Text.Alchemica.1625-01.J3r/Translation

Foreword

To the Christian and worthy reader,

Kind, God-loving reader, and especially you, children of wisdom and learning, after several years in which the Almighty God, in response to my constant fervent prayer and earnest invocation, opened my eyes through the enlightenment of His Holy Spirit (from whom we receive all wisdom and who was sent to us through Christ from the Father) so far that I recognized the true center in the Trigon of centers, the sole and true materials of the noble Philosophical Stone, and had them essentially in my hands, I still did not know for nearly five years how to profitably, correctly, and properly separate the blood of the red lion and the ferment of the white eagle from it, much less how to mix them together in the perfectly balanced weight of nature, to enclose, seal, and commit to the secret fire, which must proceed with great reason and careful precaution. And although I diligently researched in the writings, parables, and various figures of the philosophers, and exerted myself to solve their multifaceted, marvelous, and partly self-conceived enigmas, I found in reality that it is all sheer fantasy and fool's work, as the Aurora of the Philosophers also testifies, namely: that all preparations of which Geber, Albertus Magnus, and the like speak, along with their purgations, sublimations, cementations, distillations, rectifications, circulations, putrefactions, conjunctions, solutions, ascensions, coagulations, calcinations, incinerations, mortifications, revivifications, etc., as well as their tripod, Athanor, reverberatory furnace, melting furnace, dungheap, horse dung, ash, sand, cucurbit, pelican, viol, retort, fixatorium, etc., are merely sophistical, misleading, and useless things, as I must also confess in truth for myself: Since the noble nature, which likes to be found in its own inherent substance, knows nothing of this. Therefore, Theophrastus, in the Secret Magic of the Philosophers' Stone, rightly says about those who seek the material of the stone in wine, in imperfect bodies, in blood, in marcasites, in mercury, in sulphur, in urine, in dung, in orpiment, and in herbs such as chelidonium, mandrake, yew, hyssop, etc., that it is all trickery and thievery with which they deceive people, take their money, waste and lose time unnecessarily and in vain, and merely follow their own foolish notions, who cannot beforehand calculate what nature requires: Tell me, who must I believe in the mines of the earth, water burning, or are there people in there who consume the wine, or children who urinate to make metals, or do you think there are apothecaries inside who have all things for sale so you can make metals? You fool, can't you understand that you are erring, that none of those things belong to nature, or do you want to be above God, wanting to make metals from blood, then make a human out of a horse, or a cow out of a mouse, which would then give you good milk, that would also be a multiplication, but it does not happen, and just as little can it happen, so little can you make metals from the aforementioned recipes, for the art is not from nature, and where it has created, art has no effect. When a woman gives birth to a boy, art cannot make a girl out of it, no matter what is used. From this, everyone can easily understand how, in what manner, and where the blessed material should be sought and found. But let no one imagine, much less be persuaded by some artists, that, even if he truly knows and possesses the true material either through God's secret revelation or from those who know it, he then equally knows how to unlock it, to separate the pure from the impure to the utmost, and to purify it completely. Oh no, dear laborer, by no means: the crux of the matter is now buried even deeper, and it requires art and a skilled mind for this matter. Consider, for example, what you initially heard from me, that I knew the true material of the stone for 5 years and all that time did not know how to proceed with it until finally, after the 6th year, the key to power was entrusted to me through God the Almighty's secret revelation. And the ancient patriarchs, prophets, and philosophers have always kept this key secret and hidden: for the monarch says in the said place: if they had written it openly so that every cobbler or tooth-puller could understand it, it would be a great theft, it would also be no secret, and much evil could be done through it, which would then be openly against the will of God, etc. For these reasons and others which I

have partly mentioned in the epilogue, and so that I am not seen as burying the talent entrusted to me by God, I have wanted to reveal in this my Aureo Seculo Redivivo, as much as God and nature allow, the great secret of the wise, as my eyes have seen it, my hands prepared it, and by the grace of God, taken back in great power and glory at the right time. The pious and God-loving reader should recognize and accept it in good faith, consider it favorably, and not be disturbed or troubled that at times, according to the letter, contradictions may occur; it could not be arranged nor deemed proper to proceed from theory to practice otherwise. Because it is strictly and most severely forbidden in the republic of alchemy to write more clearly and plainly about this: but I have no doubt that all those who view this treatise with true trust through the inner eyes of the mind, which can do all things, study it diligently, and above all, fervently and sincerely invoke God like me, will enjoy the hidden philosophically wondrous fruits contained within, and become partakers of them according to the will of God. And then they shall be and remain true brothers of the Golden Cross, and chosen members of the philosophical community in eternal covenant.

Finally, so that the Christian, understanding, and worthy reader may know my baptismal and surname, I will be so candid and reveal the same in the following manner, so that no one may justly complain about me: Know then, everyone, that the number of my name is M. DCXII., in which number my entire name is perfectly inscribed in the Book of Nature through 11 dead and 7 living: Beyond that, the 5th letter is the fifth part of the 8th, and the 15th is again the fifth part of the 12th, and let that suffice. Given at Monte abiegno, on the 25th of March in the year 1621.