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To Conclude These Preparations with a Brief Discovery of the First Tincture of the First Tincture, Root and Spirit of Metals and Minerals, How They are COnceived, Ripened, Brought Forth, Changed and Augmented.
Of the First Tincture, The Root of Metals
Observe that the tincture which is the root of all metals is a supernatural, flying, fiery Spirit. It hath its sustenance and natural habitation in the earth and water, where it may rest and work. And this Spirit is found in all metals, and more abundant in other metals than Gold; for the Gold is very close, solid and compact by reason of its well digested, ripened and fixed body; therefore it can no more enter into the body than the body doth need. But other metals have not such a fixed body, but their pores are open and dispersed, therefore can the tingeing Spirit abundantly more penetrate and possess them. But because the bodies of other metals are unfixed, the tincture likewise cannot stay with these unfixed bodies, but must go out of them, and it being the case that the tincture of Gold doth in no other metal abound more than in Iron and Copper, as husband and wife, their bodies are destroyed and the tingeing Spirit from thence is expelled, which breedeth much blood in the opened, prepared Gold, and by its feeding doth make it volatile. Therefore when the volatile Gold is filled by its meat and drink, it taketh up its own blood, doth dry it up through its own internal fire with the help and addition of a moist fire and is again a conquest, which doth fix, nay produceth the highest fixedness, so that the Gold becometh a high fixed Medicine and cannot make a body again by reason of the superabundant blood, except there be added to it a superfluous body into which this super abundant fixed blood doth disperse itself, which joined metallic body is penetrated by the exceeding great heat of the fixed blood of the Lion, like fire, is cleansed from all impurity and immediately is ripened to a perfect maturity and fixedness.
I now pass to the birth and to the generation, how the Archeus doth show and pour forth its power and displayeth it, by which all metallic and mineral forms are exposed to the view and are made formal, palpable and corporeal through the mineral, incomprehensible, flying, fiery Spirits.
First you are to know that all the metals and minerals of the earth have one only matter and one only mother, by which they in general altogether have received their conception and perfect bodily birth. And this matter, which cometh from the centre, doth divide itself in the beginning into three parts to produce some corporeal thing and a certain form of every metal. These three parts are fed and nourished by the elements in the earth out of its body till they become perfect. But the matter, which hath its original from the centre, is framed by the Stars, wrought by the elements and formed by that which is terrestrial and is a known matter and the true mother of metals and minerals and is such a matter and mother out of which man himself hath been conceived, born, nourished and made corporeal, and may be altogether compared to the Middle World; for whatsoever is in the Great World, that is known likewise in the Little and whatsoever is in the Little World, that is likewise in the Great. And thus what is in the Great and Little World together, that is found in the Middle World, which joineth the Great and Little Worlds and is a Soul, which doth unite and copulate the Spirit with the body. This Soul is compared to water and is indeed a right true water, yet doth it not wet like other water, but it is an heavenly water, found dry in a metallic, liquid substance, and a soul-like water, which loveth all Spirits and doth unite them with their bodies and bringeth them to a perfect life. Therefore it is certain that the water is a mother of all metals, which, being heated by a warm, aerial fire, as is the Spirit of Sulphur, bringeth life into the terrestrial body through its ripening, wherein the Salt is apparently found, which doth preserve from putrefaction, that nothing may be consumed by corruption. In the beginning and in the birth is wrought first the Quicksilver, which yet lieth open with a subtile coagulation, because there is but little of the Salt communicated to it, whereby it showeth more a spiritual than a corporeal body. Other metals, which are all derived from its essence and have more Salt, which maketh them corporeal, do follow after this. I begin with the Spirit of Mercury.
Of the Spirit of Mercury
All visible and palpable things are made out of the Spirit of Mercury, which is beyond all the terrestrial things of the whole world, and all things are made out of it and have their original from it. For herein is all to be found that can do all that the Artist doth desire to enquire into. It is the principle to work metals, being made a spiritual Essence, which is a mere Air, and flyeth to and fro without wings and is a moving wind, which, after its expulsion out of its habitation by Vulcan, is driven into its Chaos, into which it entereth again and doth resolve itself into the elements, where it is attracted by the Stars after a magnetical manner, out of love, from whence it went forth and was wrought out before, because it desireth to be united again with its like. But when this Spirit of Mercury can be taken and made corporeal, it doth then resolve itself into a body and becometh a clear, fair and transparent water, which is a true spiritual water and the first Mercurial Root of minerals and metals, spiritual, unperceivable, incombustible, without any commixtion of the terrestrial aquosity. It is that heavenly water of which much hath been written. For by the Spirit of Mercury all metals may be, if need requireth, dissolved, opened and without any corrosive reduced or resolved into their first matter. This Spirit reneweth both men and beasts like the Eagle, consumeth whatsoever is bad and produceth a great age to a long life.
To declare further the Essence, matter and form of this Spirit of Mercury, I must tell you that its Essence is Soul-like, its matter spiritual and its form terrestrial, which yet must be understood by some incomprehensible thing.
Touching the beginning of this Spirit of Mercury, this is needless to know because it is of no benefit, nor can it do you any good. But observe that its beginning is supernaturally from Heaven, the Stars and Elements, granted in the beginning of the first Creation to enter further into a terrestrial being. And because this is needless as I have told you, leave that which is heavenly to the Soul and apprehend it by faith. That which is of the Stars, leave likewise alone, because such impressions of the Stars are invisible and incomprehensible. The Elements have already brought forth this Spirit perfect into the World, through the nourishment of it, therefore do not meddle with them either, for no man can make any Element, but the Creator alone; and insist upon thy Spirit already produced, which is both formal and not formal, comprehensible and incomprehensible and yet doth appear visibly, and you have the first matter, out of which are grown all metals and minerals and is one only thing and such a matter which doth unite itself with the Sulphur of Venus or Copper and is coagulated with the Salt of Mars, so that it becometh one body and a perfect Medicine of all metals, not only to generate them in the beginning in the earth, as in the great world, but also by the help of a moist fire to change and transmute them, together with the augmentation, in the little world. Let this not seem strange to you, because the Most High hath thus permitted it and Nature hath wrought it.
But as to how the Archaeus worketh further by the Spirit of Mercury in the earth, you are to understand that after the spiritual seed is framed from above by the impression of the Stars and fed and nourished through the Elements, this seed is changed into and is become a mercurial water: as in the beginning the great world likewise was made of nothing; for the Spirit moved upon the water and thus was this cold, waterish and terrestrial creature revived to life by an heavenly warmth. It was in the great world the power and the operation of the Light of Heaven; in the little world likewise, the power of God and the operation by His Divine and Holy Breath to work in the earth. Furthermore the Almighty did grant and ordain means for performing of the same that the creature might get power to work upon another creature and one might help and promote the other for the forming and perfecting of all the works of the Lord. Thus was granted to the earth an influence to generate by the Luminaries of Heaven and likewise an internal heat to warm and to ripen that which was too cold for the earth by reason of its aquosity. And thus to every creature a peculiar Genius is granted according to its kind, that so there is raised a subtile, sulphureous steam by the starry heaven, not a common, but another, clarified, cleaned and pure steam, separated from others, which doth unite itself with the mercurial substance, by which warm property in a long time the humidity is dried up by little and little and then the Soul-like property, being joined with it, which giveth the body and balsam of maintenance and worketh before too upon the earth by a spiritual and starry influence. Thus happeneth, then, a generation of metals according to the commixtion of the three principles and according as they take in more or less of these three, so the body is formed. If so be the Spirit of Mercury is directed and formed from above upon animals, then there is produced an animal being, but if it seizeth upon vegetables, a vegetable work is brought forth. And if it falls upon minerals, by reason of its infused nature there will spring thence minerals and metals. Nevertheless everyone is differently wrought, the animals by another form by themselves, the vegetables after a manner proper to themselves and the minerals likewise on another fashion, every one after a singular way. Now I shall faithfully discover how this Spirit of Mercury may be had and obtained, the manner how to prepare it, that it may cure diseases and change and alter all metals of the ignoble kind, as they are generated in the little world by a transmutation and augmentation of their seed.
Take, in the Name of the Lord, red mineral Quicksilver which looketh like Cinnabar and the best mineral Gold that can be gotten. Take an equal quantity of them both and grind them together before they have been in any fire; pour upon them an oil of Mercury made by itself out of the common, putrefied and sublimed Quicksilver; digest them for a month and you will have an extraction which is more heavenly then terrestrial. Distil gently this extraction in Balneo Mariae and the phlegm cometh over and the ponderous oil remaineth in the bottom, which taketh up into itself all metals in a moment. Add to this three times the quantity of Spirit of Wine, circulate it in a pelican till it becometh blood-red and hath recovered an incomparable sweetness. Pour off the Spirit of Wine and add to it fresh Spirit of Wine. Repeat this so long till the whole matter be dissolved into an exceeding sweet and ruby coloured, transparent liquor, which mingle afterwards together. Pour it upon white, calcined Tartar and distil it with a strong fire in ashes and the Spirit of Wine remaineth behind with the Tartar, but the Spirit of Mercury cometh over. This Spirit of Mercury being mixed with the Spirit of Sulphur Solis, together with its Salt, whosoever shall bring them over joined and united together, that they may not be separated in infinitum, he will have such work (if so be it doth receive its Ferment in a due measure and prefixed term, with Gold, by a solution, and is brought in its proper maturity to a plusquam perfection) to which nothing may be compared for the preventing of diseases and poverty. This Spirit of Mercury cureth the dropsy, consumption, gout, stone, French pox and all other lasting sores. It is the only Key to make the corporeal Gold potable.
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