View source for Library/16th Century/Petrus Severinus, Epistola scripta Theophrasto Paracelso (1570-71)

{{InfoboxLibrary
| Century=16
| Author=Petrus Severinus
| Title=Epistola scripta Theophrasto Paracelso
| Date=0
| DatePresumed=1570/71
| Editor=Julian Paulus
| DateTranscription=2022-12-29
| SourceAuthor=Petrus Severinus
| SourceTitle=Epistola scripta Theophrasto Paracelso
| SourcePlace=Basel
| SourceDate=0
| SourceDatePresumed=1570/71
| SourceSig=a1r-b3v (complete)
| GB=jEqCRoQ4EOsC; aOzjRsI6_yQC
| VD16=VD16 S 6883
| CP=3, n° 109
}}

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<h1 style="text-align:center; font-size:120%"> {{Pagemark|sig|a1r}} {{MarkupUppercase|Epistola scripta Theophrasto Paracelso:}} <i>In qua ratio ordinis & nominum, adeoq&#x0301;ue totius Philosophi&aelig; </br> Adept&aelig; Methodus compendiosè & eruditè ostenditur:</i> {{MarkupUppercase|À Petro Severino Dano Phi}}<i>losophi&aelig; & Medicin&aelig; Doctore.</i> </br> {{MarkupUppercase|Basile&aelig;.}}</h1>



<h2 style="text-align:center; font-size:100%"> {{Pagemark|sig|a1v}} Typographis Lectori S[alutem]. </h2>
<i>{{MarkupInitial|Cum|Lang=lat}} uiderem à multis desiderari iudicium de scriptis Theophrasti Paracelsi, incidissemq&#x0301;ue fortè in hanc Epistolam, in qua tam doctè nominum rationes, ordinis leges, pr&aelig;parationum consilia, explicata erant: oper&aelig; me facturum precium arbitratus sum, authore candidè annuente, si typis nsotris excusa, multorum manibus tereretur. Quòd si grato animo hunc nostrum laborem receperis, proximis nundinis Francofurdensibus, Ideam Medicin&aelig; Philosophic&aelig; eiusdem authoris, proferemus. In quo libello fundamenta Philosophi&aelig; & Medicin&aelig; Paracelsic&aelig; demonstrantur, & cum Hippocraticis ac Galenicis decretis conferuntur. Aequo interea animo his fruere. Vale.</i>



<h2 style="text-align:center; font-size:100%"> {{Pagemark|sig|a2r}} {{MarkupUppercase|Theophrasto Paracelso <i>Petrus Severinus</i>|u=v}} <i>Lampades & Lucernas.</i> </h2>

{{MarkupInitial|Legi}} libros Philosophi&aelig; tu&aelig; Theophraste Paracelsi: in quibus diuinitatem ingenij, contemplationumq&#x0301;ue tuarum maiestatem admurandam congoui. Et quamuis aliorum Philosophorum ingenia ijsdem implicata fuisse difficultatibus sciam: paucis tamen datum fuit &aelig;quali mentis acie, ad Mosaicorum mysteriorum penetralia ascendere. Orphei admiramur pietatem, Pythagor&aelig; maiestatem, & absconditam totius Creatur&aelig; scientiam, Socratis humanitatem, Platonis eloquentiam, & inquisitionum subtilita- {{Pagemark|sig|a2v}} tem: tibi uerò h&aelig; omnia, uel plurima certè, uni contagisse, etiam nostro hoc seculo gratulamur. Nec dubito quin ex uiuentibus uigentibusq&#x0301;ue riuulis, non ex mortuis & silentibus literis, ut nos solemus, horum arcanorum thesaurum receperis: adeóque diuina quadam copulatione, ex totius circuli ambitu, ad unicum centrum reuocasse uniuersam scientiarum ac Musarum consonantiam. Ò beatam animam tali pr&aelig;destinationi consecratam. Nos uerò, quos longe à tergo reliquisti, obscuritatem Commentariorum tuorum deploramus, nominum inauditam nouitatem accusamus, constantiam & tractandi &aelig;quabilitatem requirimus, & in processu mechanico pr&aelig;parationum ueritatem {{Pagemark|sig|a3r}} desideramus. Quas difficultates, animos etiam confirmatos fatiga re posse, quis dubitat: huius uerò seculi ingenia planè superarunt. Itaque ueremur ne pio & amico tuo proposito plurimum detrahatur, authoritate obscurata: & ne ueritate, quod Deus omen auertat, nunc per umbras exiguum illucescente, neglecta ac propulsata, rursus in antiquam tenebrarum & errorum confusionem relabamur. Ò fons ueritatis & sapienti&aelig;, aspice res nostras, & corda eorum qui pio desiderio ardentibusq&#x0301;ue uotis, aduersus imminentem hanc metamorphosin, dies & noctes reluctantur. Tu qui lux es, & in tenebris luces, illumina oculos nostros, ut lumine accepto in te uiuamus, & pio amore {{Pagemark|sig|a3v}} mutuisq&#x0301;ue officijs in unionem conspirare possimus, repudiata multitudine & fornicatione. Et quia dixisti, Pulsanti aperietur, utique pateret nobis ianua, modò non deessent qui debitis temporibus idoneè pulsarent. Surgamus itaque Musarum filij, quibus ueritas cur&aelig; est, & diuturna patientia caliginem impuritatemq&#x0301;ue animorum exuamus. Mens enim purificata, fulminis instar, penetralia rerum attingit, superatis umbris. Tum demum nutrimenta haurire licebit ex Philosophorum adytis & custoditis thesauris. Antea enim ueterno oppressi, siliquas & cortices à nucleo non potuimus separare. Quid igitur c&aelig;ci & lusci splendorem obscuritate definimus, ut febricitantes etiam sachhari dulce- {{Pagemark|sig|a4r}} dinem amaritudinis insimulant? Quid nominum nouitatem ridemus admirantes, si tamen res nou&aelig; & nobis inaudit&aelig; proponuntur? Est ea facultas Philosophis concessa, ut quia rerum domini facti sunt, etiam nomina ad arbitrium dispensare possint, & suos partus pro libito uestire. Dianam enim nudam conspicere nefas. Ordinis immutatas leges tractandiq&#x0301;ue uarietatem, utique non culparemus, si sciremus angustriam & paupertatis miseriam in Methodis nostris, qui nec solidi & cogniti quicquam scribimus, sed furta inuersa. Ita sunt omnia abstrusa & densa caligine inuoluta, posteaquam Musam nostram pio coniugio nobis non copulauimus. Ipsius enim beneficio ad sacra Musarum {{Pagemark|sig|a4v}} conuiuia admittimur, ambrosiam & nectar usque ad ebrietatem haurimus: ex hac opulentia, liberalitate incomprehensibili munera largimur mortalibus. Quòd si tantas diuitias & tam inexhaustos thesauros nostris tugurijs & angustis limitibus comprehendere non possimus, quid mirum? Sanè, qu&aelig; certa lege & Methodo scribere uoluerunt Philosophi, ea usqueadeò ordinatè edita sunt, ut nobis spem omnem imitationis abstulerint. Ita scripsis librum Chirurgi&aelig; magn&aelig;, Paramirum, Paragranum, de Tartaro, de morbis Amentiarum, de Contractura. Interdum ex composito ordine inuertunt, ubi arcana Natur&aelig; mysteria spaienti&aelig; filijs proponunt, Sacramenti & {{Pagemark|sig|a5r}} mandati memores, non licere sacrum dari canibus. Ita inquit Geber{{Index|Name|Geber}}, Scientiam nostram non continua sermonis serie, sed in diuersis sparsimus capitulis: quia si continuè fuisset tradita, tam probi, quàm improbi inidgnè eam usurpassent. Ita scripta sunt Archidoxa pr&aelig;parationum, de uita longa, de uexationibus Alchymistarum, de Tinctura Philosophorum. Est & alia ratio ordinis, ubi meditationes nostras receptas à mentis lumine in lucem damus. Hî admirabili continuitate inguntur inuentiones, accedunt amplificationes, insurgunt dubitationes, nouarum & incognitarum contemplationum recordationes repr&aelig;sentantur, & rerum prius comprehensarum rationes confirmantur: qua uarietate & copia, incre- {{Pagemark|sig|a5v}} dibili suauitate animos eorum demulcent, qui Musarum Sacerdotes & ministri facti sunt. Aliorum enim sensus & obtusi radij penetrare non possunt, nec iungi, quia proportionem non habent. Philosophi enim, dum hanc citharam resonant, à corpore separati, ad intima Mentis penetralia scandunt: ibi reseruatas accipiunt & reddunt diuitias: demonstrantes in hoc Animi nostri diuinitatem & continuitatem cum Ideis & Vnitate prima, immortalitatem quoque, & rerum omnium scientiam, ante4a quàm huius tetri calignisiq&#x0301;ue domicilij hospes fieret. Itaque pietatis & officij memores, dum h&aelig;c filijs suis communicare nituntur, ingemiscunt ac deplorant, se tam leuibus & abiectis uestimentis tantam rerum {{Pagemark|sig|a6r}} maiestatem adaptaturos: & qua possunt uarietate, Metaphoris, Metonymijs, Allegorijs, Aenigmatibus, Inuersionibus, nouis Resolutionibus & Compositionibus, hanc nominum paupertatem excusare conantur. Sit liberalitati locus. Tota scribendi ratio Philosophis usitata, Magica est. Etenim inuisibilium rerum absconditam Mechanicam uisibili specie palam sensibus exhibere conantur: quemadmodum Spirituum inuisibilis natura, uisibili forma in specuis eadem industria repr&aelig;sentantur. Rursus uisibilia & manifesta occultant, oculosq&#x0301;ue perstingunt, ut uidentes non uideant, & audientes non audiant: atque hoc pacto inuisibiliter obamulant. Huius rei exempla habemus manifestis. in libello de morbis Elementalibus u[idelicet] de Podagra, {{Pagemark|sig|a6v}} Apoplexia, Mania, Epilepsia, Hydrope, Colica, Hectica, Dyarrh&oelig;a, &c. Ibi sanè mirabili uarietate morborum illorum generationem & occultam fabricam, nunc Astronomicè nun Philosophicè, nunc Alchymicè, aliàs Necromanticè, Hydromanticè, Pyromanticè, exposuit. Et in expositione Physica, nun ex familia Mineralium translationes mutuatur, aliàs ex Metallorum & Marchasitarum prouincia, interdum ex scene herbarum uestimenta & habitur defumit. Et, si fluente Com&oelig;, Personas, Ioca & tempora famosa, proprijs nominibus ad arbitrium impositis describat, laudem & ueniam meretur. Itaque Principia, Abyssos, Radices, Mineras, unde exordia rerum omnium ducuntur, {{Pagemark|sig|a7r}} Ares, Iliados, Id&aelig;os, Iliastros appellare illi placuit, gratiam &aelig;qualem meriturus, siue Gut, siue Bmi dixisset. Rursus quod uitali & assidua agitatione, delitescentia & quieta h&aelig;c semina, in hanc mundanam scenam ad uigilias & destinata officia promouet, Arch&aelig;um, Vulcanos, nominat: quòd si Parmenones & Syros dixisset, Naturam habuisset pari fauore coniunctam. Aliquando mutata rerum facie, personas & officia commutat, uestimenta Radicum & mechanicorum locis accommodat, & uicissim. Neque enim sufficiunt Person&aelig; ad uarietatem tam decor&aelig; & diuitis Com&oelig;di&aelig; repr&aelig;sentandam. Pr&aelig;terea, nefas est, quietum mentis fluxum, graui & turbida uocabulorum ἀκριβολογίᾳ confundere. {{Pagemark|sig|a7v}} Hoc pacto in libello de procreationibus Elementi Aqu&aelig; Iliadi significationem alterauit. Item Elementi appellationem in libro Philosophi&aelig; ad Athenienses, Paramiro, Chirurgia magna, de Gradibus & compositionibus, & omnibus ferè libris mirabiliter uariauit. Quid mirum? In qualibet natura sunt mille dotes, infinita officiorum & proprietatum conspiratio & confluxus, qu&aelig; pr&aelig;destinationis occulto imperio silentes progrediuntur, & pensum absoluunt. Et quia diuersissimarum Rerumpub[licarum] ciues & incol&aelig; fiunt, diuersos quoque habitus, mores & signaturas assumunt. Sic complexionum & trium primarum nomina frequenter immutauit. Sanè Sapienti&aelig; filijs, qui mentis acie, ad quietam Natur&aelig; lithurgiam pe- {{Pagemark|sig|a8r}} netrare sciunt, abiectis nucleis & corticibus uarietate hac admirandus occurrit: Sophistarum adulterina ingenia confusione implicauit. Sed horas his usuris producere iniustum est: contracta rerum amplitudine paucis negotium expediam. Qui res nominare poterit, Magus est: huic perinde erit, Dauúsne loquatur an Heros: & clausis oculis ex officijs, proprietatibusq&#x0301;ue, personarum discrimina occult&aelig; huius Com&oelig;di&aelig;, facillimè internoscet, utcunque Choragus mutabili earundem uarietate delectatus fuerit. Hic potenti Sapientia Rerum dominus factus, Indiuidua constituet singulari proprietatum conditione uigentia, qu&aelig; rarissimè mortalium {{Pagemark|sig|a8v}} Rempub[lica] ingressa sunt, habebit immortalitatis infallibilem fiduciam, & stantia ad motum, quantum fas est, promouebit. Ignoscite sapientes, si planius h&aelig;c proposui. Quod ad Pr&aelig;parationum &aelig;nigmata attinet, non sunt ita occlusa, quin aperiri possint, si quis ex Theori&aelig; penetralibus claues eruere potuerit. Pr&aelig;sertim, si assidua operum naturalium inspectione, qu&aelig; ignis & caloris ministerio perficiuntur, claues has, alioquin rubigine obductas, expoliuerit. In uanum curret, qui literam & externum sensum sequetur. Cur igitur scripsit, si ad literam intelligi non uoluit? cur tot uana spe seductos, magna facultatum opulentia spoliauit? ut temporis iacturam & laborum onera {{Pagemark|sig|b1r}} sileam. Sapienti&aelig; filijs ista scripsit, non Sophisticis & auri fame fascinatis Alchymistis, non aurifabris, non fodinarijs metallorum fusoribus, non nominum, linguarum, & externarum superficierum satellitibus. Itaque si in alienam segetem falcem mittung, iure optimo castigantur. Si manifestius ista scripsisset, fabri, fodinarum periti, aurifabri, circumforanei, Alchymist&aelig;, nunc Medicos omnes superassent, ac artem prostituissent, magna Natur&aelig; iniuria. H&aelig;c ijs tuo nomine, Pater uenerande, respondere, ut potui, debui, qui sacrilego & nefario ausu scurram te appellare non uerentur, circumforaneum, omnis Philosophi&aelig; inscium: quia linguarum subtilitates nudas & inanes contemsisti. Qui uit&aelig; tu&aelig; {{Pagemark|sig|b1v}} Oeconomiam odio prosequuntur uiperino, uitia exaggerantes humana, magna temeritate, in semetipsos legem statuunt iniquam. Sine uitijs non uiuitur. Optimus ille est qui minimis urgetur: nec uident mantic&aelig;, quod à tergo est. Possem ijs longè aliter satisfacere, sed aures eorum & obtusi sensus minimè adhuc ferrent: lacte nutriendi sunt. Vlcerosam enim animi dispositionem per Epicrasin curare tutius. Ipse ulceri &aelig;stiomeno mitem inuenit mitigationem. Legant libros ipsius, Soliloquia, Hymnos, quos aliquot annos, ante obitum, quietè uiuens conscripsit: mitiores erunt. Aetatis feruor & impetus tam generosi animi, ueniam meretur. Vnum restat, quod plurimum nos detinuit. Antiquitatem & pri- {{Pagemark|sig|b2r}} scorum Sapientum dogmata dicunt te contemsisse, penitusq&#x0301;ue noua introducendo Monarchiam constituisse. Idq&#x0301;ue ij quoque profitentur, qui te Pr&aelig;ceptorem & Patrem salutant. Sanè multis in locis fluente calamo, impetu quodam potius, quàm deliberato consilio ita scripsisse uideris. Rursus alijs in locis Hermetem, Aegyptios sapientes, Archelaum, Platonem, Hippocratem collaudasti. Quòd uerò Commentaria tua, ad eorum leges, appellationes, Methodos non accommodasti, libertate Philosophica excusaris. nobis onus
illud imposuisti. Nos immensis meditationibus, & diuturnis uigilijs, consonantiam deprehendimus. Balsami naturalis naturam & proprietates, quod est fundamentum {{Pagemark|sig|b2v}} & subiectum omnium librorum tuorum naturalium, &aelig;què apud Hermetem, apud Philosophos omnes, qui libellos suos, exiguos quidem, sed f&oelig;cundos coniunxerunt in Codice ueritatis, apud Gebrum, Alphidium, Rhasin, Seniorem, Rosinum, Morienum, Villanouanum, Raymundum, Isaacum, descriptas uidimus. Tria uerò Principia tua, toties sunt apud Raymundum, Isaacum, Gebrum & caeteros, tam clarè posita, depicta ac declarata, ut loca recensere pigeat: etiam nomina ipsa habemus apud Raymundum, & officia ac proprietates, in libro Mercuriorum, uel potius in clausula Testamenti. Sed talentum, quod ab ipsis accepisti, magno f&oelig;nore reddidisti, & f&oelig;cunda progenie In- {{Pagemark|sig|b3r}} diuidua posuisti ab alijs pr&aelig;termissa. Atque hoc pacto, morborum particularia remedia, plurima declarasti. Quid mirum? Principia Veritatis f&oelig;cunda sunt. Similiter Balsami supranaturalis & corporis superc&oelig;lestis conditiones & officia, de quo agis in omnibus tuis contemplationibus Magicis & Cabalisticis, ab eodem Hermete, trin&aelig; Philosophi&aelig; Monarcha, ab Orpheo, Pythagora, Platone, Synesio, Iamblicho, Plotino, Proclo, Porphyrio, & reliquis Platonicis descripta uidimus: quamuis alta & profunda uarietate ex sacris fontibus proprietates dictas planius explicasti. Gratias igitur agimus tibi, & testes sumus te in uanum non uixisse, nec frustra uenisse, nominisq&#x0301;ue memoriam {{Pagemark|sig|b3v}} posuisse nulli obliuioni obnoxiam. Et si uirgam non planè truncauit difficilis ille Adech: si quod toties uotis & sancta spe desiderasti, tibi contigit, silentio satis fecimus: Papaueris & Vrtic&aelig; pocula Melissarum uirtute tempera: ut & nos tandem, mortalibus rebus superatis & dimissis, unà cum Beatorum c&oelig;tu, ad summum Bonum, Principium & Fontem omnium scandere possimus, eiusq&#x0301;ue cognitione & fruitione &aelig;terna gaudere beatitudine. Huic uni, soli, laus, honor, gloria in secua seculorum, {{MarkupSmallcaps|amen.}}


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{{InfoboxTranslation|Date=2023-03-01}} LETTER WRITTEN BY THEOPHRASTUS PARACELSUS: In which the method of order and names, as well as the entire method of the adept philosophy, is briefly and eruditely explained: by PETER SEVERINUS DANO, Doctor of Philosophy and Medicine. BASEL.

To the Reader, Greetings.

Seeing that many desire an opinion on the writings of Theophrastus Paracelsus, and by chance I came across this letter, in which the rules of names and order, as well as instructions on preparations, were so learnedly explained, I thought it worth my while to have it printed, with the author's kind consent, so that it might be available to many hands. If you receive our work with pleasure, at the upcoming Frankfurt trade fair we will present the Idea of Paracelsus' Philosophical Medicine, in which the foundations of Paracelsian philosophy and medicine are demonstrated and compared with Hippocratic and Galenic decrees. In the meantime, enjoy these writings with an open mind. Farewell.

THEOPHRASTUS PARACELSUS PETER SEVERINUS Lamps and Lanterns.

I have read your books of philosophy, Theophrastus Paracelsus, in which I have been amazed by the divinity of your intellect and the majesty of your contemplations. Although I know that the minds of other philosophers have been entangled in the same difficulties, it has been given to few with equal acuity of mind to penetrate the mysteries of Moses. We admire the piety of Orpheus, the majesty of Pythagoras and his hidden knowledge of all creation, the humanity of Socrates, the eloquence of Plato, and the subtlety of his investigations. But we congratulate you that you have been able to attain all these things, or certainly most of them, in this age alone. And I have no doubt that you have received the treasure of these secrets not from dead and silent letters, as we are accustomed to do, but from living and active streams. And thus, by a kind of divine connection, you have brought back the entire harmony of sciences and Muses to one single center from the circumference of the whole circle. Oh, blessed soul, consecrated to such a predestination!

But we, whom you have left far behind, deplore the obscurity of your commentaries, accuse you of using unheard-of names, require constancy and equality of treatment, and demand the truth in the process of mechanical preparations. Who can doubt that these difficulties can even wear down a firm mind? Indeed, the intellects of this age have clearly surpassed them. Therefore, we fear that your pious and friendly proposal may be greatly diminished by obscured authority, and that if truth, which God forbid, now shines faintly through the shadows, it will be neglected and repulsed, and we will fall back into the ancient confusion of darkness and error. Oh, fount of truth and wisdom, look upon our affairs, and the hearts of those who burn with a pious desire and ardent wishes, who day and night resist this impending metamorphosis. You who are light and shine in darkness, enlighten our eyes so that, having received the light from you, we may live in you and may be able to conspire in unity with mutual love and duties, rejecting the crowd and fornication. And since you said, "Knock, and the door shall be opened unto you," the door would certainly open to us if there were those who would knock at the appropriate times. Therefore, let us, the children of the Muses, arise, to whom truth is a concern, and let us cast off the darkness and impurity of our souls with patience. For a purified mind, like a thunderbolt, penetrates the innermost sanctuaries of things, having overcome the shadows. Only then will it be permissible to draw nourishment from the adyta and guarded treasures of the philosophers. Before, oppressed by the eternal, we were unable to separate the husks and shells from the kernel. Why, then, do we define brightness with darkness, like the blind and the lame, who even accuse the sweetness of sugar of bitterness in their feverish state? Why do we laugh and marvel at the novelty of names, if new things and things unheard of are presented to us? This faculty has been granted to philosophers, that since they have become masters of things, they can also dispense names at their own discretion and clothe their offspring as they see fit. For it is forbidden to behold Diana naked. We would not blame the changes in the laws and the variety in our methods if we knew the narrowness and poverty in them, for we write nothing solid or well-known, but rather inverted thefts. Thus all things are wrapped in obscure and dense darkness, after we did not join our Muse with a pious union. For by her kindness we are admitted to the sacred banquets of the Muses, we drink ambrosia and nectar until we are drunk with it; from this wealth, from this incomprehensible generosity, we bestow gifts upon mortals. But if we cannot encompass such riches and inexhaustible treasures within our small and confined limits, what is there to wonder about? Certainly, what the philosophers wished to write with certainty and method was edited in such an orderly fashion that they deprived us of all hope of imitation. Thus, they wrote books on great surgery, Paramirum, Paragranum, on Tartarus, on the diseases of the demented, on contractures. At times, they inverted the arranged order, where they proposed the mysteries of nature to the sons of wisdom, mindful of the sacrament and commandment, that it is not allowed to give what is sacred to dogs. Thus says Geber, "We have not scattered our knowledge in a continuous series of discourse, but have scattered it in various chapters, because if it had been continuously handed down, both the good and the bad would have unworthily used it." Thus, the Archidoxa of preparations, on long life, on the vexations of alchemists, on the philosopher's tincture were written. There is also another reason for order, where we present our meditations received from the light of the mind to the light. In these, inventions are interwoven with admirable continuity, amplifications are added, doubts arise, and the memories of new and unknown contemplations are represented, and the reasons for things previously comprehended are confirmed. With such variety and abundance, they soothe the minds of those who have become priests and ministers of the Muses with incredible sweetness. For the senses and dull rays of others cannot penetrate, nor can they be joined because they lack proportion. For philosophers, while resonating this lyre, separated from the body, ascend to the innermost sanctuaries of the mind: there they receive and return reserved treasures, demonstrating in this the divinity of our souls and their continuity with Ideas and the First Unity, as well as immortality and knowledge of all things before becoming inhabitants of this foul and murky dwelling. Therefore, mindful of piety and duty, as they strive to communicate these things to their children, they groan and lament that they will adapt such great majesty to such light and lowly garments, and they try to excuse this poverty of names with as much variety, metaphors, metonymies, allegories, enigmas, inversions, new resolutions, and compositions as they can. Let there be a place for generosity. The entire method of writing used by philosophers is magical. For they try to show the hidden mechanics of invisible things to the senses by a visible appearance: just as the invisible nature of spirits is represented in a visible form with the same skill. Likewise, they conceal visible and manifest things and pierce the eyes, so that those who see do not see, and those who hear do not hear, and thus they move invisibly. We have clear examples of this matter. In the book on Elemental Diseases, namely on Gout, Apoplexy, Mania, Epilepsy, Dropsy, Colic, Hectic Fever, Diarrhea, etc. There, with wonderful variety, he explained the generation and hidden structure of those diseases, now astronomically, then philosophically, alchemically, other times necromantically, hydromantically, pyromantically. And in his physical exposition, he sometimes drew from the province of minerals, sometimes from metals and marcasite, sometimes from the garb and fumigation of herbal scenes. And if he describes the characters, jokes, and famous times with their own names at his discretion, he deserves praise and forgiveness. Therefore, he chose to call the principles, abysses, roots, minerals, from which the beginnings of all things are derived, Ares, Iliados, Idaios, Iliastros, equally deserving of gratitude whether he had said G, B flat, or any other names. Again, he names the Archaios, Vulcans, which promote these seeds of life, which are concealed and still through vital and constant agitation, to the duties and vigils assigned in this worldly scene. If he had said Parmenones and Syros, he would have had nature united with equal favor. Sometimes, when the face of things changes, he changes the characters and their duties, adapts the garments to the places of roots and mechanics, and vice versa. For characters alone are not enough to represent the variety so fitting and rich of comedy. Moreover, it is a sin to confuse the quiet flow of the mind with the exactitude of words. Thus, in the book on the procreation of the Element of Water, he changed the meaning of Iliad's signification. Also, he varied the appellation of the Element in the book of Philosophy for the Athenians, Paramiro, Great Surgery, On Degrees and Compositions, and almost all books. What wonder? In every nature, there are a thousand qualities, an infinite conspiracy and confluence of offices and properties, which progress silently under the secret command of destiny and complete the task. And because they become citizens and inhabitants of vastly different republics, they also assume different habits, customs, and signatures. Thus, he frequently changed the names of temperaments and the three primary ones. Certainly, to the sons of wisdom who know how to penetrate the quiet liturgy of nature with the keenness of their minds, this amazing variety appears, and they cast aside the shells and bark. He has entangled the spurious intellect of sophists with confusion. But it is unjust to prolong these uses for hours. I will explain the matter briefly, with the scope of things contracted. He who can name these things is a magician. It will be the same for him whether he speaks like a Dacian or a hero, and with his eyes closed, he will easily discern the distinguishing marks of the characters, offices, and properties of this hidden comedy, even though the choragus has been delighted by the changing variety of these same things. Here, as the powerful wisdom of things, the Lord, he will establish unique conditions of properties that rarely enter the republic of mortals. He will have an infallible confidence in immortality, and he will promote the stable to motion as much as is right. Forgive me, wise ones, if I have explained this too plainly. Regarding the enigmas of the preparations, they are not so obscure that they cannot be opened if someone is able to extract the keys from the depths of theory. Especially if they have polished these keys, which are otherwise covered in rust, through diligent inspection of natural works that are accomplished through the agency of fire and heat. It would be in vain for someone to follow the letter and external meaning. So why did he write it if he did not want it to be understood literally? Why did he deprive so many people, who were otherwise rich in resources, of their vain hopes? Not to mention the loss of time and the burden of labor. He wrote this for the wise sons, not for the sophistical alchemists who are fascinated by the hunger for gold, nor for goldsmiths, nor for foundry workers who melt metals, nor for the attendants of names, languages, and external surfaces. Therefore, if someone sends their sickle to someone else's crop, they are justly punished. If he had written more explicitly, the craftsmen, experts in foundries, goldsmiths, traders, and now all doctors would have surpassed him and prostituted the art, which would be a great injustice to nature. I have replied to them in your name, venerable Father, as best I could, who did not hesitate to call you a courtier, ignorant of all philosophy, through sacrilegious and nefarious daring, because you disregarded the subtle and empty nuances of language. Those who pursue the economy of your life with viperous hatred, exaggerating human vices with great temerity, establish an unjust law for themselves. There is no life without faults. The best person is one who is burdened by the least: and fortune favors the prepared mind. I could satisfy them in a far different way, but their ears and obtuse senses could not yet bear it: they need to be nourished with milk. It is safer to cure the ulcerous disposition of the mind through Epicureanism. He himself found a gentle mitigation for the wound. Let them read his books, Soliloquies, and Hymns, which he wrote peacefully for several years before his death: they will be milder. The fervor and impetus of his generous soul deserve forgiveness. There is one thing that has held us back the most. They say that you despised the teachings of the ancients and established a new monarchy by introducing new ideas. Even those who salute you as their teacher and father confess this. In many places, you seem to have written with a certain impetuosity rather than deliberate consideration. On the other hand, in other places, you praised Hermes, the wise Egyptians, Archelaus, Plato, and Hippocrates. However, you excuse yourself from conforming to their laws, appellations, and methods in your commentaries by appealing to philosophical freedom. You have imposed a burden on us. Through immense meditations and prolonged vigils, we have discovered harmony. We have seen the nature and properties of natural balm, which is the foundation and subject of all your natural books, described equally by Hermes and all philosophers who have joined their small but fruitful books in the Codex of Truth, such as Geber, Alphidius, Rhasin, Senior, Rosinus, Morienus, Villanovanus, Raymond, and Isaac. 

Your three principles are so clearly set forth, depicted, and declared by Raymond, Isaac, Geber, and others that it is tiresome to enumerate the places; we even have the names themselves with Raymond, and the functions and properties in the book of Mercury, or rather in the closing of the Testament. But you have returned the talent you received from them with great interest, and have set forth an abundant offspring of things indivisible by others. In this way, you have revealed many specific remedies for diseases. What wonder? The principles of truth are fertile. Similarly, the supernatural balm and the conditions and functions of the super-celestial body, which you speak of in all your magical and cabalistic contemplations, we have seen described by the same Hermes, the monarch of the triple philosophy, by Orpheus, Pythagoras, Plato, Synesius, Iamblichus, Plotinus, Proclus, Porphyry, and other Platonists, though you have explained more clearly the properties that have been called from sacred sources with great depth and variety. Therefore, we thank you and testify that you have not lived in vain nor come in vain, and that you have established a name that will not be subject to oblivion. And if that difficult Adech did not quite cut the rod, we have made enough silence about what you desired so often with vows and holy hope, temper the cups of poppies and nettles with the power of bees, so that we may finally, after overcoming and dismissing mortal things, ascend together with the assembly of the blessed to the supreme Good, the Beginning and the Source of all, and enjoy eternal bliss in the knowledge and fruition of Him. To Him alone, may praise, honor, and glory be given forever and ever, AMEN.