found everywhere. It is Stone, and yet not Stone; dear and cheap, bright and precious, dark and known to all, it has only one name and it has many names; and it is the spittle of the Moon.¹³ Split the black Hen and give it milk to drink and gum to eat, so as to cure it; save the blood in its belly and feed it with milk till it loses its black feathers, loses its wings, and no longer flies. Then you will see it in its beauty, and its feathers will become white and shiny. Give it saffron and iron rust to eat,¹⁴ then give it blood to drink. Feed it thus for a long time. Finally let it go: for there is no poison that could harm it (more) and which it cannot overcome. And it stares at the Sun without blinking.¹⁵

ACSUBOFOS said: Master, you have said without envy what you had to say. May God reward you.

PYTHAGORAS said: And you, Acsubofos, what do you make of it? And he said: Know that Sulfur contains Sulfur and that the one Humidity contains the other.¹⁶

The TURBA said: Is that all? You are saying nothing new. And he said:

Humidity is a poison which, when it penetrates the Bodies, tinctures them with an immutable color. For when one thing flees, the other flees too; (but when) one catches the other, it flees no more, for Nature has made its likeness into its Enemy, and the two have slain each other. This is how you work; this is the regimen. Treat it before it is colored with a child’s Urine,¹⁷ with Sea Water,¹⁸ and with pure permanent Water;¹⁹ and cook it with a small fire until the black appears: for then it is certain that the Body has dissolved and putrefied. Then cook it with its humor²⁰ until it puts on a red Robe, and keep cooking it until you see the serpentine color that you are seeking.

SIZIUS said: Know, all you investigators of the Art, that the foundation of this Art, of which everyone thinks, is one thing alone, which the Wise esteem as the highest of Natures, but which the Fools believe to be the vilest of all things.²¹ You Fools are well accursed. I swear that if Kings knew of such a thing, no one would ever have it.

PYTHAGORAS said: Name it.—And he replied:

It is the sharpest Vinegar, which makes the Body black, white, red, and all colors, and converts the Body to Spirit.²² And know that if you put the Body to the fire without Vinegar, it will burn and break up. Know that the first humor is cold. Therefore, avoid using too violent a fire at the outset, because it is the enemy of what is cold; and if you cook (our body) well and remove its blackness, it will become Stone, similar to pure white marble. And know that the whole intention and beginning of the Work is blanching, after which comes the red that is the perfection of the Work. I swear by my God that I have long searched in books, wishing to attain this Science, and I have prayed God to teach me what it is. And when God heard me, he showed me a purified Water that I recognized as Vinegar, and from then on, the more I read the Books, the more I understood.²³

SOCRATES said: Know that our Work is done with the Male and the Female; cook until the blackness, then until the whiteness. Cook it all for 150 days, and I assure you that if you know the Matters needed for our Work, and the Regimens, you will find that their Regimens are nothing but women’s work and child’s play. The Philosophers have told you of many Regimens in order to mislead you, but what of that? Understand all according to Nature and her Regimen. And believe me, without so much searching. I order you only to cook: cook at the beginning, cook in the middle, cook at the end without doing anything else; for Nature will bring herself to completion.

ZENON said: Know that the year is divided into four seasons. Winter has a cold, rainy and watery complexion. Spring is slightly warm. The third is hot, namely Summer. The fourth, Autumn, is very dry and one gathers fruits then, for they are ripe. Govern your Natures in this way and in no other, otherwise you can blame only yourselves, not us.

The TURBA said: You speak well: tell us something else. And he said: It is enough.

PLATO said: Our Gum opens our Milk and our Milk dissolves our Gum—and they grow inside the Stone of Paradise, which is the Wood of Life. In this Stone are two contraries, Fire and Water. One enlivens the other and one kills the other; and the two, being conjoined, (thus) remain forever: from which appear an Orient Red and a Blood Red. Our Man is old, our Dragon young, who eats his head with his tail, head and tail being Soul and Spirit.²⁴ And the Soul and Spirit are created by him, and one comes from the East, namely the Child, and the old man from the West. The Crow flying in the air in August changes its plumage inside a cleft of an Oak,²⁵ first the yellow, which falls away through eating Serpents, while his head becomes red like a poppy. That is the Spring of the Torrent; it runs in two veins that begin in a channel, one salt and the other sweet.²⁶ The Crow washes himself—it cleanses him—and will say: He who has cleansed me will make me red; otherwise I will kill him and fly away. Whoever has seen this can speak of it and bear witness; otherwise he will not believe it. Wake the wild Beast, put it among tame Birds²⁷ who grasp it and prevent it from flying; then, when it is caught, feed the Birds—to reward their efforts—with its liver and give them its blood to drink, so as to animate them. And for the white Horse that you mount, make a beautiful covering; and the Horse will become a strong Lion covered with fur. Beneath the two of them there is a Griffin.

This thing has three angles in its substance, four in its virtues, two in its matter, and one in its root.²⁸ I have passed by many paths, always with my Dog beside me. A Wolf comes from East, and I with my Dog come from the West. The Wolf bites the Dog, and the Dog bites the Wolf, and they both become enraged and kill one another, whereupon a great Poison is made from them, then a Theriac.²⁹ There is the Stone, hidden both from men and from demons. What everyone had concealed, I (now) have expounded and told you.

THEOPHILUS said: You have spoken very obscurely. And PLATO said: Expound what I have said. And he [Theophilus] said:

Know, all you Sons of the Doctrine, that the secret of all is a dark covering, of which the Philosophers have so often spoken; and this clothing or covering is made as follows: Make with your body tiny tablets, and cook them with the Poison, two to seven and two: that is all. Cook them in this permanent Water for forty days; on removing your vessel, you will find the garment you desire.³⁰ Wash it and cook it until it has no more blackness, then congeal it;³¹ for when congealed, it is a great Mystery—and from it a Stone is made, called Dasuma, that is, fat. But first of all, after (the substance) is putrefied, put in a little white salt to dry it, so that it will not stink; and then you will find what I have said. Cook it until it is like a white Manna; then resume, until the different colors appear.

The TURBA said: You have spoken very well.

NOTIUS said: I would also like to say something. There are two sorts of digestion in Man. The first happens in his stomach and is white. The second happens in the liver and is red.³² For when I rise in the morning and see that my urine is white, I go back to bed and stay there for three or four more hours. When I examine my urine at noon, it is blood-red, because it is well cooked.³³ The first would have had only three hours’ cooking, hence was still white and raw; but after four hours it is very well cooked and the color of blood. I have told you what I have done. He who has ears, open them and listen; he who has a mouth, keep it shut.

BELE said: You have spoken very well and without envy. May God aid you and give the Disciples the grace to hear and understand you. If no Philosopher had ever said more, people would not err as they do now, because it is only the many words and different names that make them err. But I say that all the Metals are imperfect while they are in the black state; hence Lead, being black, is imperfect. But he who removes the blackness will be in himself,³⁴ and it will make him white. Hence seeking elsewhere will not help you. Therefore render the Lead white, take the red away from Latona and redden the Moon—that is all. However, understand by this that our Lead is a different metal from the common one, because it comes from our Mine, as does the Silver and the whole Composition.

BOCOSTUS said: You have spoken well for those who will come after us, and I would like to support you. Know, O you who seek this precious Art, that if you do not remove the Spirit from the dead Body, if you do not hide it in another spirit and then make from both of them one Soul, you will have no success. Therefore kill the Body, make it putrefy and draw from it the white Spirit; then the Soul will glorify it. Know, too, that the Spirit does not come from the Body, but comes from the Spirit, and the Soul comes from both. The Body is Spirit, but the Spirit is not Body: the one has the other, but the other does not contain it. Keep this in mind, otherwise you will achieve nothing.³⁵

MELOZIUS said: The whole thing must be putrefied for forty days,³⁶ then sublimate it nine times in its vessel; then putrefy it again and congeal it. Know that from that moment it will tincture everything that it enters, and infinitely. You have heard this said often enough, but no one believes it until God wills it. It is through God’s just counsel that it happens thus.

GREGORIUS said: Our Stone is called Efodebuts, that is, Vestment of Purple, and is none other than to kill the Living and revive the Dead; by reviving the Dead, you kill the Living, and by killing the Living you revive the Dead. And know that this is a single thing, and nothing strange: for it kills itself, and gives life to itself.

The VICAR said: You speak all too clearly.

BELLUS replied: You are truly envious. And he said: I order you to take what you have been told of, do what you should with it without erring, and you will have a good example. If you do not know how to proceed, do as Nature does: only help her. When the Moon is in conjunction, it has no light;³⁷ but when it faces the Sun, it shines. And if it were not for the Air that stands between us and the Fire, the Fire would consume everything.³⁸

The TURBA said: Vicar, you speak little and carelessly. And he said: The first time I speak to you, I shall speak of the Weight, the Regimen, the Colors, and the time and places of our Poison. Each of you may speak at his pleasure. I have said my say.

BOMELIUS said: Take the royal Corsustus, which is red, and give it Cow’s urine³⁹ until its nature is converted; for Nature converts Nature and transmutes it. And Nature is hidden in the belly of the Corsustus. Feed it until it becomes adult and can walk on its own.

BRINELIUS said: Take the Matter that everyone knows, remove the blackness and then fortify the Fire at the right time, when it can bear it; and it will take on various colors. The first day it will be saffron colored, the second, like rust; the third, like the desert poppy; the fourth, like strongly burnt blood. At this point the Body is spiritual, tincturing and purifying all imperfect things. This is the whole secret.

ARISTEUS said: The Stone⁴⁰ is a Mother who conceives her own Son and kills him and puts him in her belly. He then becomes more perfect than he was before, and feeds from her. Then he kills his Mother, puts her in his belly and lets her putrefy; and the Son becomes his Mother’s persecutor and for a time they both have tribulations in common. This is one of the greatest miracles ever heard spoken of, and it is true, because the Mother generates the Son and the Son generates his own Mother and kills her.

The TURBA said: Know, Sons of the Doctrine, that our Stone is made from two things. Yet the envious say that it is from one alone, because the Root is one and it is all one Matter. Other envious ones say that there are four things, being the four qualities—Cold, Hot, Dry and Humid; but they are reduced to two,⁴¹ which subsist to the end.

PYTHAGORAS said: You speak well, my Sons, and are not envious. The whole TURBA said: We spoke clearly enough; but you have ordered us not to speak too clearly, otherwise the Fools would know as much of this Science as the Wise. And PYTHAGORAS said: If you spoke clearly, I would not want your words to be written in any book. But I also order you not to be too obscure.

BALEUS said: I tell you that the Mother is in mourning for the death of her Son, and the Son wears a joyous robe the color of blood for the death of his Mother; and thus they recompense each other. The Mother is always more compassionate toward the Son than he is toward her.

STYKOS said: If you do not remove the Fire that is enclosed in the Body and add it to the Water, you will achieve nothing.⁴² Hence I tell you to wash your Matter with the Fire and cook it with the Water; for our Water cooks and burns it, our Fire washes and denudes it. Understand my words well, without breaking your heads and imagining all sorts of things. Know that nothing is born from nothing and that like makes like. And you will not find what you are seeking in the thing, if it is not there—whatever you do.⁴³

BONELLUS said: Know that our Water is not the common Water, but a permanent Water that ceaselessly seeks its Companion. And when it finds it, it seizes it and the two of them make a single thing. Each perfects the other, without any other thing (intervening); and it all becomes Water, a Water at first covered with blackness; and when you see it (the Companion) become black, know that this will last only forty days or at most forty-two. Then you will see it white and dense, which is the sign that the Fixed is beginning to dominate the Humid, that the Dry is drinking the Cold, and the Hot is congealing by itself.⁴⁴

SISTOCUS said: You who seek this Art, I pray you to abandon all these obscure names, because our Matter is only one, and that is Water. But what then? When the blind leads the blind, both fall into the ditch. You can do everything, but it is for Nature to complete it. Cook the Black, cook the Milk, cook the Flower of Salt, cook the Marble, cook the Tin, the Silver, the Bronze, the Iron, the Sun, and you will have it all. You see that I tell you only to cook, for the slow Fire is everything.

EPHISTUS said: Know that the mild Fire is the cause of perfection, and the contrary [i.e., violent] is always the cause of corruption. Therefore cook first at a slow fire, until it can all bear a strong fire; because if you make your fire strong, (the Matter) will not dissolve, and if it does not dissolve it will never reach congelation. For the Body cannot cook the Water in all of its parts, nor entirely; and the Fire that is enclosed within the Body will not be awakened and aroused before the Body is dissolved.

MORIENUS said: Water tinctures Water, and one Humor tinctures the other, and one Sulfur the other, and the White little by little whitens the Red,⁴⁵ just as the latter little by little reddens the White; and one makes the other volatile, then it fixes it; then they are One, in a middle substance more perfect than either of the two when they were separate. Understand me, leave these Herbs, these Stones, these Metals and these strange species, and pray God with all your heart that he may make you one of us.

BASEM said: You cannot achieve the end without illumination, without patience and without the courage to wait; for he who lacks patience will not enter into this Art. How can you believe that you will understand our Matter the first, second, or third time? Do not cease to read so long as you are in doubt; let this Book be like a light to your eyes, and have the patience to wait. Once I knew a great Philosopher who knew as much of it as I and anyone else. But because of his impatience, being too hasty and two keen, by God’s justice, as I believe, he lost everything due to the strength of the Fire, and could not see what he desired. Hence our Master Pythagoras says that whoever will read our Books, dwell on them without distraction, and pray to God—will command in all the World. You seek a great secret—and do not want to take pains? Do you not see that a man will kill another, and even kill himself, for money? What would you not do, and what pains would you not take to achieve this high Science, to such great profit? When you plant and sow, do you not wait for the fruits until the time of ripening? How then can you expect the fruit of this Art in such a short time?

I tell you this so that you will not curse me: In this Art, all haste comes from the devil, who tries to deflect men from their good intentions. Be firm and have confidence in your Master, as we have in ours. For having believed in him and having known, we have profited. Likewise, if you believe, you will profit.

BELUS said: You have given good counsel to the Disciples. But I tell you that God has created the world with four Elements, and the Sun is its Lord and Master. Yet one sees only two: Earth and Water. And there is an Air enclosed in the Water and another in the Earth; and the Air is drawn from the Fire, which holds the Earth in the Air; and the Earth holds the Water and the Fire above the Air.⁴⁶ The Earth and the Fire are friends; the Air and the Water are friends. The Fire is a friend of the Water, with the help of the Air, and the Air is a friend of the Earth, with the help of the Water. And the Water holds the Air above and below, and the Earth holds the Air and also the Air holds the Earth. The Fire is held in the Earth and the Air opens it and encloses it in the Water; and the Water opens it by means of the Air and puts it in the Air, which is enclosed in the Earth by means of the Fire that is also enclosed there. The Air opens, and the Fire arrests the Water in the Air, and the Air opens the Fire in the Earth. Blessed is he who understands these words of mine; for no man has ever spoken more clearly. They are the words of our master Pythagoras.

AZARMUS said: When God made the world, he made it round so as to have the greatest capacity. And the Father of all is the Son of his Uncle, and his Uncle is son of this Father. The Son is Brother of the Uncle, and the Father is his Sister. The Son is Father of the Uncle, and the Uncle is Son of the Father, and the Father is Son of his Uncle, who is his Son. And he who does not understand me does not believe it. His Sister is Father of the Son, and the Father is the Grand-uncle of his Sister, who is Father of the Son. The Son is the Mother of the Granduncle of his Sister, who is his Father, and his Son is his Uncle and his Sister is his Mother and his Daughter. And the Daughter is Niece of the Father, who is her Son, and he is her Father, who is his Son. Understand us two, who speak well; for God has willed that we speak thus with His justice and his judgment.

The VICAR said: You are speaking quite obscurely, and overmuch. But I will declare the Matter completely, without so many obscure discourses. I command you, Sons of the Doctrine: congeal the Quicksilver. Of many things make two, three, and of three one. One with three is four; 4, 3, 2, 1, from 4 to 3 there is 1, from 3 to 4 there is 1, therefore 1 and 1, 3 and 4. From 3 to 1 there are 2, from 2 to 3 there is 1, from 3 to 2, 1—1, 2 and 3 and 1, 2 of 2 and 1, 1. From 1 to 2, 1, therefore 1. I have said it all.

SYRIUS said: You are all envious. Know, O Sons of the Doctrine, that the Child is generated from Man and Woman, and if the two Sperms are not joined together, you will make nothing. But when the Woman’s Sperm reaches the door of the Womb and meets the Man’s Sperm, they unite. One is hot and dry, the other cold and humid. As soon as they have entered there, they mingle.

Nature, who governs by God’s will, closes the door of the Womb—and they are enclosed in a skin inside the Womb, which is one of its chambers. This door and the cell of the said skin, where the Sperms are, are so well closed that the Woman no longer has her purgations and nothing more comes out. Then the natural heat is maintained gently all around the womb, digesting the two Sperms together; and the Man’s Sperm only converts itself and dies in the Woman’s,⁴⁷ and then little by little the substance emitted by the Woman increases the Sperm, nourishes and enlarges it, and converts itself by means of the work of the Man’s Sperm and the natural heat, with the help of the complex Compound; amd it cooks, digests, subtilizes and purifies it until the Spirit moves in this Compound. In the first forty days there is movement, in the following days it makes milk, then blood, then the principal members, the formation of the heart, the liver, and the other organs. And then the purgations, which were dirty, bloody, and black with putrefaction become white through decoction and are carried, white, to the breasts, from which the child then feeds until it is grown. And then one gives it all sorts of beverages, and food of all kinds to eat; and it increases and grows stronger in its bones, nerves, veins, and blood.

It is the same with our Work, for him who understands it. And know that although we say in several places: put in this, put in that—still we mean that one only has to put it in once and for all, and close it until the end, though we say: open and put it in. Truly we have said all that so as to mislead a good many.

But the Wise, who understand our words, know our intentions and how Nature behaves. In fact, we do nothing but provide Nature with a matter to work with according to her intention, as you see happening in every generation. When we want to make a Tree grow, first we sow the perfect seed that has come from it, because every seed makes a fruit similar to that of which it is the seed; once sown, we leave it in the ground. Then it putrefies and puts forth a white sprout that the Earth nourishes, and in virtue of the active seed, which is in the putrefied seed, it grows to produce a tree like that from which the seed came. And from this Tree comes another seed, which can again multiply to infinity.⁴⁸ As for us, we do nothing but help the Matter along, and Nature completes it.

Likewise, if a Woman goes with several Men she will never conceive; and if by chance she does, it will be a stillbirth. For if you mix raw things with cooked, bad digestion will result. Thus we need only the two Sperms of like root. Through cooking they will change; but you will help them in the proper way up to the end. Do this, then: put away all those words and regimens, watch how Nature works, and try to imitate her regimen. Do not be so bold as to think of doing more with your regimens than she: for if she does not do it, you will certainly not do it with means of your own invention. No one can make our Stone except with our sole Matter⁴⁹ and through our one Regimen. So abandon all these strange words and act in conformity with Nature: for I tell you that the only thing that will make you fail is the strange words and various expressions, and the regimens and all the doses that are talked of. But take note that whatever they (the Philosophers) have said, Nature is one single thing, they are all in accord and all say the same. The Fools take our words literally, without understanding the why and wherefore. (Instead) they should consider whether our words are reasonable and natural, and then take them (as they are): but if they are not reasonable, they must refer to our intention, and not to the literal words. But know that we are all in agreement, whatever we say. Thus attune one by means of another, and consider us; for one clarifies what another conceals, and he who really seeks can find it all. And whoever sees our Books and understands them has no need to seek here or there, nor to waste his own money [in operations of vulgar alchemy].

BASEN said: You are too bold. Our Master did not intend us to speak so clearly. And he said:

I do not want to be envious, like you others. Know, all you who seek this Art, that certain Philosophers, wishing to hide this Science, have said that you need to work at certain hours and have expressed themselves in images. But I tell you that this is unnecessary, it neither helps nor hinders; for the Matter is always ready to receive the virtue that one gives it. And our Master expresses it more clearly, saying: Our Medicine can be made in any place, at any time, at any hour, by any person; it is found everywhere and there is no need to do anything [in the external sense]. But those who say this⁵⁰ are aiming to hide the Science. Therefore I say that you yourself, when you know it, will conceal it. Hence do not be surprised if they conceal it, that being God’s will.

LANUS said: Know that our Work is made from 3, from 4, from 2, and from 1—and the Fire is 1 and 2, and the Colors are 3 and the Days 7 and 3 and 4 and 1—and understand me.⁵¹ And know that if you make too much fire, the Vinegar will fly away and you will find it beneath the House as little black knots; for the Vinegar is spiritual and flies away. Therefore I order you to proceed wisely and with a small fire; for only the small fire can collect the heat of the dissolved Sulfur. Otherwise you will achieve nothing. And know that God created one Mass and seven Planets and four Elements and two Poles, where everything is its own support, and nine orders of Angels and two Principles—Matter and Form.⁵² Understand what I have said, because I have revealed Miracles to you.

ACSUBOFUS said: Put the red Man together with the white Woman in a round house⁵³ surrounded by a slow and continuous fire, and leave them there until everything is converted to Water—not the common, but the philosophical. Then if you have worked well, you will see a blackness in the upper part, which is the sign of putrefaction and lasts forty or forty-two days. Leave them both there for a long time, until there is no more blackness, and at the end do as at the beginning. And know that the end is no other than the beginning and that death is the cause of life, and the beginning is the cause of the end. (You should proceed until) you see black, you see white, you see red—that is all; because this death is eternal life after the glorious and perfect death.⁵⁴

The TURBA said: Know that you have heard truths. Take them as they are, and separate them as one separates the good plants from the weeds. And know that in our Work one must cook seven times,⁵⁵ and in each of the seven (cookings) a color is to be produced to perfection. And when it is perfect, one has a live Tincture, so excellent that the mind of man cannot comprehend it, and which is no more, neither the Matter nor the Regimen. And if you know the true Regimen and tell it to the Fools, they will say that it is impossible to make something so precious with such a little Regimen. But leave them to their notions and do not frequent them, believing who knows what; but understand us and know the Roots from which everything multiplies.

THEOPHILUS said: Know that the whole Assembly has concluded well.

PYTHAGORAS said: Let me speak—and you, be silent. I want each of you to speak again. For the envious have so spoiled this Science that now hardly anyone has faith in it, and such a gift of God is reputed to be a lie. But I tell you that there is one thing I know, that I have seen and touched. And I know the reason, which is everywhere: in Plants and Trees and Men and Angels and in all of Nature.

THEOPHILUS said: Our Master, it seems to me that Serpents have a venom in their belly, which if one ate it, one would die. But if you take the venom of a paste called the Theriac, one poison consumes the other and prevents death.⁵⁶

SOCRATES said: Know that the Philosophers have called our Water the “Water of Life,” and have well said of it that although at first it kills the Body, afterward it brings it to life and rejuvenates it.

SEVERILIUS said: You are envious! And he said: Say what you like. Know that our Matter is an Egg, the shell is the container and there are white and red inside. Let its Mother brood on it for seven weeks, or 9 days, or 3 days; or once, or twice; or sublimate it as you choose in a small bath, for 280 days; and there will come a Chick with a red comb, white feathers, and black feet. I have told you what my Brethren had hidden from you. Understand me.

ARISTOTLE said: Know that many have spoken in different ways; but the truth is one thing, it is in the dunghill and is known by itself.

PYTHAGORAS said: How dare you speak, Aristotle? You are not yet wise enough to be able to speak with us. You should listen. All the same, what you have said is true. Listen to the Masters and to Plato.

LUCAS said: I have marveled much about the Sun, for when I look at it through a strong, dense cloud it appears yellow, green, red, and blue, and these are our various Colors which the Sulfur causes to appear.

NOSTRIUS said: Take the stone called Benibel, because all its Water is the color of purple and serpentine red.⁵⁷ Then wash the Sand of the Sea⁵⁸ until it is white, leave it to dry in the Sun and various Winds will arise from the West, then the Sun will come to its kingdom in the South, then the East winds will arise. But the Moon (again) raises the West winds. In the end, all becomes calm again.

ARCHIMIUS said: Know that Mercury is hidden under the Sun’s rays, and the Moon causes them to be lost, and absorbs and dominates them.⁵⁹ However, the Sun only allows her to dominate for two days. After that, (the Moon) returns them to the Sun and wanes. And Venus is the Sun’s messenger, and puts him under her rule; and (after that) Mars presents himself. And when the Sun has resumed his Reign, he gives beautiful garments from his livery to his six companions, in return for the pains they have taken. Thus know, O Children, that the Sun as you can see is not ungrateful to his Servants.⁶⁰ And he who has seen this speaks of it with certainty and understands it with clarity.

The PHILOSOPHER said: Our Matter is called Egg, Serpent, Gum, Water of Life, Male, Female, Benabel, Corsuflus, Theriac, Bird, Plant, Tree, Water. But all these are but a single thing, namely Water; and there is only one Regimen, namely Cooking.

DANAUS spoke: Know that some envious persons have said that this Work is done in three days, others in seven, others in one. They all tell the truth, according to their intentions. But know that each of our months lasts twenty-three days, and two days. And the week of each month has seven days, and each day forty hours. For this concerns our times and hours.⁶¹

EXIMIGANUS said: Bathe, dry, blacken, whiten, pulverize and redden—there in a few words is the whole secret of the Art. The 1 is black, the 2 white, and the 3 red. 80, 120, 280, two make them and they make 120. Gum, Milk, Marble, Moon, 280. Bronze, Iron, Saffron, Blood, 80. Peach, Pepper, Nut. If you understand me you are fortunate; if not, seek no more, for everything is in my words.

NOSTRIUS said: Know that Man can only produce Man; Bird, only Bird; Beast, only Beast. And know that nothing can be corrected except by means of its nature and seed.⁶² And know that whatever we may say, we are all in accord. But the ignorant believe us to be discordant. Know, though, that all is one, that it needs only a little Fire to dissolve, otherwise the Water’s coldness would be a hindrance when we want it to dominate its Body. (But) how could the cold dominate, if it were consumed (because of a strong Fire)? This is why we have often spoken to you about the little Fire: by its means, the nigredo appears, which is the Spirit altering the other Spirit.⁶³ After the darkness comes light, after sadness great joy—and to set it on a marble Stone is our intention, of which we continually speak.

IXIMANDRUS said: Know that our first Spirit is altered, the second is mingled, the third burns. First put Vinegar on nine ounces of our Matter, and twice as much as before in the act of applying our Fire; and cook Bembel, Yeldic, Salmich, Zarnech, Zenic, white Orpiment, red Sulfur—ours, not the common sort. Bembel is black, and so is Yeldic: they dominate in winter during the rains, when the nights are long. And at that time the Sun descends 80 or 82 degrees from the sign of the Virgin to that of the Scales and the Scorpion—which are cold and humid. Then come Zarnech and whitest Zenic, and Orpiment which intervenes when the Moon ascends another three signs, some semi-cold and humid, the others semi-warm and humid, each sign lasting for 23 points of their number. And our Sulfur is red when the heat of the fire passes through the clouds and joins with the rays of the Sun and Moon. And Venus has already conquered Saturn and Jupiter by means of her complexion. Then Mercury, who has no more to help him, descends because all the celestial influences are against him, and the Fire, and Venus; and the Son burns his cold and humid rays. And then, because of the great opposition existing between heat and cold, Mercury sparkles and throws impalpable spiritual sparks, and in this crisis he descends through the three hot and dry signs, and remains in each for 43 × 24ths of a degree, and a third. Whoever does not understand me should reread: for I call God to witness that this is the clearest word ever heard in learning this Science. I myself have done it thus.

EXIMIGAMUS said: Know that our very first goal is to obtain the true dark vestment; for you must know that without the black, you cannot make white. Take, then, the red Stone, blanch it with blackness and redden it with whiteness. And know that whiteness is hidden in the belly of blackness; draw it out as you know how, and then draw the redness from the belly of this whiteness, as you wish, for everything rests on these three points.

The TURBA said: Master, all that we say is no other than make the fixed volatile and the volatile fixed; then make of it all something that is neither dry nor humid, neither cold nor hot, neither hard nor soft, neither fixed nor too volatile—something intermediate between the two: for it has two Natures united in itself. And know that this is done in a good seven days,⁶⁴ not in a moment. For every alteration happens by means of continuous activity and passivity. Take note of this.⁶⁵

ARCHIMUS said: Take Arzent: they are black Worms with a horrible stare and venom from old tiles, the color of marine red; cook them in a fire neither too hot nor too cold: for if it is too cold they will not alter, but if too hot, conjunction will not occur by true love of themselves. Continue your Fire for three days, like a broody hen, and like an enveloping feverish heat:⁶⁶ guard them well in their shell. And know that by their alteration, they complete and beautify themselves. Know (however) that if you proceed without the correct weight, there will be a great delay and a great danger of fire; by which delay you will think that you have failed. I once saw a man who knew as much as me and more than all others, and by working with great haste, greed, and desire he could not see the end: thinking that he had failed, he abandoned the Work. Be firm, not flighty of mind so as to believe now this, now that, now doubting and now trusting. Before undertaking it, consider well what we have said, and think often of our words.

MINDIUS said: Know, all you Investigators of this Art, that the Spirit is all, and that if there is not hidden in this Spirit another similar Spirit,⁶⁷ it will profit you nothing. And know that when the Magnesium is white after the nigredo, that has occurred. Know, too, that it exits from the Body and thereby amends itself. You are done with searching for it, so long as you (then) take precaution in controlling it. Those who ignore the Regimen are indeed acting like blind men, or like an ass trying to play the harp. Do not bother yourself with all the names and various Regimens, because the Truth of Nature is one, hidden in its belly; and then our Master’s words will be accomplished, which say: Nature rejoices in Nature, Nature dominates Nature, Nature contains Nature.

PYTHAGORAS said: You have all spoken very well. But know that some have spoken more clearly than others. And I tell you that in our Work, one must deal from the beginning with two Natures, which are of the same Substance. One is precious, the other vile; one hard, the other watery; one red, the other white; one fixed, the other volatile; one Body, the other Spirit; one hot, the other dry; one male, the other female, of great weight and the lightest matter. And one kills the other; and they are none other than Magnesium and Sulfur.⁶⁸ And know that from the beginning one dominates the three parts; and the other, which has been killed, begins to dominate and to kill its Companion in four parts; and from the three parts arise black Kuhul, white Milk, dissolved Salt, white Marble, Tin, and Moon; from the four parts arise Copper, Rust, and Iron and Saffron, Gold and Blood, and Poppy, and the venomous Spirit that has devoured its Companion. And know that the one needs the other, because without the Spirit you cannot render the hard Body spiritual or penetrating. Likewise, you cannot make the Spirit corporeal, fixed, or permanent without the Body. This Body is red and ripe, while the Spirit is frigid and crude inside its Mine.⁶⁹ And know that there is no proximity between living Water and white, pure Tin, except in community—the living Water having a certain Body of its own, to which it joins itself. And know that he who does not grasp what I have now said is just an ass, and should never apply himself to this Art, being predestined never to attain it. Leave Man and human Nature; leave the Volatile and the marine Stone, the Coal and the Beasts, and take our metallic Matter. And know that if there are 24 ounces of it (12 × 2), we only need a third, namely 8 ounces (7 + 1). Cook three of them to whiteness, and with the Sun, and the blackness will come in forty days. And know that the first Work is done more quickly than the second; and the second is done from the tenth of September until the first of February, with the great heat of Summer: and once the Winters and the Springs have passed, the fruits are already ripe and ready to gather from the Trees. The same happens here.⁷⁰

The TURBA said: Despite the reverence we owe you, it seems to us, Master, that you have spoken too clearly. And he said: It seems thus to you; but the Ignorant would scarcely understand it even if one spoke more clearly still.

The TURBA said: It must be hidden from Fools and revealed to the Wise—and not otherwise; else the result of it all would be a catastrophe.

FLORUS said: Two natures are mingled in the Water of Sulfur; and it congeals and dries, it alters, whitens, and reddens with the aid of the Fire, if precisely and properly administered.

BRACCUS said: Take the 100-year-old white Tree, surrounded by a round House of humid warmth, closed from the rain, the cold and the wind. Put in it your Man, who is 100 years old.⁷¹ And I tell you that if you leave him there for 180 days, this Old Man will eat all the fruits of the Tree, until he dies and turns to ashes. And he will remain as long again,⁷² neither more nor less.

ZENO said: Know that the white Tree comes from the black Mine of 80 years: 10 more years make it white and fair; the others, various degrees of red. Know also that if you do not tincture the Moon preserved in your Vessel until it is resplendent like the Sun, you will achieve nothing. For I tell you that the Moon—and not the Lead and the Tin—is the median term required for concordance.

LUCAS said: Know that the Fire contains the Water in its belly, a Water to be drawn out with an appropriate Fire, and then by means of hot and tepid Water (where the Fire is continually bathed).⁷³ And the servant takes the blackness of the night and puts it outside against the chimney. You must ensure that the Fire is clear and not too impetuous and aggressive in its action. Know that I myself sought long before achieving as much; but thanks to God, after great pains I attained what I desired: because he who does not work the Earth will not eat, nor have repose in his old age.

ISINDRIUS said: Mix the Water with the Water, the Gum with the Gum, the Lead with the Lead, the Marble with the Marble, the Milk with the Milk, the Moon with the Moon, the Iron with the Iron, the Copper with the Copper, or Sun.⁷⁴ Cook it all for 150 days, then as long as you wish, as you know, so that it all becomes impalpable. Read and reread our books in order to know the truth; our Science consists of nothing but transmuting hot into cold and cold into hot, so that out of it all comes a median substance that is neither hot nor cold, neither hard nor soft, but moderate in its entire complexion. And know that 180 days suffice after that.⁷⁵ Surround the surrounded from inside to outside, containing the contained, and all is conquered;⁷⁶ one white, one black, one red: fortify the two; make good the first—and it will multiply so as to satisfy ten assaying tests, the other only one of them. Return by returning, make it perfect by holding the content firmly in line. And note my line of containment:⁷⁷ the watcher is contained, and I teach you what no one else has told you. Understand my words.

The TURBA said: Know that the more our Stone is digested, the more its Fire is active and takes on a more igneous nature with respect to the other Elements, capable of more tincturing. Know, too, that he who understands the venerable words of Isindrius will understand one degree higher than the others, and two and three and four, up to infinity, through augmented and igneous virtue.

PYTHAGORAS said: Isindrius, God reward you for what you have said. For this is certainly the detail of which none of us has spoken. Go, Sons, note these last words relating to the glorious action and the instantaneous transmutation. Know that at the beginning of the World it lived for 280 years; but the time came when the Son of that time lasted only 3 years; finally he is so much more evil as ten is to three, and the Father has 280; and he does as much in 1 year as the Father does in 40 plus 40, and it is thus everywhere. And know that he who knows how to cure himself takes a laxative medicine for the inside and another solidifying one for the outside, so that the one does not harm the other. Understand us and take note.

The PHILOSOPHER said: Our Composition is made from two things, which are made from one thing, and is called, when all are One, white Bronze; then, when everything is overcome, Quicksilver, not the common sort, and it is the living Tincture that the Philosophers have hidden under so many names. And I tell you that this Science is a gift that God only gives where He will; and it consists of nothing but to dissolve and kill the Living, revive the Dead, and make of all a life that allows no (more) separation.

The TURBA said: Know that our Work has multiple names, which we would now like to list: Magnesia, Kukul, Sulfur, Vinegar, citrine Stone, Gum, Milk, Marble, Flower of Salt, Saffron, Rust, Blood, Poppy, and Gold that is sublimated, vivified, and multiplied; living Tincture, Elixir, Medicine, Bembel, Corsuflus, Lead, Tin, dark Vesture, blanched Worms, Iron, Copper, Gold, Silver, sanguine Red and very noble Red, Sea, Dew, fresh Water, salt Water, Dazuma, a Substance, Crow, Camel, Trees, Birds, Men, Weddings, Generations, Resurrections, Mortifications, Stars, Planets, and endless other names. Be aware that they all refer to the colors that appear in the Work, and their names have been given because of their similarity to our thing. Take care not to be misled by these names: stay firm and immutable of heart, and be certain that the Metal is not tinctured by anything except by itself. Know that no Nature brings improvement unless by its own Nature; otherwise there will be no (true) improvement.⁷⁸ After I have spoken to you of the Fire, you will be able to take everything into account and have no reason to reproach us; thus the book will be complete in all and for all, without any diminution. And whoever has this book will have the words of Pythagoras, who was the wisest Man who ever existed, to whom God gave the whole Science—to him and to his Disciples. Know that in this Book the Art has been given in its entirety and without envy, namely, the Matter and the Days and the Colors and the Regimens and the method and the weight, without omitting anything.

Now I will tell you how the Fire must be. Know that I have seen Fire made in many ways: one makes it with little sticks, another with small coals mixed with ashes, for a slow fire; others make it with hot cinders; yet others without a flame, with hot vapors; others with tiny or medium blazes. But to attain the perfection of all and the accomplishment of your Work, I order you to use only a slow fire, continuous and hot, digesting and cooking, as Nature requires AND AS EXPERIENCE WILL SHOW YOU IN ACTION. Know that this Science is easier than any other thing—but the names and the regimens render it obscure: thus the ignorant take our words without understanding us. Know also that whoever has this Art is henceforth beyond poverty, misery, tribulation, and bodily ill. Think not that our Art is untruthful. The end is hidden, in this precious Art of ours. And you must hide it from all those who ask you for it. Disciples, cherish our Books, our Colors, our Matter, our Regimens—all this being but one and the same thing.