Preface, no date (1569), Gerhard Dorn to the Reader (BP.Dorn.1569-01)
| Author: | Gerhard Dorn |
| Recipient: | Reader |
| Type: | Preface |
| Date: | no date [1569] |
| Pages: | 7 |
| Language: | Latin |
| Quote as: | https://www.theatrum-paracelsicum.com/index.php?curid=2672 |
| Editor: | Edited by Julian Paulus |
| Source: | Gerhard Dorn, Artificii chymistici physici, metaphysicique, secunda pars et tertia, no place, no printer 1569, sig. )(4r–)(7r [BP.Dorn.1569-01]
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| Translation: | Raw translation see below |
| Abstract: | Dorn explains the complexities of understanding the enigmatic teachings of Hermes, stressing that they have been interpreted differently by various scholars based on their intellectual capacity. However, Dorn expresses a unique interest in the medicinal application of these teachings for the benefit of society. Hermes' teachings are not only about metaphysical matters or transmutation of metals, but also applicable to the natural world, including plants and animals. Dorn encourages the reader to learn and understand the universal medicine, a concept which seems to imply a cure or solution that can address all diseases or problems, transcending the categories of mineral, vegetable, and animal. He ends with an invitation to the reader to study the following text in depth, as well as a warning: understanding these teachings will require a significant effort. Despite the difficulty, Dorn encourages the reader to persist, promising that their hard work will be rewarded. (generated by Chat-GPT) |
| Back to Paratexts Back to Texts by Gerhard Dorn |
[sig. )(4r] Ad lectorem praefatio.
Melivs profectò quàm ab eius authoritate, qui fuit huius tam excellentis, imò Diuinæ potiùs artis, in obliuionem ob Diluuium fermè sepultæ, primus post Deum uindex & restaurator, exordium in eius tractatione sumi non potuit: Hermetem puto Mercurium Trismegistum. Is posteritati seruatum sub verborum breuitate, quæ sermo Veridicus à Philosophis nuncupatur, esse uoluit. Verùm quòd ænigmatica forent, uarij fuerunt eorum interpretes, iuxta quorumuis diuersam etiam ingenij capacitatem. Omnes [sig. )(4v] tamen quotquot hanc difficilem admodum prouinciam aggressi sunt, ad lapidem Philosophicum (ut uocant) allegorico sensu deflexisse notum est omnibus. Ego tamen quod summè necessarium, & Authoris menti consonum fore uiderem, ad Medicam artem in studiosorum utilitatem, & uniuersæ Reipublicæ commodum exposui. Patet ex conclusione quam facit Author sub finem, opinionem eius non de metallis tantum intelligendam fore sub ænigmate quod ponit, sed etiam de Vegetabilibus & Animalibus: quod infrà suo loco latiùs explicabitur. Hac ratione duo alia rerum omnium genera generalissima, tacitè solum attigisse, quod cæteros hoc fecisse uideam, nolui: nec imitari nec redarguere, sed unicuiq́ue suam opinionem [sig. )(5r] integram relinquere proposui. Poteris igitur optime Lector, si lapidem illum quæsieris ad metallorum, tollendam lepram, exactiùs ab alijs, qui de hoc negotio magis quàm ego fuerunt anxij, petere. Si tamen cupis Medicinam illam uniuersalem addiscere, de quouis trium genere dictorum tractam, quæ cunctis indifferenter humani corporis mederi morbis ualeat: conabor totis uiribus in tui gratiam, quicquid eius apud me fuerit abditi, reuelare. Certum est, anima libus, tàm superiores, quàm inferiores naturæ uirtutes, iuxta gradus positiuum, comparatiuum & superlatiuum inesse: ueluti priori parte potest à mortuum differentijs iudicari. Quapropter ad perfectam Philosophiæ naturalis cognitionem [sig. )(5v] horum trium generum Anatomiæ noticia plena, simul aut separatim experientia comprobata requiritur. Quos abdita naturæ latent mysteria (prout illi sunt qui à Scholis publicis progrediuntur: imò qui iam à plurimis annis ea reliquerunt, domiq́ue particularia[c1] coluerunt improbo, continuoq́ue labore studia similia prioribus) mirari nil mirum est eos, huiusmodi Medicinam inueniri posse, quæ uniuersalis & indifferens morbis omnibus existat. Quandoquidem unica tantum ala (quod dici consuetum est) feruntur sursum eaq́ue plurimùm aggrauata. Manifestissima solùm, ut minùs & manifesta subticeam, ferre ualent eorum ingenia, quæ quòd illis imbuta sint à iuuentute recentia, tàm fixè retinent, utreliqua tum occulta maximè, minusq́ue non admittant. Relinguen- [sig. )(6r] di sunt igitur, quum pertinaces extiterint, in tabescentia sua. Verum contra Veritatem niti si præsumpserint, operib[us] & signis conuincendi sunt. Hos in præsentiarum missos facimus, & Veritatis alumnos alloquimur. Cuiq́ue sua rei Virtus inest, omneq́ue suum uirus habet à quo repurgari potest arte Chymistica. Sed quòd iuxta magis & minùs, probanda sunt omnia, nec nisi quæ perfectioni propinquiora, sunt assumenda: sic artificium ab intolerabili subleuabitur onere. Docuimus enim in parte priori, Solem & Lunam à quibusuis modum extrahendi. Quapropter si iuxta Patris Hermetis opinionem Solem suæ Lunæ coniunxeris, & igne suaui nutriueris fœtum eorum in sua terra, facile Medicinam illam perficies, de qua loquitur Hermes dicens: [sig. )(6v] Fugiet à te omnis obscuritas, &c. Verum enimuero, priusquam opus hoc aggrediaris, est quod ipsum te reducas ad unitatis simplicitatem, ex arte Chymistica moraliter ab humana Metaphysica deprompta: Qua quidem fugare disces à te, mentis obscuritatem omnem, & postmodum illuminatus ab alto, rem percipies ac Medicinam, quæ pellere poterit à corpore mentèque tuis tenebras, id est ignorantiam, intelliges. Quam ergo tibi Philosophiam infrà posui, Moralem & Metaphysicam, summa cum attentione mentis addiscas, ac eam in teipso diligenter exerceas oportet, si rerum, quas Pater Hermes hoc loco docet, peritus esse cupias. Facilioribus clarioribusque verbis docere te nullo mo- [sig. )(7r] do potuissem, tàm in ista, quàm in expositionibus Hermetis Artificij breui sermone contenti: Quem in decem partes, uti rationi consonum est, in tui gratiam diuisi. Mentis nostræ si dispersam intentionem colligere valueris, minimè fieri poterit, ut arcana Diuina hæc potiùs quàm humana te lateant. Lege igitur & relege sæpiùs: Laborum te minimè pœnitebit, Vale.
English Raw Translation
Generated by ChatGPT-4 on 1 July 2023. Attention: This translation is a machine translation by artificial intelligence. The translation has not been checked and should not be cited without additional human verification.
Preface to the reader.
Indeed, better than from the authority of its author, who was the first defender and restorer, after God, of this so excellent, indeed rather Divine art, nearly buried in oblivion due to the Flood, could not have been chosen to begin its discussion: I consider this to be Hermes Trismegistus. He wanted to be preserved for posterity in the brevity of words, which is called the Veridical discourse by the philosophers. However, because they were enigmatic, there were various interpreters of them, depending on the diversity of each person's intellectual capacity. However, all those who have undertaken this extremely difficult province, as is known to all, have been noted to have veered toward the Philosophical Stone (as they call it) in an allegorical sense. Yet, what I saw to be very necessary, and consistent with the author's intent, I laid out for the benefit of students and for the general public good in the art of medicine. It is clear from the conclusion that the author makes at the end, that his opinion is to be understood not only about metals under the enigma he presents, but also about vegetables and animals: this will be explained more broadly in its place below. In this way, I did not wish to touch only silently on two other most general kinds of all things, which I see the others have done: neither to imitate nor to refute, but I proposed to leave each person's opinion intact. Therefore, good reader, if you seek that stone for the removal of the leprosy of metals, you can seek more accurately from others, who have been more anxious about this business than I. However, if you wish to learn that universal medicine, treated of any of the three kinds mentioned, which can cure all diseases of the human body indiscriminately: I will strive with all my might to reveal to you whatever of it was hidden with me. It is certain that souls, both superior and inferior natural virtues, according to the positive, comparative, and superlative degrees are in them: as can be judged from the different parts of the dead in the previous part. Therefore, to reach perfect knowledge of natural philosophy, full knowledge of the anatomy of these three types, together or separately confirmed by experience, is required. Those to whom the hidden mysteries of nature lie hidden (as are those who progress from public schools: indeed those who have left them for many years, and have been cultivating particular studies at home with constant hard work similar to the previous ones) it is not surprising to wonder at them, that such a medicine can be found, which is universal and indifferent to all diseases. Since they are carried upwards by only one wing (as is customary to say) and that wing is heavily weighted. Their minds are only able to bear the most obvious things, and I silently pass over the less obvious and manifest, which because they have been imbued with them since youth, retain them so firmly, that they do not admit the most hidden and less. Therefore, they are left behind, when they have been stubborn, in their wasting away. But if they presume to strive against Truth, they are to be convinced with works and signs. We are leaving these people for the moment, and addressing the students of Truth. Each thing has its own Virtue, and each has its poison from which it can be purged by the Chymical art. But because according to more and less, all things are to be tested, and only those closer to perfection are to be taken: so the craft will be relieved of the unbearable burden. For we taught in the previous part, the Sun and the Moon from which the method of extraction. Therefore, if you join the Sun to your Moon
according to the opinion of Father Hermes, and you have nourished their offspring in their earth with a gentle fire, you will easily accomplish that Medicine of which Hermes speaks: "All darkness will flee from you," etc. But truly, before you undertake this work, you must reduce yourself to the simplicity of unity, morally drawn from human Metaphysics by the Chymical art: by which you will learn to drive from you, all the darkness of the mind, and afterward illuminated from above, you will perceive the thing and the Medicine, which can drive from your body and mind darkness, that is, ignorance, you will understand. Therefore, you must diligently learn and practice in yourself the Moral and Metaphysical Philosophy that I have put down below, with the utmost attention of the mind, if you wish to be skilled in the things that Father Hermes teaches in this place. I could not have taught you in clearer and easier words, both in this, and in the brief discussions of the Artifices of Hermes: which I divided into ten parts, as is consistent with reason, for your sake. If you can gather the dispersed intention of our mind, it cannot happen that these divine rather than human secrets hide from you. Therefore, read and reread often: you will not regret the labors, Farewell.
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