CONTENTS

The Life Of Merlin

Vita Merlini: Latin Text

THE LIFE OF MERLIN

 In the footnotes, the figures in brackets refer to lines of the Latin text.

 I am preparing to sing the madness of the prophetic bard, and a humorous poem on Merlin; pray correct the song, Robert 1, glory of bishops, by restraining my pen. For we know that Philosophy has poured over you its divine nectar, and has made you famous in all things, that you might serve as an example, a leader and a teacher in the

world. Therefore may you favour my attempt, and see fit to look upon the poet with better auspices than you did that other whom you have just succeeded, promoted to an honour that you deserve. For indeed you habits, and your approved life, and your birth, and your usefulness to the position, and the clergy and the people all were seeking it for you, and from this circumstance happy Lincoln is just now exalted to the

stars. On this account I might wish you to be embraced in a fitting song, but I am not equal to the task, even though Orpheus, and Camerinus 2, and Macer, and Marius, and mighty-voiced Rabirius were all to sing with my mouth and all the Muses were to accompany me. But now, Sisters, accustomed to sing with me, let us sing the work proposed, and strike the cithara.

Well then, after many years had passed under many kings, Merlin the Briton was held famous in the world. He was a king and prophet; to the proud people of the South Welsh he gave laws, and to the chieftains he prophesied the future. Meanwhile it happened that a strife

arose 3 between several of the chiefs of the kingdom, and throughout the

cities they wasted the innocent people with fierce war. 4 Peredur, king of

the North Welsh, made war on Gwenddoleu, who ruled the realm of Scotland; and already the day fixed for the battle was at hand, and the

1 (3) Robert de Chesney, fourth Bishop of Lincoln, was chosen toward the end of the year 1148 after the death of Bishop Alexander, to whom Geoffrey had dedicated his version of the prophecies of Merlin.

2 (14-15) Camerinus, Macer, Marius, and Rabirius are all referred to within a few lines of one of Ovid’s Epistles from Pontus (IV, xvi).

3 (23ff) For this battle and the persons concerned in it see the Introduction.

4 (24-25) This seems like a reference to the pillaging expedition, which, according to the Triads, was made by Aeddan shortly before the battle of Arderydd.

leaders were ready in the field, and the troops were fighting, falling on both sides in a miserable slaughter. Merlin had come to the war with Peredur and so had Rhydderch, king of the Cumbrians, 5 both savage men. They slew the opposing enemy with their hateful swords, and three brothers of the prince 6 who had followed him through his wars, always fighting, cut down and broke the battle lines. Thence they rushed fiercely through the crowded ranks with such an attack that they soon fell killed. At this sight, Merlin, you grieved and poured out sad complaints throughout the army, and cried out in these words, “Could injurious fate be so harmful as to take from me so many and such great companions, whom recently so many kings and so many remote kingdoms feared? O dubious lot of mankind! O death ever near, which has them always in its power, and strikes its hidden goad and drives out the wretched life from the body! O glorious youths, who now will stand by my side in arms, and with me will repel the chieftains coming to harm me, and the hosts rushing in upon me? Bold young men your audacity has taken from you your pleasant years and pleasant youth! You who so recently were rushing in arms through the troops, cutting down on every side those who resisted you, now are beating the ground and are red with red blood!” So among the hosts he lamented with flowing tears, and mourned for the men, and the savage battle was unceasing. The lines rushed together, enemies were slain by enemies, blood flowed everywhere, and people died on both sides. But at length the Britons assembled their troops from all quarters and all together rushing in arms they fell upon the Scots and wounded them and cut them down, nor did they rest until the hostile battalions turned their backs and fled through unfrequented ways.

Merlin called his companions out from the battle and bade them bury the brothers in a richly coloured chapel; and he bewailed the men and did not cease to pour out laments, and he strewed dust on his hair and

5 (32) The name Cambri (Cymry), now applied to the Welsh, was formerly used of the Britons of Strathclyde and Cumberland – “Y Gogledd”. The kingdom of Rhydderch was in this region. Jocelyn of Furness in his The Life of St Kentigern (Chap xxxi) speaks of going “de Wallia ad Cambrian”. See

also Y Cymmrodor, XI, 98.

6 (34) The Welsh dialogue between Myrddin and Taliesin speaks of the death in the battle of, “Three men of note whose esteem was great with Elgan.” It speaks also of the prodigies of valour performed by the seven sons of Eliffer, of whom Peredur we know was one, and it may be three of these who are referred to. See the Miscellany.

rent his garments, and prostrate on the ground rolled now hither and now thither. Peredur strove to console him and so did the nobles and princes, but he would not be comforted nor put up with their beseeching words. He had now lamented for three whole days and had refused food, so great was the grief that consumed him. Then when he had filled the air with so many and so great complaints, new fury seized him 7 and he departed secretly, and fled to the woods not wishing to be seen as he fled. He entered the wood and rejoiced to lie hidden under the ash trees; he marvelled at the wild beasts feeding on the grass of the glades; now he chased after them and again he flew past them; he lived on the roots of grasses and on the grass, on the fruit of the trees and on the mulberries of the thicket. He became a silvan man just as though devoted to the woods. For a whole summer after this, hidden like a wild animal, he remained buried in the woods, found by no one and forgetful of himself and of his kindred. But when the winter came and took away all the grass and the fruit of the trees and he had nothing to live on, he poured out the following lament in a wretched voice.

“Christ, God of heaven, 8 what shall I do? In what part of the world can I stay, since I see nothing here I can live on, neither grass on the ground nor acorns on the trees? Here once there stood nineteen apple

trees 9 bearing apples every year; now they are not standing. Who has

taken them away from me? Whither have they gone all of a

sudden? Now I see them – now I do not! Thus the fates fight against me and for me, since they both permit and forbid me to see. Now I lack the apples and everything else. The trees stand without leaves, without fruit; I am afflicted by both circumstances since I cannot cover myself with the leaves or eat the fruit. Winter and the south wind with its falling rain have taken them all away. If by chance I find some navews [turnips] deep in the ground the hungry swine and the voracious boars rush up and snatch them away from me as I dig them up from the turf. You, O wolf, dear companion, accustomed to roam with me through the

7 (63ff) The madness of Merlin, hardly intelligible here, is clear enough in the other versions where it comes as a punishment for his own misdeeds. For parallels to this story see the Irish Frenzy of Suibhne and the other texts referred to in the Introduction.

8 (87) “Celi Duw” came to be a very common title of the Deity in Welsh, the “coeli” losing completely its original meaning and being considered quite equivalent to “God.”

9 (90) For references in Welsh literature to Merlin’s apple trees see the Afallennau and the Oianau.

secluded paths of the woods and meadows, now can scarcely get across fields; hard hunger has weakened both you and me. You lived in these woods before I did and age has whitened your hairs first. You have nothing to put into your mouth and do not know how to get anything, at which I marvel, since the wood abounds in so many goats and other wild beasts that you might catch. Perhaps that detestable old age of yours has taken away your strength and prevented your following the chase. Now, as the only thing left to you, you fill the air with howlings, and stretched out on the ground you extend your wasted limbs.”

These words he was uttering among the shrubs and dense hazel thickets when the sound reached a certain passer-by who turned his steps to the place whence the sounds were rising in the air, and found the place and found the speaker. As soon as Merlin saw him he departed, and the traveller followed him, but was unable to overtake the man as he

fled. Thereupon he resumed his journey and went about his business, moved by the lot of the fugitive. Now this traveller was met by a man from the court of Rhydderch, king of the Cumbrians, who was married to Ganieda and happy in his beautiful wife. She was sister to Merlin and, grieving over the fate of her brother, she had sent her retainers to the woods and the distant fields to bring him back. One of these retainers came toward the traveller and the latter at once went up to him and they fell into conversation; the one who had been sent to find Merlin asked if the other had seen him in the woods or the glades. The latter admitted that he had seen such a man among the bushy glades of the Calidonian forest, 10 but, when he wished to speak to him and sit down with him, the other had fled away swiftly among the oaks. These things he told, and the messenger departed and entered the forest; he searched the deepest valleys and passed over the high mountains; he sought everywhere for his man, going through the obscure places.

On the very summit of a certain mountain there was a fountain, surrounded on every side by hazel bushes and thick with shrubs. There

10 (132) Coed Celyddon or the Forest of Calidon originally stretched over the greater part of what is now southern Scotland.

Merlin had seated himself, and thence through all the woods he watched the wild animals running and playing. Thither the messenger climbed, and with silent step went on up the heights seeking the man. At last he saw the fountain and Merlin sitting on the grass behind it, and making his plaint in this manner.

“O Thou who rulest all things, how does it happen that the seasons are not all the same, distinguished only by their four numbers? Now spring, according to its laws, provides flowers and leaves; summer gives crops, autumn ripe apples; icy winter follows and devours and wastes all the others, bringing rain and snow, and keeps them all away and harms with its tempests. And it does not permit the ground to produce variegated [various?] flowers, or the oak trees acorns, or the apple trees dark red apples. O that there were no winter or white frost! That it were spring or summer, and that the cuckoo would come back singing, and the nightingale who softens sad hearts with her devoted song, and the turtle dove keeping her chaste vows, and that in new foliage other birds should sing in harmonious measures, delighting me with their music, while a new earth should breathe forth odours from new flowers under the green grass; that the fountains would also flow on every side with their gentle murmurs, and near by, under the leaves, the dove would pour forth her soothing laments and incite to slumber.”

The messenger heard the prophet and broke off his lament with cadences on the cither he had brought with him that with it he might attract and

soften the madman. 11 Therefore making plaintive sounds with his

fingers and striking the strings in order, he lay hidden behind him and sang in a low voice, “O the dire groanings of mournful Guendoloena! O the wretched tears of weeping Guendoloena! I grieve for wretched dying Guendoloena! There was not among the Welsh a woman more beautiful than she. She surpassed in fairness the goddesses, and the petals of the privet, and the blooming roses and the fragrant lilies of the fields. The glory of spring shone in her alone, and she had the splendour of the stars

11 (165ff) In the Irish story of Suibhne his madness is softened in a very similar way by Loingreachan who played upon the harp and sang to him of his family, and finally persuaded him to return home.

in her two eyes, and splendid hair shining with the gleam of gold. All this has perished; all beauty has departed from her, both colour and figure and also the glory of her snowy flesh. Now, worn with much weeping, she is not what she was, for she does not know where the prince has gone, or whether he is alive or dead; therefore the wretched woman languishes and is totally wasted away through her long grief. With similar laments Ganieda weeps with her, and without consolation grieves for her lost brother. One weeps for her brother and the other for her husband, and both devote themselves to weeping and spend their time in sadness. No food nourishes them, nor does any sleep refresh them wandering at night through the brushwood, so great is the grief that consumes them both. Not otherwise did Sidonian Dido grieve when the ships had weighed anchor and Aeneas was in haste to depart; so most wretched Phyllis groaned and wept when Demophoon did not come back at the appointed time; thus Briseis wept for the absent Achilles. 12 Thus the sister and the wife grieve together, and burn continually and completely with inward agonies.”

The messenger sang thus to his plaintive lyre, and with his music soothed the ears of the prophet that he might become more gentle and rejoice with the singer. Quickly the prophet arose and addressed the young man with pleasant words, and begged him to touch once more the strings with his fingers and to sing again his former song. The latter therefore set his fingers to the lyre and played over again the song that was asked for, and by his playing compelled the man, little by little, to put aside his madness, captivated by the sweetness of the lute. So Merlin became mindful of himself, and he recalled what he used to be, and he wondered at his madness and he hated it. His former mind returned and his sense came back to him, and, moved by affection, he groaned at the names of his sister and of his wife, since his mind was now restored to him, and he asked to be led to the court of King Rhydderch. The other obeyed him, and straightway they left the woods and came, rejoicing together, to the city of the king. So the queen was delighted by regaining her brother and the wife became glad over the return of her

husband. They vied with each other in kissing him and they twined their

12 (191ff) These lines show that Geoffrey was familiar with the Heroides of Ovid.

arms about his neck, so great was the affection that moved them. The king also received him with such honour as was fitting, and the chieftains who thronged the palace rejoiced in the city.

But when Merlin saw such great crowds of men present he was not able to endure them; he went mad again, and, filled anew with fury, he wanted to go to the woods, and he tried to get away by stealth. Then Rhydderch ordered him to be restrained and a guard posted over him, and his madness to be softened with the cither; and he stood about him grieving, and with imploring words begged the man to be sensible and to stay with him, and not to long for the grove or to live like a wild beast, or to want to abide under the trees when he might hold a royal sceptre and rule over a warlike people. After that he promised that he would give him many gifts, and he ordered people to bring him clothing and birds, dogs and swift horses, gold and shining gems, and cups that Wayland had engraved in the city of Segontium. 13 Every one of these things Rydderch offered to the prophet and urged him to stay with him and leave the woods.

The prophet rejected these gifts, saying, “Let the dukes who are troubled by their own poverty have these, they who are not satisfied with a moderate amount but desire a great deal. To these gifts I prefer the groves and broad oaks of Calidon, and the lofty mountains with green pastures at their feet. Those are the things that please me, not these of yours – take these away with you, King Rhydderch. My Calidonian forest rich in nuts, the forest that I prefer to everything else, shall have me.”

Finally since the king could not retain the sad man by any gifts, he ordered him to be bound with a strong chain lest, if free, he might seek the deserted groves. The prophet, when he felt the chains around him and he could not go as a free man to the Calidonian forests, straightway

13 (235) Guilandus is probably, as San Marte suggests, Wayland Smith. Urbs Sigenus is the old Welsh Kaer Sigont (now Caer Seiont), a name perhaps transferred to Carnarvon from the ruins of the Roman station of Segontium on the hill a short distance above the present city.

fell to grieving and remained sad and silent, and took all joy from his face so that he did not utter a word or smile.

Meanwhile the queen was going through the hall looking for the king, and he, as was proper, greeted her as she came and took her by the hand and bade her sit down, and, embracing her, pressed her lips in a kiss. In so doing he turned his face toward her and saw a leaf hanging in her hair; 14 he reached out his fingers, took it and threw it on the ground, and jested joyfully with the woman he loved. The prophet turned his eyes in that direction and smiled, and made the the men standing about look at him in wonder since he was not in the habit of smiling. The king too wondered and urged the madman to tell the cause of his sudden laugh, and he added to his words many gifts. The other was silent and put off explaining his laugh. But more and more Rhydderch continued to urge him with riches and with entreaties until at length the prophet, vexed at him, said in return for his gift, “A miser loves a gift and a greedy man labours to get one; these are easily corrupted by gifts and bend their minds in any direction they are bidden to. What they have is not enough for them, but for me the acorns of pleasant Calidon and the shining fountains flowing through fragrant meadows are sufficient. I am not attracted by gifts; let the miser take his, and unless liberty is given me and I go back to the green woodland valleys I shall refuse to explain my laughter.”

Therefore when Rhydderch found that he could not influence the prophet by any gift, and he could not find out the reason for the laughter, straightway he ordered the chains to be loosed and gave him permission to seek the deserted groves, that he might be willing to give the desired explanation. Then Merlin, rejoicing that he could go, said, “This is the reason I laughed, Rhydderch. You were by a single act both praiseworthy and blameworthy. When just now you removed the leaf that the queen had in her hair without knowing it, you acted more

14 (254ff) This incident is contained in an expanded form in a fragment believed to be from a lost life of Kentigern, printed by Ward in Romania, xxii; there however the story is of Lailoken and the wife of Meldred, king of Dunmeller. It bears some resemblance to the story told in Jocelyn’sThe Life of St Kentigern of the adultery of Languoreth, wife of Rhydderch.

faithfully toward her than she did toward you when she went under the bush where her lover met her and lay with her; and while she was lying there supine with her hair spread out, by chance there caught in it the leaf that you, not knowing all this, removed.”

Rhydderch suddenly became sad at this accusation and turned his face from her and cursed the day he had married her. But she, not at all moved, hid her shame behind a smiling face and said to her husband, “Why are you sad, my love? Why do you become so angry over this thing and blame me unjustly, and believe a madman who, lacking sound sense, mixes lies with the truth? The man who believes him becomes many times more a fool than he is. Now then, watch, and if I am not mistaken I will show you that he is crazy and has not spoken the truth.”

There was in the hall a certain boy, one of many, and the ingenious woman catching sight of him straightway thought of a novel trick by

which she might convict her brother of falsehood. 15 So she ordered the

boy to come in and asked her brother to predict by what death the lad should die. He answered, “Dearest sister, he shall die, when a man, by falling from a high rock.” Smiling at these words, she ordered the boy to go away and take off the clothes he was wearing and put on others and to cut off his long hair; she bade him come back to them thus that he might seem to them a different person. The boy obeyed her, for he came back to them with his clothes changed as he had been ordered to do. Soon the queen asked her brother again, “Tell your dear sister what the death of

15 (305ff) This resembles closely another fragment printed by Ward in which Lailoken prophesies a similar threefold death, in this case, however, for himself. Much the same incident has been preserved in by Welsh oral tradition in Glamorgan in connection with Twm Ieuan ap Rhys (born in 1474), commonly called Twm Gelwydd Teg or Tom of the Fine Lies. According to the story printed in

the Iolo Manuscripts, (Second edition, p 202, translation p 616)

Twm was one day threshing in a barn, and a young lad went by and addressed him as follows: “Well, Twm Gelwydd Teg, what news have you today?” “There is news for thee,” said he; “thou shalt die three deaths before this night.” “Ha! Ha!” said the youth, “nobody can die more than one death,” and he went off laughing. In the course of the day, the lad went to the top of a great tree on the brink of a river, to take a kite’s nest, and in thrusting his hand into the nest, he was wounded by an adder, brought by the kite to her young ones, as she was accustomed to do. This causing him to lose his hold, he fell down on a great branch and broke his neck, and from there he fell into the river, and thus he met with three deaths, to be wounded by an adder, to break his neck, and to drown.

The relation of such stories as these to similar incidents found earlier in the romances is a puzzling one, but probably relate to much earlier tales.

this boy will be like.” Merlin answered, “This boy when he grows up shall, while out of his mind, meet with a violent death in a tree.” When he had finished she said to her husband, “Could this false prophet lead you so far astray as to make you believe that I had committed so great a crime? And if you will notice with how much sense he has spoken this about the boy, you will believe that the things he said about me were made up so that he might get away to the woods. Far be it from me to do such a thing! I shall keep my bed chaste, and chaste shall I always be while the breath of life is in me. I convicted him of falsehood when I asked him about the death of the boy. Now I shall do it again; pay attention and judge.”

When she had said this she told the boy in an aside to go out and put on woman’s clothing, and to come back thus. Soon the boy left and did as he was bid, for he came back in woman’s clothes just as though he were a woman, and stood in front of Merlin to whom the queen said banteringly, “Say brother, tell me about the death of this girl.” “Girl or not she shall die in the river,” said her brother to her, which made King Rhydderch laugh at his reasoning; since when asked about the death of a single boy Merlin had predicted three different kinds. Therefore Rhydderch thought he had spoken falsely about the queen, and did not believe him, but grieved, and hated the fact that he had trusted him and had condemned his beloved. The queen, seeing this, forgave him and kissed and caressed him and made him joyful.

Meanwhile Merlin planned to go to the woods, and he left his dwelling and ordered the gates to be opened; but his sister stood in his way and with rising tears begged him to remain with her for a while and to put aside his madness. The hard-hearted man would not desist from his project but kept trying to open the doors, and he strove to leave and raged and fought and by his clamour forced the servants to open. At length, since no one could hold him back when he wanted to go, the queen quickly ordered Guendoloena, who was absent, to come to make him desist. She came and on her knees begged him to remain; but he spurned her prayers and would not stay, nor would he, as he was accustomed to do, look upon her with a joyful face. She grieved and

dissolved in tears and tore her hair, and scratched her cheeks with her nails and rolled on the ground as though dying. The queen seeing this said to him, “This Guendoloena who is dying thus for you, what shall she do? Shall she marry again or do you bid her remain a widow, or go with you wherever you are going? For she will go, and with you she will joyfully inhabit the groves and the green woodland meadows provided she has your love.” To this the prophet answered, “Sister I do not want a cow that pours out water in a broad fountain like the urn of the Virgin in summer-time, nor shall I change my care as Orpheus once did when Eurydice gave her baskets to the boys to hold before she swam back across the Stygian sands. Freed from both of you I shall remain without the taint of love. Let her therefore be given a proper opportunity to marry and let him whom she shall choose have her. But let the man who marries her be careful that he never gets in my way or comes near me; let him keep away for fear lest if I happen to meet him he may feel my flashing sword. But when the day of the solemn [formal] wedding comes and the different viands are distributed to the guests, I shall be present in person, furnished with seemly gifts, and I shall profusely endow Guendoloena when she is given away.” When he had finished he said farewell to each of them and went away, and with no one to hinder him he went back to the woods he longed for.

Guendoloena remained sadly in the door watching him and so did the queen, both moved by what had happened to their friend, and they marvelled that a madman should be so familiar with secret things and should have known of the love affair of his sister. Nevertheless they thought that he lied about the death of the boy since he told of three different deaths when he should have told of one. Therefore his speech seemed for long years to be an empty one until the time when the boy grew to manhood; then it was made apparent to all and convincing to many. For while he was hunting with his dogs he caught sight of a stag hiding in a grove of trees; he loosed the dogs who, as soon as they saw the stag, climbed through unfrequented ways and filled the air with their baying. He urged on his horse with his spurs and followed after, and urged on the huntsmen, directing them, now with his horn and now with his voice, and he bade them go more quickly. There was a high mountain surrounded on all sides by rocks with a stream flowing through the plain

at its foot; thither the animal fled until he came to the river, seeking a hiding place after the usual manner of its kind. The young man pressed on and passed straight over the mountain, hunting for the stag among the rocks lying about. Meanwhile it happened, while his impetuosity was leading him on, that his horse slipped from a high rock and the man fell over a precipice into the river, but so that one of his feet caught in a tree, and the rest of his body was submerged in the stream. Thus he fell, and was drowned, and hung from a tree, and by his threefold death made the prophet a true one.

The latter meanwhile had gone to the woods and was living like a wild beast, subsisting on frozen moss, in the snow, in the rain, in the cruel blasts of the wind. And this pleased him more than administering laws throughout his cities and ruling over fierce people. Meanwhile Guendoloena, since her husband was leading a life like this with his woodland flock through the passing years, was married in accordance with her husband’s permission.

It was night and the horns of the bright moon were shining, and all the lights of the vault of heaven were gleaming; the air was clearer than usual, for cruel, frigid, Boreas had driven away the clouds and had made the sky serene again and had dried up the mists with his arid

breath. From the top of a lofty mountain the prophet was regarding the courses of the stars, speaking to himself out in the open air. “What does this ray of Mars mean? Does its fresh redness mean that one king is dead and that there shall be another? So I see it, for Constantine has died and his nephew Conan, through an evil fate and the murder of his

uncle, has taken the crown and is king. 16 And you, highest Venus, who

slipping along within your ordered limits beneath the zodiac are accompanying the sun in his course, what about this double ray of yours that is cleaving the air? Does not its division indicate a severing of my love? Such a ray indeed shows that loves are divided. Perhaps

16 (434-435) These lines, backed up by lines 1133-1135, place the action of the poem in the reign of Aurelius Conan, which according to the Historia began about two years after the translation of Arthur and lasted for about two years. As Geoffrey places the translation of Arthur in 542, he has made a mistake in dating, since the BAttle of Arderydd was fought about 577.

Guendoloena has left me in my absence and now clings to another man and rejoices in his embraces. So I lose; so another enjoys her. So my rights are taken away from me while I dally. So it is surely, for a slothful lover is beaten by one who is not slothful or absent but is right on

hand. But I am not jealous; let her marry now under favourable auspices and let her enjoy her new husband with my permission. And when tomorrow’s sun shall shine I will go and take with me the gift I promised her when I left.” So he spoke and went about all the woods and groves and collected a herd of stags in a single line, and the deer and she-goats likewise, and he himself mounted a stag. 17 And when day dawned he came quickly, driving the line before him to the place where Guendoloena was to be married. When he arrived he forced the stags to stand patiently outside the gates while he cried aloud,

“Guendoloena! Guendoloena! Come! Your presents are looking for you!” Guendoloena therefore came quickly, smiling and marvelling that the man was riding on the stag and that it obeyed him, and that he could get together so large a number of animals and drive them before him just as a shepherd does the sheep that he is in the habit of driving to the pastures.

The bridegroom stood watching from a lofty window and marvelling at the rider on his seat, and he laughed. But when the prophet saw him and understood who he was, at once he wrenched the horns from the stag he was riding and shook them and threw them at the man and completely smashed his head in, and killed him and drove out his life into the

air. With a quick blow of his heels he set the stag flying and was on his way back to the woods. At these happenings the servants rushed out from all sides and quickly followed the prophet through the fields. But he ran ahead so fast that he would have reached the woods untouched if a river had not been in his way; while his beast was hurriedly leaping over the torrent Merlin slipped from his back and fell into the rapid

17 (451) In the Irish version of the story Eorann, wife of Suibhne, takes a new mate in much the same fashion as Guendoloena does here. In the same story we find Suibhne speaking of his herd of stags, to one of which he says,

“Thou stag that comest lowing to me across the glen, pleasant is the place for seats

on the top of they antler-points.”

waves. The servants lined the shore and captured him as he swam, and bound him and took him home and gave him to his sister.

The prophet, captured in this way, became sad and wanted to go back to the woods, and he fought to break his bonds and refused to smile or to take food or drink, and by his sadness he made his sister

sad. Rhydderch, therefore, seeing him drive all joy from him and refuse to taste of the banquets that had been prepared for him, took pity on him and ordered him to be led out into the city, through the market place among the people, in the hope that he might be cheered up by going and seeing the novelties that were being sold there.

After he had been taken out and was going away from the palace he saw before a door a servant of a poor appearance, the doorkeeper, asking with trembling lips of all the passers-by some money with which to get his clothes mended. 18 The prophet thereupon stood still and laughed, wondering at the poor man. When he had gone on from here he saw a young man holding some new shoes and buying some pieces of leather to patch them with. Then he laughed again and refused to go further through the market place to be stared at by the people he was

watching. But he yearned for the woods, toward which he frequently looked back, and to which, although forbidden, he tried to direct his steps.

The servants returned home and told that he had laughed twice and also that he had tried to get away to the woods. Rhydderch, who wished to know what he had meant by his laughter, quickly gave orders for his bonds to be loosed and gave him permission to go back to his accustomed woods if only he would explain why he laughed. The prophet, now quite joyful, answered, “The doorkeeper was sitting outside the doors in well worn clothing and kept asking those who went by to give him something to buy clothes with, just as though he had been a

18 (481-532) These two incidents are apparently of Oriental origin and quite possibly came to Geoffrey through some collection of exempla. In the Babylonian Talmud there is a similar tale in which a daemon laughs at a man buying shoes and at a fortune-teller prophesying wealth for others.

pauper, and all the time he was secretly a rich man and had under him hidden piles of coins. That is what I laughed at; turn up the ground under him and you will find coins preserved there for a long time. From there they led me further toward the market place and I saw a man buying some shoes and also some patches so that after the shoes were wornout and had holes in them from use he might mend them and make them fit for service again. This too I laughed at since the poor man will not be able to use the shoes nor,” he added, “the patches, since he is already drowned in the waves and is floating toward the shore; go and you will see.” Rhydderch, wishing to test the man’s sayings, ordered his servants to go quickly along the bank of the river, so that if they should chance to find such a man drowned by the shore they might at once bring him word. They obeyed the king’s orders, for going along the the river they found a drowned man in a waste patch of sand, and returned home and reported the fact to him. But the king meanwhile, after sending away the doorkeeper, had dug and turned up the ground and found a treasure placed under it, and laughingly he worshipped the prophet.

After these things had happened the prophet was making haste to go to the woods he was accustomed to, hating the people in the city. The queen advised him to stay with her and to put off his desired trip to the woods until the cold of white winter, which was then at hand, should be over, and summer should return again with its tender fruits on which he could live while the weather grew warm from the sun. He refused, and desirous of departing and scorning the winter he said to her, “O dear sister, why do you labour to hold me back? Winter with his tempests cannot frighten me, nor icy Boreas when he rages with his cruel blasts and suddenly injures the flocks of sheep with hail; neither does Auster disturb me when its rain clouds shed their waters. Why should I not seek the deserted groves and the green woodlands? Content with a little I can endure the frost. There under the leaves of the trees among the odorous blossoms I shall take pleasure in lying through the summer; but lest I lack food in winter you might build me a house in the woods and have servants in it to wait on me and prepare me food when the ground refuses to produce grain or the trees fruit. Before the other buildings build me a remote one with seventy doors and as many windows through

which I may watch fire-breathing Phoebus and Venus and the stars gliding from the heavens by night, all of whom shall show me what is going to happen to the people of the kingdom. And let the same number of scribes be at hand, trained to take my dictation, and let them be attentive to record my prophecy on their tablets. 19 You too are to come often, dear sister, and then you can relieve my hunger with food and drink.” After he had finished speaking he departed hastily for the woods.

His sister obeyed him and built the place he had asked for, and the other houses and whatever else he had bid her. But he, while the apples remained and Phoebus was ascending higher through the stars, rejoiced to remain beneath the leaves and to wander through the groves with their soothing breezes. Then winter came, harsh with icy winds, and despoiled the ground and the trees of all their fruit, and Merlin lacked food because the rains were at hand, and he came, sad and hungry, to the aforesaid place. Thither the queen often came and rejoiced to bring her brother both food and drink. He, after he had refreshed himself with various kinds of edibles, would arise and express his approval of his sister. Then wandering about the house he would look at the stars while he prophecied things like these which he knew were going to come to pass.

“O madness of the Britons whom a plenitude, always excessive, of riches exalts more than is seemly. 20 They do not wish to enjoy peace but are stirred up by the Fury’s goad. They engage in civil wars and battles between relatives, and permit the church of the Lord to fall into ruin; the holy bishops they drive into remote lands. The nephews of the Boar of

Cornwall 21 cast everything into confusion, and setting snares for each

other engage in a mutual slaughter with their wicked swords. They do not wish to wait to get possession of the kingdom lawfully, but seize the

19 (560) In the Irish version the prophecies are taken down by St Molig; in the Scottish version by St Kentigern; in the Welsh poems Myrddin makes them to his sister.

20 (580ff) The following passage is a working over of the Historia, XI, vii-x. The “Wolf of the Sea” refers to Gormund.

21 (586) The “Boar of Cornwall” is Geoffrey’s name for Arthur in the Prophecies; the “nephews” are apparently his grand-nephews, the sons of Modred. (Historia, XI, iii).

crown. The fourth 22 from them shall be more cruel and more harsh still; him shall a wolf from the sea conquer in fight and shall drive defeated beyond the Severn through the kingdoms of the barbarians. This latter shall besiege Cirencester with a blockade and

with sparrows, and shall overthrow its walls to their very bases. He shall seek the Gauls in his ship, but shall die beneath the weapon of a

king. Rhydderch shall die, 23 after whom long discord shall hold the Scots and the Cumbrians for a long time until Cumbria shall be granted to his growing tusk. The Welsh shall attack the men of Gwent, 24 and afterwards those of Cornwall and no law shall restrain them. Wales shall rejoice in the shedding of blood; O people always hateful to God, why do you rejoice in bloodshed? Wales shall compel brothers to fight and to condemn their own relatives to a wicked death. The troops of the Scots shall often cross the Humber and, putting aside all sentiment, shall kill those who oppose them. Not with impunity, however, for the leader shall be killed; he shall have the name of a horse 25 and because of that fact shall be fierce. His heir shall be expelled and shall depart from our territories. Scots, sheathe your swords which you bare too readily; your strength shall be unequal to that of our fierce people. The city of Dumbarton 26 shall be destroyed and no king shall repair it for an age until the Scot shall be subdued in war. Carlisle, spoiled of its shepherd, shall lie vacant until the sceptre of the Lion shall restore its pastoral staff. 27                        Segontium and its towers and mighty palaces shall lament in ruins until the Welsh return to their former domains. 28                                   Porchester shall see its broken walls in its harbour until a rich man with the tooth of a wolf shall restore it. The city of Richborough 29 shall lie spread out on

the shore of its harbour and a man from Flanders 30 shall re-establish it

22 (590) This evidently refers to Careticus of the Historia, the fourth after Arthur’s successor Constantine.

23 (596-624) For the greater part of this there are no specific explanations. In Jocelyn’s Kentigern we find Lailoken predicting the death of Rhydderch, and in the Welsh poem of the Cyfoesi we find Myrddin doing the same.

24 (599) On the Gewissi, who are probably intended here, see note 54 below.

25 (608) Men whose names are derived from horses, that one naturally thinks of, are Hengist, Horsus, and March, but none of these seems to fit here.

26 (612) Kaer Alclwyd, the modern Dumbarton, was destroyed by the Picts in 736, and by the Northmen in 870.

27 (618) Carlisle was destroyed by the Northmen and restored by William Rufus. In 1133 Henry I (the “Lion of Justice” of the Prophecies) re-established its bishopric.

28 (614) Lot believes that this passage was inspired by the sight of the ruins of the old Roman station of Segontium on the hill above the modern city of Carnarvon.

29 (620) The old Roman port, now Richborough on the Kent coast between Ramsgate and Deal.

30 (621) The Rutheni were, according to Alanus, the people of Flanders.

with his crested ship. The fifth from him shall rebuild the walls of St David’s and shall bring back to her the pall lost for many years. 31 The City of the Legions 32 shall fall into thy bosom, O Severn, and shall lose her citizens for a long time, and these the Bear in the Lamb 33 shall restore to her when he shall come.

Saxon kings shall expel the citizens and shall hold cities, country, and houses for a long time. From among them thrice three dragons shall wear the crown. Two hundred monks shall perish in Leicester 34 and the Saxon shall drive out her ruler and leave vacant her walls. He who first among the Angles shall wear the diadem of Brutus 35 shall repair the city laid waste by slaughter. A fierce people shall forbid the sacrament of confirmation throughout the country, and in the house of God shall place images of the gods. Afterward Rome shall bring God back through the medium of a monk and a holy priest shall sprinkle the buildings with water and shall restore them again and shall place shepherds in

them. Thereafter many of them shall obey the commands of the divine law and shall enjoy heaven by right. An impious people full of poison shall violate that settlement and shall violently mix together right and wrong. They shall sell their sons and their kinsmen into the furthest countries beyond the sea and shall incur the wrath of the Thunderer. O wretched crime! that man whom the founder of the world created with liberty, deeming him worthy of heaven, should be sold like an ox and be dragged away with a rope. You miserable man who turned traitor to your master when first you came to the throne, you shall yield to

God. The Danes 36 shall come upon [you] with their fleet and after

31 (622-623) This may refer to the passage in the Historia (VII, iii), “Menevia shall be robed in the pall of the City of the Legions,” but I think more probably it expresses the hope that a king should soon come who would re-establish (or establish) an archbishop at St David’s, a hope that must have been cherished by the Welsh even before the time of Giraldus Cambrensis. According to Welsh belief this city had been the seat of an archbishop until the time of Samson, twenty fifth from Dewi or David, who fled to Dol in Brittany taking the pall with him. (Giraldus Cambrensis, De Menevensi Ecclesia Dialogus).

32 (624) This is the city on the Usk and not Chester, also called the City of the Legions, as the reference to the Severn shows.

33 (626) San Marte believes from what follows that this refers to the coming of Augustine.

34 (630-631) Clearly the defeat of Brocmail and the slaughter of the monks at Leicester referred to in the Historia (XI, xiii), although the number does not agree with the printed texts; it does agree with the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle.

35 (632) Athelstan, according to Historia, XII, xix.

36 (650-654) Daci was commonly used for the Danes at this period, as Neustrenses was for the Normans.

subduing the people shall reign for a short time and shall then be defeated and retire. Two shall rule over them 37 whom the serpent forgetful of his treaty shall strike with the sting in his tail instead of with the garland of his sceptre.

Then the Normans, 38 sailing over the water in their wooden ships,

bearing their faces in front and in back, shall fiercely attack the Angles with their iron tunics and their fierce swords, and shall destroy them and possess the field. They shall subjugate many realms to themselves and shall rule foreign peoples for a time until the Fury, flying all about, shall scatter her poison over them. Then peace and faith and all virtue shall depart, and on all sides throughout the country the citizens shall engage in battles. Man shall betray man and no one shall be found a friend. The husband, despising his wife, shall draw near to harlots, and the wife, despising her husband, shall marry whom she desires. There shall be no honour kept for the church and the order shall perish. Then shall bishops bear arms, and armed camps shall be built. Men shall build towers and walls in holy ground, and they shall give to the soldiers what

37 (652) Possibly Canute and his son Harold. San Marte evidently translates this passage differently, since his not explains that the “Lex Marsia” was used south of the Thames and the Danish laws north of it.

38 (672-680) This refers to the Historia, VII, iii, but its meaning remains unclear. The “three” are the two Williams and Henry I, and the “fourth” Stephen. San Marte takes the “four” to be William Rufus, Henry I, Stephen, and Henry II, and the “two” to be Richard and John, the latter of whom he believes to be the “sixth”, even if line 680 does not fit him. However, the same thing occurs in the Historia, and although it is not safe to say that a certain passage is not an interpolation, this passage was probably written forty years or so before King John was born. It is possible that Geoffrey was basing this passage on an old Welsh poem which Skene believes to have been written before 655.

Five chiefs there will be to me Of the Gwyddyl Ffichti

Of a sinner’s disposition Of a race of the knife;

Five others will there be to me Of the Norddmyn place;

The sixth a wonderful king, From the sowing to the reaping; The seventh proceeded

To the land over the flood The eighth, of the line of Dyfi,

Shall not be freed from prosperity.

Skene explains the five kings of the Northumbrians as Ida, Ella, Ethelric, Ethelfred, and Edwin. The sixth was Osric who reigned only a few months, and the seventh was Eanfrid, who crossed the Firth of Forth and was slain by Cadwallawn of the line of Dyfi. Even if Geoffrey understood the references in the poem, which he probably did not, it must have seemed to him good material to work over and put in the mouth of Merlin. This would lead to the confusion about the later kings of Norman line as they do not quite follow the same pattern.

should belong to the needy. Carried away by riches they shall run along on the path of worldly things and shall take from God what the holy bishop shall forbid. Three shall wear the diadem 39 after whom shall be the favour of the newcomers. A fourth shall be in authority whom awkward piety shall injure until he shall be clothed in his father, so that girded with boar’s teeth he shall cross the shadow of the helmeted

man. 40 Four shall be anointed, seeking in turn the highest things, and two shall succeed who shall so wear the diadem that they shall induce the Gauls to make war on them. The sixth shall overthrow the irish and their walls, and pious and prudent shall renew the people and the cities. All these things I formerly predicted more at length to Vortigern in explaining to him the mystic war of the two dragons when we sat on the banks of the drained pool. 40 But you, dear sister, go home to see the king dying and bid Taliesin come, as I wish to talk over many things with him; for he has recently come from the land of Brittany where he learned sweet philosophy of Gildas the Wise.” 41

Ganieda returned home and found that Taliesin had returned and the prince was dead and the servants were sad. She fell down lamenting among her friends and tore her hair and cried, “Women, lament with me the death of Rhydderch and weep for a man such as our earth has not produced hitherto in our age so far as we know. He was a lover of peace, for he so ruled a fierce people that no violence was done to any one by

any one else. He treated the holy priest with just moderation 42 and

permitted the highest and the lowest to be governed by law. He was generous, for he gave away much and kept scarcely anything. He was all things to all men, doing whatever was seemly; flower of knights, glory of kings, pillar of the kingdom. Woe is me! for what you were – now so unexpectedly you have become food for worms, and your body moulders in the urn. Is this the bed prepared for you after fine silks? Is it true that your white flesh and royal limbs will be covered by a cold stone, that you

39 (675) Alanus explains that the “Helmeted Man” was the name given to one of the mountains of Scotland because of its shape.

40 (681-683) From the Historia, VII, iii.

41 (687-688) The Life of Gildas by the Monk of Rhuys tells that after Gildas settled in Brittany people began to flock to him to entrust their sons for their instruction to his superintendence and teaching. 42 (698) Apparently a reference to the fact told in the Scottish version but not mentioned by Geoffrey

except here, that Rhydderch took St Kentigern under his protection after he had been driven out of his home in the north.

will be nothing but dust and bones? So it is, for the miserable lot of mankind goes on throughout the years so that they cannot be brought back to their former estate. Therefore there is no profit in the bravery of the transient world that flees and returns, deceives and injures the mighty. The bee anoints with its honey what it afterwards stings. So also those whom the glory of the world caresses as it departs it deceives and smites with with its disagreeable sting. That which excels is of brief duration, what it has does not endure; like running water everything that is of service passes away. What is a rose if it blushes, a snowy lily if it blooms, a man or a horse or anything else if it is fair! These things should be referred to the Creator, not to the world. Happy therefore are those who remain firm in a pious heart and serve God and renounce the world. To them Christ who reigns without end, the Creator of all things, shall grant to enjoy perpetual honour. Therefore I leave you, ye nobles, ye lofty walls, household gods, sweet sons, and all the things of the world. In company with my brother I shall dwell in the woods and shall worship God with a joyful heart, clothed in a black mantle.” So she spoke, giving her husband his due, and she inscribed on his tomb this verse, “Rhydderch the Generous, than whom there was no one more generous in the world, a great man rests in this small urn.” 43

Meanwhile Taliesin had come to see Merlin the prophet who had sent for him to find out what wind or rain storm was coming up, for both together were drawing near and the clouds were thickening. He drew the following illustrations under the guidance of Minerva his associate.

“Out of nothing the Creator of the world produced four [elements] that they might be the prior cause as well as the material for creating all

things when they were joined together in harmony: 44 the heaven which

43 Such Latin epitaphs on early British tombs are by no means rare. The grave of Rhydderch Hael has not been found, but at Warrior’s Rest, near Yarrow, in Selkirkshire, is an inscription to the sons of his cousin Nudd Hael.

HIC MEMORIAE ET [BE]LLO INSIGNISIMI PRINCIPES. NVDI DVMNOGENI. HIC IACENT IN TYMVLO. DVO FILII LIBERALIS

According to Sir John Rhys the probable date of the stone is the latter part of the sixth century.

44 (737-820) Much of the material in this passage must have been taught in every school in Geoffrey’s time so that it is perhaps useless to expect to find an exact source for it. Bede’s De Natura

He adorned with stars and which stands on high and embraces everything like the shell surrounding a nut; then He made the air, fir for forming sounds, through the medium of which day and night present the stars; the sea which girds the land in four circles, and with its mighty refluence so strikes the air as to generate the winds which are said to be four in number; as a foundation He placed the earth, standing by its own strength and not lightly moved, which is divided into five parts, whereof the middle one is not habitable because of the heat and the two furthest are shunned because of their cold. To the last two He gave moderate temperature and these are inhabited by men and birds and herds of wild beasts. He added clouds to the sky so that they might furnish sudden showers to make the fruits of the trees and of the ground grow with their gentle sprinkling. With the help of the sun these are filled like water skins from the rivers by a hidden law, and then, rising through the upper air, they pour out the water they have taken up, driven by the force of the winds. From them come rain storms, snow, and round hail when the cold damp wind breathes out its blasts which, penetrating the clouds, drive out the streams just as they make them. Each of the winds takes to itself a nature of its own from its proximity to the zone where it is

born. Beyond the firmament in which He fixed the shining stars He placed the ethereal heaven and gave it as a habitation to troops of angels whom the worthy contemplation and marvellous sweetness of God refresh throughout the ages. This also He adorned with stars and the shining sun, laying down the law by which the star should run within fixed limits through the part of heaven entrusted to it. He afterwards placed beneath this the airy heavens, shining with the lunar body, which throughout their high places abound in troops of spirits who sympathize or rejoice with us as things go well or ill. They are accustomed to carry the prayers of men through the air and to beseech God to have mercy on them, and to bring back intimations of God’s will, either in dreams or by voice or by other signs, through doing which they become wise. The space beyond the moon abounds in evil demons, who are skilled to cheat and deceive and tempt us; often they assume a body made of air and appear to us and many things often follow. They even hold intercourse with women and make them pregnant, generating in an unholy

Rerum furnishes a fairly close parallel for much of it and must have been known to Geoffrey since it seems to have been taught in the Welsh Schools.

manner. 45 So therefore He made the heavens to be inhabited by three orders of spirits that each one might look out for something and renew the world from the renewed seed of things.

The sea too He distinguished by various forms that from itself it might produce the forms of things, generating throughout the ages. Indeed, part of it burns and part freezes and the third part, getting a moderate temperature from the other two, ministers to our needs. That part which burns surrounds a gulf and fierce people, and its divers streams, flowing back, separate this from the orb of the earth, increasing fire from

fire. Thither descend those who transgress the laws and reject God; whither their perverse will leads them they go, eager to destroy what is forbidden to them. There stands the stern eyed judge holding his equal balance and giving to each one his merits and his deserts. The second part, which freezes, rolls about the foreshore sands which it is the first to generate from the near-by vapour when it is mingled with the ray of Venus’ star. This star, the Arabs say, makes shining gems when it passes through Pisces [the fishes] while its waters look back at the

flames. These gems by their virtues benefit the people who wear them, and make many well and keep them so. These too the Maker distinguished by their kinds (as He did all things), that we might discern from their forms and from their colours of what kinds they are and of what manifest virtues. The third form of the sea which circles our orb furnishes us many good things owing to its proximity. For it nourishes fishes and produces salt in abundance, and bears back and forth ships carrying our commerce, by the profits of which the poor man becomes suddenly rich. It makes fertile the neighbouring soil and feeds the birds who, they say, are generated from it along with the fishes and, although unlike, are moved by the laws of nature. The sea is dominated by them more than by the fishes, and they fly lightly up from it through space and seek the lofty regions. But its moisture drives the fishes beneath the waves and keeps them there, and does not permit them to live when they get out into the dry light. These too the Maker distinguished according to their species and to the different ones gave each his nature, whence

45 (779-780) For this same material in the Historia Geoffrey refers us to the work of Apuleius on The God of Socrates but a number of other parallels exist.

through the ages they were to become admirable and healthful to the sick.

For men say that the barbel restrains the heat of passion but makes blind those who eat it often. 46 The thymallus, which has its name from the flower thyme, smells so that it betrays the fish that often eats of it until all the fishes in the river smell like itself. They say the the muraenas, contrary to all laws, are all of the feminine sex, yet they copulate and reproduce and multiply their offspring from a different kind of seed. For often snakes come together along the shore where they are, and they make the sound of pleasing hissing and, calling out the muraenas, join with them according to custom. It is also remarkable that the remora, half a foot long, holds fast the ship to which it adheres at sea just as though it were fast aground, and does not permit the vessel to move until it lets go; because of this power it is to be feared. And that which they call the swordfish because it does injury with its sharp beak, people often fear to approach with a ship when it is swimming, for if it is captured it at once makes a hole in the vessel, cuts it in pieces, and sinks it suddenly in a whirlpool. The serra makes itself feared by ships because of its crest; it fixes to them as it swims underneath, cuts them to pieces and throws the pieces into the waves, wherefore its crest is to be feared like a

sword. And the water dragon, which men say has poison under its wings, is to be feared by those who capture it; whenever it strikes it does harm by pouring out its poison. The torpedo is said to have another kind of destruction, for if any one touches it when it is alive, straightway his arms and his feet grow torpid and so do his other members and they lose their functions just as though they were dead, so harmful is the emanation of its body.

To those and other fishes God gave the sea, and He added to it many realms among the waves, which men inhabit and which are renowned because of the fertility which the earth produces there from its fruitful soil. Of these Britain is said to be the foremost and best, producing in its

46 (827-854) The whole passage on fish follows closely Isidore of Seville’s Etymologiae sive Origines, XII, vi.

fruitfulness every single thing. For it bears crops which throughout the year give the noble gifts of fragrance for the use of man, and it has woods and glades with honey dripping in them, and lofty mountains and broad green fields, fountains and rivers, fishes and cattle and wild beasts, fruit trees, gems, precious metals, and whatever creative nature is in the habit of furnishing. Besides all these it has fountains healthful because of their hot waters which nourish the sick and provide pleasing baths, which quickly send people away cured with their sickness driven out. So Bladud established them when he held the sceptre of the

kingdom, 47 and he gave them the name of his consort Alaron. These are of value to many sick because of the healing of their water, but most of all to women, as often the water has demonstrated. Near to this island lies Thanet which abounds in many things but lacks the death-dealing serpent, and if any of its earth is drunk mixed with wine it takes away poison. 48 Our ocean also divides the Orkneys from us. These are divided into thirty three islands by the sundering flood; twenty lack cultivation and the others are cultivated. Thule receives its name “furthest” from the sun, because of the solstice which the summer sun makes there, turning its rays and shining no further, and taking away the day, so that always throughout the long night the air is full of shadows, and making a bridge congealed by the benumbing cold, which prevents the passage of ships.

The most outstanding island after our own is said to be Ireland with its happy fertility. It is larger and produces no bees, and no birds except rarely, and it does not permit snakes to breed in it. Whence it happens that if earth or a stone is carried away from there and added to any other place it drives away snakes and bees. The island of Gades lies next to Herculean Gades, and there grows there a tree from whose bark a gum drips out of which gems are made, breaking all laws. The Hesperides are said to contain a watchful dragon who, men say, guards the golden apples under the leaves. The Gorgades are inhabited by women with goats’ bodies who are said to surpass hares in the swiftness of their

47 (871) The account of Bladud is to be found in the Historia, II, x. The name of Alaron is not recorded in Wales, but “Alarun” is recorded as a woman’s name in Brittany in 1152, which supports the reading of the manuscript in this passage.

48 (875-909) The account of the islands is from Isidore, XIV, vi.

running. Argyre and Chryse bear, it is said, gold and silver just as Corinth does common stones. Sri Lanka blooms pleasantly because of its fruitful soil, for it produces two crops in a single year; twice it is summer, twice spring, twice men gather grapes and other fruits, and it is also most pleasing because of its shining gems. Tiles produces flowers and fruits in an eternal spring, green throughout the seasons.

The island of apples which men call “The Fortunate Isle” gets its name from the fact that it produces all things of itself; the fields there have no need of the ploughs of the farmers and all cultivation is lacking except what nature provides. Of its own accord it produces grain and grapes, and apple trees grow in its woods from the close-clipped grass. The ground of its own accord produces everything instead of merely grass, and people live there a hundred years or more. There nine sisters rule by a pleasing set of laws those who come to them from our country. 49 She who is first of them is more skilled in the healing art, and excels her sisters in the beauty of her person. Morgen is her name, and she has learned what useful properties all the herbs contain, so that she can cure sick bodies. She also knows an art by which to change her shape, and to cleave the air on new wings like Daedalus; when she wishes she is at

Brest, Chartres, or Pavia, 50 and when she will she slips down from the

air onto your shores. And men say that she has taught mathematics to her sisters, Moronoe, Mazoe, Gliten, Glitonea, Gliton, Tyronoe, Thitis; Thitis best known for her cither. Thither after the battle of Camlan we

49 (908ff) The description of the Fortunate Isles comes largely from classical tradition (much of it is to be found in Isidore), but it seems also to be influenced by Celtic legends of the happy

otherworld. There is a significant passage in Pomponius Mela, De Situ Orbis, III, 6, which reflects ancient Celtic tradition.

“Sena in Britannico mari, Osismicis adversa litoribus, Gallici numinis oraculo insignis est; cuius antistes, perpetua virginitate sanctae, numero novem esse traduntur; Gallicenas vocant, putantque ingeniis singularibus praeditas, maria ac ventos concitare carminibus, seque in quae velint animalia vertere, sanare, quae apud alios insanabilia sunt, scire ventura et praedicare, sed no nisi deditas navigantibus, et in id tantum, ut se consulerent profectis.”

The Gesta Regum Britanniae (IX, 4213-4234) which, although slightly later in date than this poem may represent independent tradition, gives a somewhat similar account. So too, a later Welsh version, which shows French influence but may also contain native elements, says that Uther caused Dioneta, daughter of Gwrleis and Eigyr to be sent to the Isle of Avallach, and of all in her age she was the most skilled in the seven arts.

50 (924) Although these three places are usually rendered Brest, Chartres, and Pavia, the last is sometimes translated as Paris. R.S.Loomis has suggested that Bristi may be the locative of the Latin name for Bristol.

took the wounded Arthur, guided by Barinthus 51 to whom the waters and the stars of heaven were well known. With him steering the ship we arrived there with the prince, and Morgen received is with fitting honour, and in her chamber she placed the king on a golden bed and with er own hand she uncovered his honourable wound and gazed at it for a long time. At length she said that health could be restored to him if he stayed with her for a long time and made use of her healing

art. Rejoicing, therefore, we entrusted the king to her and returning spread our sails to the favouring winds.”

Merlin said in answer, “Dear friend, since that time how much the kingdom has endured from the violated oath, so that what it once was it no longer is! For by an evil fate the nobles are roused up and turned against each other’s vitals, and they upset everything so that the abundance of riches has fled from the country and all goodness has departed, and the desolated citizens leave their walls empty. Upon them shall come the Saxon people, fierce in war, who shall again cruelly overthrow us and our cities, and shall violate God’s law and his

temples. For He shall certainly permit this destruction to come upon us because of our crimes that He may correct the foolish.” Merlin had scarcely finished when Taliesin exclaimed, “Then the people should send some one to tell the chief to come back in a swift ship if has recovered his strength, that he may drive off the enemy with his accustomed vigour and re-establish the citizens in their former peace.”

“No,” said Merlin, “not thus shall this people depart when once they have fixed their claws on our shores. For at first they shall enslave our kingdom and our people and our cities, and shall dominate them with

their forces for many years. Nevertheless three 52 from among our

people shall resist with much courage and shall kill many, and in the end shall overcome them. But they shall not continue thus, for it is the will of the highest Judge that the Britons shall through weakness lose their

51 (930) Geoffrey may have got his Barinthus from an early tradition in which he was god of the sea and the otherworld rather than from the Navigatio Brendani as is sometimes suggested.

52 (962) On the basis of Book XII of the Historia, the three are probably Cadvan, Cadwallo, and Cadwallader.

noble kingdom for a long time, until Conan 53 shall come in his chariot from Brittany, and Cadwalader the venerated leader of the Welsh, who shall join together Scots and Cumbrians, Cornishmen and men of Brittany in a firm league, and shall return to their people their lost crown, expelling the enemy and renewing the times of Brutus, and shall deal with the cities in accordance with their consecrated laws. And the kings shall begin again to conquer remote peoples and to subjugate their own realms to themselves in mighty conflict.” “No one shall then be alive of those who are now living,” said Taliesin, “nor do I think that any one has seen so many savage battles between fellow citizens as you have.” “That is so,” said Merlin, “for I have lived a long time, seeing many of them, both of our own people among themselves and of the barbarians who disturb everything.

“And I remember the crime when Constans was betrayed and the small brothers Uther and Ambrosius fled across the water. 54 At once wars began in the kingdom which now lacked a leader, for Vortigern of

Gwent, 55 the consul, was leading his troops against all the nations so

that he might have the leadership of them, and was inflicting a wretched death upon the harmless peasants. At length with sudden violence he seized the crown after putting to death many of the nobles and he subdued the whole kingdom to himself. But those who were allied to the brothers by blood relationship, offended at this, began to set fire to all the cities of the ill-fated prince and to perturb his kingdom with savage soldiery, and they would not permit him to possess it in

peace. Disquieted therefore since he could not withstand the rebellious people, he prepared to invite to the war men from far away with whose aid he might be able to meet his enemies. Soon there came from divers

53 (967-968) For this prophecy among the Welsh before Geoffrey, see Introduction.

54 (982ff) More or less a summary of the Historia, VI, v-xix; VIII, i – XI, v.

55 (986) In spite of the testimony of Bede that the Gewissi were a people of the West Saxons, J.J.Parry believes that Geoffrey was referring to a British people, and that his contemporaries would have understood this to be so. Alanus, who was almost a contemporary, explains that the Gewissi were “a people of the Britons”, and the early Welsh translation in the Red Book says that Vortigern was “earl of Gwent and Ergig and Euas” (that is, Ercing and Ewias, the districts on the two sides of the Wye); for the “Gewissi” of Historia, XII, xiv, this same text has “euas and Ergig,” while “Octavius, Duke of the Wissei” of V, viii becomes “Eudaf, Earl of Ergig and Euas.” Even the Latin text makes Vortigern take refuge “in natione hergign super fluvium Guaie.” The Welsh name for the people of Gwent was “Gwennwys” or “Gwenhwyson”, and there is a dialect of Welsh in that district known as “Gwenhwyseg.” From some form of this word came the name “Gewissi”.

parts of the world warlike bands whom he received with honour. The Saxon people, in fact, arriving in their curved keels had come to serve him with their helmeted soldiery. They were led by two courageous brothers, Horsus and Hengist, who afterwards with wicked treachery harmed the people and the cities. For after this, by serving the king with industry, they won him over to themselves and seeing the people moved by a quarrel that touched them closely they were able to subjugate the king; then turning their ferocious arms upon the people they broke faith and killed the princes by a premeditated fraud while they were sitting with them after calling them together to make peace and a treaty with them, and the prince they drove over the top of the snowy

mountain. These are the things I had begun to prophesy to him would happen to the kingdom. Next roaming abroad they set fire to the houses of the nation, and strove to make everything subject to themselves. But when Vortimer saw how great was the peril of his country, and saw his father expelled from the hall of Brutus, he took the crown, with the assent of the people, and attacked the savage tribes that were crushing them, and by many battles forced these to return to Thanet where the fleet was that had brought them. But in their flight fell the warrior Horsus and many others, slain by our men. The king followed them and, taking his stand before Thanet besieged it by land and sea, but without success, for the enemy suddenly got possession of their fleet and with violence broke out and, led over the sea, they regained their own country in haste. Therefore, since he had conquered the enemy in victorious war, Vortimer became a ruler to be respected in the world, and he treated his kingdom with just restraint. But Hengist’s sister, Rowena, 56 seeing with indignation these successes, and protected by deceit, mixed poison, becoming on her brother’s account a malignant step-mother, and she gave it to Vortimer to drink, and killed him by the draught. At once she sent across the water to her brother to tell him to come back with so many and such great multitudes that he would be able to conquer the warlike natives. This therefore he did, for he came with such force against our army that he took booty from everybody until he was loaded with it, and he thoroughly destroyed by fire the houses throughout the country.

56 (1033) The Welsh form of this name is Ronwen (Red Book passim).

“While these things were happening Uther and Ambrosius were in Breton territory with King Biducus and they had already girded on their swords and were proved fit for war, and had associated with themselves troops from all directions so that they might seek their native land and put to flight the people who were busy wasting their patrimony. So they gave their boats to the wind and the sea, and landed for the protection of their subjects; they drove Vortigern through the regions of Wales and shut him up in his tower and burned both him and it. Then they turned their swords upon the Angles and many times when they met them they defeated them, and on the other hand they were often defeated by

them. At length in a hand to hand conflict our men with great effort attacked the enemy and defeated them decisively, and killed Hengist, and by the will of Christ triumphed.

“After these things had been done, the kingdom and its crown were with the approval of clergy and laity given to Ambrosius, and he ruled justly in all things, but after the space of four [sixteen] years had elapsed he was betrayed by his doctor, and died from drinking poison. His younger brother Uther succeeded him, and at first was unable to maintain his kingdom in peace, for the perfidious people, accustomed by now to return, came and laid waste everything with their usual phalanx. Uther fought them in savage battles and drove them conquered across the water with returning oars. Soon he put aside strife and re-established peace and begat a son who afterwards was so eminent that he was second to none in uprightness. Arthur was his name and he held the kingdom for many years after the death of his father Uther, and this he did with great grief and labour, and with the slaughter of many men in many wars. For while the aforesaid chief lay ill, from Anglia came a faithless people who with sword subdued all the country and the regions across the Humber. Arthur was a boy and on account of his youth he was not able to defeat such a force. Therefore after seeking the advice of clergy and laity he sent to Hoel, king of Brittany, and asked him to come to his aid with a swift fleet, for they were united by ties of blood and friendship, so that each was bound to relieve the distresses of the

other. Hoel therefore quickly collected for the war fierce men from every side and came to us with many thousands, and joining with Arthur he attacked the enemy often, and drove them back and made terrible

slaughter. With his help Arthur was secure and strong among all the troops when he attacked the enemy whom at length he conquered and forced to return to their own country, and he quieted his own kingdom by the moderation of his laws.

“Soon after this struggle he changed the scene of the war, and subdued the Scots and Irish and all these warlike countries by means of the forces he had brought. He also subjugated the Norwegians far away across the broad seas, and the Danes whom he had visited with his hated fleet. He conquered the people of the Gauls after killing Frollo to whom the Roman power had given the care of that country; the Romans, too, who were seeking to make war on his country, he fought against and

conquered, and killed the Procurator Hiberius Lucius 57 who was then a

colleague of Legnis the general, and who by the command of the Senate had come to bring the territories of the Gauls under their

power. Meanwhile the faithless and foolish custodian Modred had commenced to subdue our kingdom to himself, and was making unlawful love to the king’s wife. For the king, desiring, as men say, to go across the water to attack the enemy, had entrusted the queen and the kingdom to him. But when the report of such a great evil came to his ears, he put aside his interest in the wars and, returning home, landed with many thousand men and fought with his nephew and drove him flying across the water. There the traitor, after collecting Saxons from all sides, began to battle with his lord, but he fell, betrayed by the unholy people confiding in whom he had undertaken such big things. How great was the slaughter of men and the grief of women whose sons fell in that battle! After it the king, mortally wounded, left his kingdom and, sailing across the water with you as you have related, came to the court of the maidens. Each of the two sons of Modred, desiring to conquer the kingdom for himself, began to wage war and each in turn slew those who were near of kin to him. Then Duke Constantine, nephew of the king, rose up fiercely against them and ravaged the people and the cities, and after having killed both of them by a cruel death ruled over the people and assumed the crown. But he did not continue in peace since Conan his relative waged dire war on him and ravaged everything and killed the

57 (1104) In the Historia this is “Lucio Tiberio”, although some of the manuscripts also read “Lucio Hybero”. The weight of evidence is in favour of “Hybero”.

king and seized for himself those lands which he now governs weakly and without a plan.”

While he was speaking thus the servants hurried in and announced to him that a new fountain had broken out at the foot of the mountains and was pouring out pure waters which were running through all the hollow valley and swirling through the fields as they slipped along. Both therefore quickly rose to see the new fountain, and having seen it Merlin sat down again on the grass and praised the spot and the flowing waters, and marvelled that they had come out of the ground in such a

fashion. Soon afterward, becoming thirsty, he leaned down to the stream and drank freely and bathed his temples in its waves, so that the water passed through the passages of bowels and stomach, settling the vapours within him, and at once he regained his reason and knew himself, and all his madness departed and the sense which had long remained torpid in him revived, and he remained what he had once been

– sane and intact with his reason restored. 58 Therefore, praising God, he

turned his face toward the stars and uttered devout words of praise. “O King, through whom the machine of the starry heavens exists, through whom the sea and the land with its pleasing grass give forth and nourish their offspring and with their profuse fertility give frequent aid to mankind, through whom sense has returned and the error of my mind has vanished! I was carried away from myself and like a spirit I knew the acts of past peoples and predicted the future. Then since I knew the secrets of things and the flight of birds and the wandering motions of the stars and the gliding of the fishes, all this vexed me and denied a natural rest to my human mind by a severe law. Now I have come to myself and I seem to be moved with a vigour such as was wont to animate my

limbs. Therefore, highest Father, ought I to be obedient to Thee, that I may show forth Thy most worthy praise from a worthy heart, always joyfully making joyful offerings. For twice Thy generous hand has benefited me alone, in giving me the gift of this new fountain out of the green grass. For now I have the water which hitherto I lacked, and by drinking of it my brains have been made whole. But whence comes this virtue, O dear companion, that this new fountain breaks out thus, and

58 (1136ff) Such healing fountains springing up suddenly are quite common in Celtic tales.

makes me myself again who up to now was as though insane and beside myself?”

Taliesin answered, “The opulent Regulator of things divided the rivers according to their kinds, and added moreover to each a power of its own,

that they might often prove of benefit to the sick. 59 For there are

fountains and rivers and lakes throughout the world which by their power cure many, and often do so. At Rome, for instance, flows swift Albula, with its health-giving stream which men say cures wounds with its sure healing. There is another fountain, called Cicero’s, which flows in Italy, which cures the eyes of all injuries. The Ethiopians also are said to have a pool which makes a face on which it is poured shine just as though from oil. Africa has a fountain, commonly called Zama, a drink from it produces melodious voices by its sudden power. Lake Clitorius in Italy gives a distaste for wine; those who drink from the fountain of Chios are said to become dull. The land of Boeotia is said to have two fountains; the one makes the drinker forgetful, the other makes them remember. The same country contains a lake so harmful with its dire plague that it generates madness and the heat of too much passion. The fountain of Cyzicus drives away lust and the love of Venus. In the region of Campania there flow, it is said, rivers which when drunk of make the barren fruitful, and the same ones are said to take away madness from men. The land of the Ethiopians contains a fountain with a red stream; whoever drinks of this will come back demented. The fountain of Leinus never permits miscarriages. There are two fountains in Sicily, one of which makes girls sterile and the other makes them fruitful by its kindly law. There are two rivers in Thessaly of the greatest power; a sheep drinking of one turns black and is made white by the other, and any one drinking of both spends its life with a variegated fleece. There is a lake called Clitumnus in the Umbrian land which is said at times to produce large oxen, and in the Reatine Swamp the hooves of horses become hard as soon as they cross its sands. In the Asphalt Lake of Judaea bodies can never sink while life animates them, but on the other hand the land of India has a pool called Sida in which nothing floats but sinks at once to the bottom. And there is a Lake Aloe in which nothing sinks but all

59 (1179-1242) These lines on fountains follow closely after Isidore of Seville, XIII, xiii.

things float even if they are pieces of lead. The fountain of Marsida also compels stones to float. The River Styx flows from a rock and kills those who drink of it; the land of Arcadia bears testimony to this form of destruction. The fountain of Idumea, changing four times throughout the days, is said to vary its colour by a strange rule; for it becomes muddy, then green, then the order changes and it turns red and then becomes clear with a beautiful stream. It is said to retain each of these colours for three months as the years roll around. There is also a Lake Trogdytus whose waves flow out, three times in the day bitter, and three times sweet with a pleasant taste. From a fountain of Epirus torches are said to be lighted, and if extinguished to resume their light again. The fountain of the Garamantes is said to be so cold in the day time, and on the other hand so hot all night, that it forbids approach on account of its cold or its heat. There are also hot waters that threaten many because of the heat which they get when they flow through alum or sulphur which have a fiery power, pleasant for healing. God endowed the rivers with these powers and others so that they might be the means of quick healing for the sick, and so that they might make manifest with what power the Creator stands eminent among things while He works thus in them. I think that these waters are healthful in the highest degree and I think that they could afford a quick cure through the water that has thus broken out. They have up to now been flowing about through the dark hollows under the earth like many others that are said to trickle underground. Perhaps their breaking out is due to an obstacle getting in their way, or to the slipping of a stone or a mass of earth. I think that, in making their way back again, they have gradually penetrated the ground and have given us this fountain. You see many such flow along and return again underground and regain their caverns.”

While they were doing these things a rumour ran all about that a new fountain had broken out in the woods of Calidon, and that drinking from it had cured a man who had for a long time been suffering from madness and had lived in these same woods after the manner of the wild

beasts. Soon therefore the princes and the chieftains came to see it and to rejoice with the prophet who had been cured by the water. After they had informed him in detail of the status of his country and had asked him to resume his sceptre, and to deal with his people with his

accustomed moderation, he said, “Young men, my time of life, drawing on toward old age, and so possessing my limbs that with my weakened vigour I can scarce pass through the fields, does not ask this of me. I have already lived long enough, rejoicing in happy days while an abundance of great riches smiled profusely upon me. In that wood there stands an oak in its hoary strength which old age, that consumes everything, has so wasted away that it lacks sap and is decaying inwardly. 60 I saw this when it first began to grow and I even saw the fall of the acorn from which it came, and a woodpecker standing over it and watching the branch. Here I have seen it grow of its won accord, watching it all, and, fearing for it in these fields, I marked the spot with my retentive mind. So you see I have lived a long time and now the weight of age holds me back and I refuse to reign again. When I remain under the green leaves the riches of Calidon delight me more than the gems that India produces, or the gold that Tagus is aid to have on its shore, more than the crops of Sicily or the grapes of pleasant Methis, more than lofty turrets or cities girded with high walls or robes fragrant with Tyrian perfumes. Nothing pleases me enough to tear me away from my Calidon which in my opinion is always pleasant. Here shall I remain while I live, content with apples and grasses, and I shall purify my body with pious fastings that I may be worthy to partake of the life everlasting.”

While he was speaking thus, the chiefs caught sight of long lines of cranes in the air, circling through space in a curved line in the shape of certain letters; they could be seen in marshalled squadron in the limpid air. Marvelling at these they asked Merlin to tell why it was that they were flying in such manner. Merlin presently said to them, “The Creator of the world gave to the birds as to many other things their proper nature, as I have learned by living in the woods for many days.

60 The closest Welsh parallel to this is to be found in the Iolo Manuscripts (Second edition, pp 189 and 601)

“The Stag answered him thus: ‘Thou seest, my friend and companion, this oak by which I lie, it is at present no more than an old withered stump, without leaves or branches, but I remember seeing it an acorn in the top of the chief tree of this forest, and it grew into an oak, and an oak is three hundred years in growing, and after that three hundred years in its strength and prime, and after that three hundred years decaying before death, and after death three hundred years returning into earth, and upwards of sixty years of the last hundred of this oak are past, and the Owl has been old since I first remember her.”

The Iolo Manuscript is late, but early forms of this tale are known, see especially Culhwch and Olwen.

“It is therefore the nature of the cranes, 61 as they go through the air, if

many are present, that we often see them in their flight form a figure in one way or another. One, by calling, warns them to keep the formation as they fly, lest it break up and depart from the usual figure; when he becomes hoarse another takes his place. They post sentries at night and the watchman holds a pebble in his claws when he wishes to drive away sleep, and when they see any one they start up with a sudden

clamour. The feathers of all of them grow black as they grow older. But the eagles, who get their name from the sharpness of their sight, are said to be of such keen vision, beyond all others, that they are able to gaze at the sun without flinching. They hang up their young in its rays wishing to know by his avoidance of them whether their exists among them one of inferior breeding. They remain on their wings over waters as high as the top of a mountain and they spy their prey in the lowest depths; straightway they descend rapidly through the void and seize the fish swimming as their inheritance demands. The vulture, thinking little of the commerce of the sexes, often conceives and bears (strange to say) without any seed of her spouse. Flying about on high in the manner of the eagle she scents with distended nostrils a dead body far across the water. This she has no horror of approaching in her flight, although she is slow, so that she may satiate herself with the prey she wishes for. This same bird also lives vigorous for a hundred years. The stork with its croaking voice is a messenger of spring; it is said to nourish its young so carefully that it takes out its own feathers and denudes its own

breast. When winter comes men say it avoids the storms and approaches the shores of Asia, led by a crow. Its young feed it as it grows old because it fed them when it owed them this care. The swan, a bird most pleasing to sailors, excels all others in the sweetness of its music when it

dies. Men say that in the country of the Hyperboreans it comes up close by being attracted by the sound of a zither played loudly along the shore. The ostrich deserts her eggs which she places under the dust that they may be taken care of there when she herself neglects them. Thence the birds come into the world hatched by the sun instead of their mother. The heron, when it fears the rain and the tempests, flies to the clouds to avoid such a peril; hence sailors say that it portends sudden

61 (1301-1386) The description of the birds is from Isidore, XII, vii.

rainstorms when they see it high up in the air. The phoenix by divine dispensation always lives as an unique bird, and in the land of the Arabs rises with a renewed body. When it grows old it goes to a place very warm from the heat of the sun and gets together a great heap of spices and builds itself a pyre, which it lights with rapid movements of its wings, and it settles down upon this and is completely consumed. The ashes of its body produce a bird, and in this way the phoenix is again renewed throughout the ages. The cinnamolgus when it wishes to build a nest brings cinnamon, and builds of that because of its undoubted strength. From this men are in the habit of driving it away with arrows, after which they remove the heap and sell it. The halcyon is a bird that frequents sea pools and builds its nest in time of winter; when it broods the seas are calm for seven days and the winds cease and the tempests, relaxed, hold off, furnishing placid quiet for the bird. The parrot is thought to utter human speech as its own call when no one is looking directly at it, and it mixes “ave” and “chaire” with jocose words. The pelican is a bird accustomed to kill its young and to lament for three days confused with grief. Then it tears its own body with its beak and, cutting the veins, lets out streams of blood with which it sprinkles the birds and brings them back to life. The Diomedae when they resound with tearful noise and make lament are said to portend the sudden death of kings or a great peril to the realm. And when they see anyone they know at once what he is, whether barbarian or Greek; for they approach a Greek with beatings of the wings and with caresses and they make a joyful noise but they fly about the others on hostile wings and approach them with a horrible sound as though they were enemies. The Memnonides are said to go on a long flight every fifth year to the tomb of Memnon, and to lament the prince killed in the Trojan war. The shining Hercynia has a marvellous feather which gleams on a dark night like a lighted lamp, and shows the way if it is carried in front of a traveller. When the woodpecker makes a nest he pulls out of the tree nails and wedges that no one else can get out and the whole neighbourhood resounds with his blows.”

After he had finished speaking a certain madman came to them, either by accident or led there by fate; 62 he filled the grove and the air with a terrific clamour and like a wild boar he foamed at the mouth and threatened to attack them. They quickly captured him and made him sit down by them that his remarks might move them to laughter and

jokes. When the prophet looked at him more attentively he recollected who he was and groaned from the bottom of his heart, saying, “This is not the way he used to look when we were in the bloom of our youth, for at that time he was a fair, strong knight and one distinguished by his nobility and his royal race. Him and many others I had with me in the days of my wealth, and I was thought fortunate in having so many good companions, and I was. It happened one time while we were hunting in

the lofty mountains of Arwystli 63 that we came to an oak which rose in

the air with its broad branches. A fountain flowed there, surrounded on all sides by green grass, whose waters were suitable for human consumption; we were all thirsty and we sat down by it and drank greedily of its pure waters. Then we saw some fragrant apples lying on the tender grass of the familiar bank of the fountain. The man who saw them first quickly gathered them up and gave them to me, laughing at the unexpected gift. I distributed to my companions the apples he had given to me, and I went without any because the pile was not big enough. The others to whom the apples had been given laughed and called me generous, and eagerly attacked and devoured them and complained because there were so few of them. Without any delay a miserable sadness seized this man and all the others; they quickly lost their reason and like dogs bit and tore each other, and foamed at the mouth and rolled on the ground in a demented state. Finally, they went away like wolves filling the vacant air with howlings. These apples I thought were intended for me and not for them, and later I found out that they were. At that time there was in that district a woman who had formerly been infatuated with me, and had satisfied her love for me during many years. After I had spurned her and had refused to cohabit with her she was suddenly seized with an evil desire to do me harm, and when with all her plotting she could not find any means of approach, she placed the gifts smeared with poison by the fountain to which I was going to return, planning by this device to injure me if I should chance to

62 (1386) This incident may be based on one in the Irish Voyage of Maelduin.

63 (1402) Argustli is the modern Arwystli, a district in the central part of Wales.

find the apples on the grass and eat them. But my good fortune kept me from them, as I have just said. I pray you, make this man drink of the healthful waters of this new fountain so that, if by chance he get back his health, he may know himself and may, while his life lasts, labour with me in these glades in service to God.” This, therefore, the leaders did, and the man who had come there raging drank the water, recovered, and, cured at once recognized his friends.

Then Merlin said, “You must now go on in the service of God who restored you as you now see yourself, you who for so many years lived in the desert like a wild beast, going about without a sense of shame. Now that you have recovered your reason, do not shun the bushes or the green glades which you inhabited while you were mad, but stay with me that you may strive to make up in service to God for the days that the force of madness took from you. From now on all things shall be in common between you and me in this service so long as either lives.” At this Maeldinus (for that was the man’s name) said, “Reverend father, I do not refuse to do this, for I shall joyfully stay in the woods with you, and shall worship God with my whole mind, while that spirit, for which I shall render thanks to your ministry, governs my trembling limbs.” “And I shall make a third with you, and shall despise the things of the world,” said Taliesin. “I have spent enough time living in vain, and now is the time to restore me to myself under your leadership. But you, lords, go away and defend your cities; it is not fitting that you should disturb beyond measure our quiet with your talk. You have applauded my friend enough.”

The chiefs went away, and the three remained, with Ganieda, the prophet’s sister, making a fourth, she who at length had assumed and was leading a seemly life after the death of the king who so recently had ruled so many people by the laws he administered. Now with her brother there was nothing more pleasant to her than the woods. She too was at times elevated by the spirit so that she often prophesied to her friends concerning the future of the kingdom. Thus on a certain day when she stood in her brother’s hall and saw the windows of the house shining with the sun she uttered these doubtful words from her doubtful breast.

“I see the city of Oxford filled with helmed men, 64 and the holy men and the holy bishops bound in fetters by the advice of the Council, and men shall admire the shepherd’s tower reared on high, and he shall be forced to open it to no purpose and to his own injury. I see Lincoln 65 walled in by savage soldiery and two men shut up in it, one of whom escapes to return with a savage tribe and their chief to the walls to conquer the cruel soldiers after capturing their leader. O what a shame it is that the stars should capture the sun, under whom they sink down, compelled neither by force nor by war! I see two moons in the air near

Winchester 66 and two lions acting with too great ferocity, and one man

looking at two and another at the same number, and preparing for battle and standing opposed. The others rise up and attack the fourth fiercely and savagely but not one of them prevails, for he stands firm and moves his shield and fights back with his weapons and as victor straightway defeats his triple enemy. Two of them he drives across the frozen regions of the north while he gives to the third the mercy that he asks, so that the stars flee through all portions of the fields. The Boar of Brittany, protected by an aged oak, takes away the moon, brandishing swords behind her back. I see two stars engaging in combat with wild beasts beneath the hill of Urien where the people of Gwent and those of Deira

64 (1474) The Welsh still use the name Rhydychen or Oxen’s Ford for the city of Oxford. This incident may relate either to the events of 24 June 1139, or to those of Easter Week, 1215. In 1139, the Bishops Roger of Salisbury and Alexander of Lincoln were seized by Stephen at the instigation of the Court, whilst Bishop Nigel of Ely fled to Roger’s castle at Devizes. Thereafter Roger was dragged to Devizes and forced to open and surrender the castle. In 1215, King John went to Oxford to confer with his rebellious barons, at which time Oxford must have been filled to bursting with helms and tiaras. The line “Pastor … reserare sui cogetur fictile dampni,” may well refer to the signing of the Magna Carta later in the year.

65 (1479) Again the possibility of two events being referred to is apparent. The name Kaerloidcoit refers regularly to Lichfield, and an error of Geoffrey in the Historia has caused it to be attached to Lincoln. It is undoubtedly the “caerlwytcoet” or “city of the gray wood” of the Red Booktranslation, which there seems to be used for Lincoln. It could, therefore, Have been the Battle of Lincoln of 2 February 1141 in which Stephen blockaded William de Roumare and Randolf of Chester in Lincoln castle, Chester managing to escape and return with the Welsh under Robert of Gloucester and capture Stephen – the ‘sidera’ capturing the ‘sun’. Alternatively it could refer to the capture of Lincoln in April of 1217.

66 (1485) Caerwent is the regular Welsh name for the City of Winchester. Yet again there are two possible events referred to here. On 14 September 1141, Queen Matilda and Empress Matilda (the two moons?) brought their rival forces to Winchester. Winchester also hosted the events of 20 July 1213 when King John and Stephen Langton met.

met in the reign of the great Coel. 67    O with what sweat the men drip and with what blood the ground while wounds are being given to the foreigners! One star collides with the other and falls into the shadow, hiding its light from the renewed light. Alas what dire famine shall come, so that the north shall inflame her vitals and empty them of the strength of her people. It begins with the Welsh and goes through the chief parts of the kingdom, and forces the wretched people to cross the water. The calves accustomed to live on the milk of the Scottish cows that are dying from the pestilence shall flee. Normans depart and cease to bear weapons through our native realm with your cruel

soldiery. There is nothing left with which to feed your greed for you have consumed everything that creative nature has produced in her happy fertility. Christ, aid thy people! restrain the lions and give to the country quiet peace and the cessation of wars.” She did not stop with this and her companions wondered at her, and her brother, who soon came to her, spoke approvingly with friendly words in this manner, “Sister, does the spirit wish you to foretell future things, since he has closed up my mouth and my book? Therefore this task is given to you; rejoice in it, and under my favour devoted to him speak everything.”

I have brought this song to an end. Therefore, ye Britons, give a wreath to Geoffrey of Monmouth. He is indeed yours for once he sang of your battles and those of your chiefs, and he wrote a book called “The Deeds of the Britons” which are celebrated throughout the world.

67 (1498) The reference here is probably to the battle of Coleshill in Flint fought in 1150, in which Madoc ab Maredudd and Randolf, Earl of Chester, were defeated with great slaughter by Owen Gwynedd, and were driven back out of Wales. The “great Coel” is Coel Godebog.

VITA MERLINI: LATIN TEXT

Fatidici uatis rabiem- musam que iocosam: Merlini cantare paro- to corrige carmen

Gloria pontificum calamos moderando roberte Scimus enim quia te perfudit nectare sacro: Philosophia suo fecit que per omnia doctum Vt documenta dares- dux et preceptor in orbe Ergo meis ceptis faueas- uatem que tueri Auspicio meliore uelis- quam fecerit alter

Cui modo succedis merito promotus honori Sic etenim mores- sic vita probata genus que Vtilitas que loci- clerus populus que petebant Unde modo felix lincolnia fertur ad astra Ergo te cuperem complecti carmine digno Set non sufficio- licet orpheus- et camerinus Et macer et marius magnique rabirius oris

Ore meo canerent- musis comitantibus omnes Ad uos consuete mecum cantare camene

Propositum cantemus opus- cytharam que sonate

Ergo peragratis sub multis regibus annis Clarus habebatur merlinus in orbe britannus Rex erat et uates- demetarum que superbis: Jura dabat populis- ducibusque futura canebat Contigit interea plures certamen habere

Inter se regni proceres bello que feroci Jnsontes populos deuastauisse per urbes Dux uenedotorum peredurus bella gerebat Contra guennoloum scocie qui regna regebat Jamque dies aderat bello prefixa- duces que Astabant campo decertabant que caterue Amborum pariter miseranda cede ruentes Uenerat ad bellum merlinus cum pereduro

Rex quoque cambrorum rodarcus- seuus uterque Cedunt obstantes inuisis ensibus hostes

Tresque ducis fratres fratrem per bella secuti Usque rebellantes cedunt perimunt que phalanges Jnde per infestas cum tali munere turmas

Acriter irruerant subito cecidere perempti Hoc uiso merline doles- tristes que per agmen Commisces planctus tali quoque uoce remugis Ergo ne sic potuit sors importuna nocere

Vt michi surriperet tantos tales que sodales Quos modo tot reges- tot regna remota timebant

O dubios hominum casus mortem que propinquam: Que penes est illos semper- stimulo que latenti: Percutit- et miseram pellit de corpore vitam

O iuuenile decus qui nunc astabit in armis

Nunc michi pone latus- metumque repellet euntes Jn mea dampna duces- incumbentesque cateruas Audaces iuuenes uobis audacia vestra:

Eripuit dulces annos- dulcem que iuuentam Qui modo per cuneos discurrebatis in armis Obstantes que uiros prosternebatis vbique Nunc pulsatis humum rubeo que cruore rubetis Sic inter turmas lacrimis plangebat abortis Deflebat que uiros- nec cessant prelia dira

Concurrunt acies- sternuntur ab hostibus hostes Sanguis ubique fluit- plurimi moriuntur utrinque At tandem britones reuocatis undique turmis Conueniunt pariter- pariter que per arma ruentes Jnvadunt scotos proternunt uulnera dantes

Nec requieuerunt donec sua terga dederunt Hostiles turme per deuia diffugientes Euocat e bello socios Merlinus et illis: Precipit in uaria fratres sepelire capella Deplangitque uiros nec cessat fundere fletus Pulueribus crines sparsit- uestes que rescidit

Et prostratus humi- nunc hac- illac que uolutat Solatur peredurus eum- proceres que duces que Nec uult solari nec uerba precantia ferre

Jam tribus emensis defleuerat ille diebus Respuerat que cibos- tantus dolor usserat illum

Jnde nouas furias- cum tot tantis que querelis Aera complesset- cepit furtim que recedit

Et fugit ad siluas- nec uult fugiendo uideri Jngreditur que nemus gaudet que latere sub ornis Miratur que feras pascentes gramina saltus

Nunc has insequitur- nunc cursu preterit illas Utitur herbarum radicibus utitur herbis Vtitur arboreo fructu- moris que rubeti

Fit siluester homo- quasi siluis deditus esset Jnde per estatem totam- nulli que repertus Oblitusque sui- cognatorum que suorum Delituit siluis- obductus more ferino

At cum uenit yems herbasque tulisset et omnes: Arboreos fructus- nec quo frueretur haberet: Diffudit tales miseranda uoce querelas

Celi christe deus quid agam- qua parte morari Terrarum potero- cum nil quo uescar adesse: Inspicio- nec gramen humi- nec in arbore glandes Tres quater et iuges septene poma ferentes

Hic steterant mali- nunc non stant ergo quis illas Quis michi surripuit- quo deuenere repente: Nunc illas uideo- nec non sic fata repugnant

Sic quoque concordant cum dant prohibent que uidere Deficiunt nunc poma michi- nunc cetera queque

Stat sine fronde nemus- sine fructu plector utroque Cum neque fronde tegi ualeo- neque fructibus uti: Singula bruma tulit- pluuiisque cadentibus auster Jnuenio si forte napes tellure sub ima

Concurrunt auideque sues- aprique voraces Eripiunt que napes michi quas de cespite vello

Tu lupe care comes nemorum qui deuia mecum Et saltus peragrare soles: vix preteris arua

Et te dura fames et me languere coegit Tu prior has siluas coluisti- te prior etas

Protulit in canos- nec habes- nec scis quid in ore: Proicias- quod miror ego- cum saltus habundet Tot capreis- aliisque feris- quas prendere posses

Forsitan ipsa tibi tua detestanda senectus Eripuit neruos cursum que negauit habendum Quod solum superest comples ululatibus auras At resupinus humi consumptos deicis arctus Hec inter fructices corileta que densa canebat Cum sonus ad quemdam peruenit pretereuntem Qui direxit iter quo sermo loquentis in auras

Exierat- reperit que locum- reperit que loquentem Quo uiso: merlinus abit- sequitur que viator

Nec retinere uirum potuit sic diffugientem Jnde uiator iter repetit quo ceperat ire Propositumque tenet casu commotus euntis Ecce uiatori uenit obuius alter ab aula: Rodarchi regis cumbrorum qui Ganiedam: Duxerat uxorem- formosa coniuge felix Merlini soror ista fuit- casum que dolebat- Fratris- et ad silvas- et ad arua remota clientes

Miserat- ut fratrem reuocarent- ex quibus unus Obuius huic ibat- set et hic sibi protinus ergo: Conuenere simul commiscent mutua uerba

At qui missus erat merlinum querere- querit Si uidisset eum siluis aut saltibus alter:

Ille uirum talem se conspexisse fatetur Jnter dumosos saltus nemoris calidonis

Dumque loqui uellet secum- secumque sedere Diffugisse uirum celeri per robora cursu

Hec ait alter abit- siluas que subintrat et imas: Scrutatur ualles- montes quoque preterit altos Querit ubique uirum- gradiens per opaca locorum

Fons erat in summo cuiusdam uertice montis Vndique precinctus corulis densaque frutectis Illic merlinus consederat- inde per omnes: Spectabat siluas cursus que iocos que ferarum Nuntius hunc scandit tacito que per ardua gressu Jndecit querendo uirum- tum denique fontem Merlinumque uidet super herbas pone sedentem Dicentem que suas tali sermone querelas.

O qui cuncta regis. quid est cur contigit- ut non: Tempora sint eadem numeris distincta quaternis Nunc uer iure suo flores frondes que ministrat Dat fruges estas- autumpnus micia poma Consequitur glacialis yemps- et cetera queque Deuorat et uastat- pluuias que niues que reportat Singula queque suis arcet Leditque procellis

Nec permittit humum uarios producere flores Aut quercus glandes- aut malos punica mala O- utinam non esset hiems aut cana pruina

Uer foret- aut estas. cuculus que canendo rediret Et philomena pio que tristia pectora cantu Mitigat- et turtur conseruans federa casta Frondibus inque nouis concordi uoce uolucres Cantarent alie que me modulando fouerent Dum noua flore nouo tellus spiraret odorem Gramine sub uiridi leui quoque murmure fontes Diffluerent iuxta que daret sub fronde columba Sompniferos gemitus irritaretque soporem

Nuntius audierat uatem rupit que querelas

Cum modulis cithare quam secum gesserat ultro Vt sic deciperet demulceret que furentem

Ergo monens querulas digitis et in ordine cordas Talia pone latens dimissa uoce canebat

O diros gemitus Lugubris Guendoloene

O miseras lacrimas lacrimantis guendoloene Me mieret misere morientis guendoloene Non erat in waliis mulier formosior illa Vincebat candore deas- folium que Ligustri Uernantes que rosas et olentia lilia prati Gloria uernalis sola radiebat in illa Sidereum que decus geminis gestabat ocellis Jnsignes que comas auri fulgore nitentes Hoc totum periit- periit decor omnis in illa Et color et facies niuee quoque gloria carnis Non est quod fuerat- multis meroribus acta Nescit enim quo dux abiit- uita ne fruatur

An sit defunctus languet miserabilis inde Tota que deperiit longo liquedacta dolore Collacrimatur ei paribus ganieda querelis Amissum que dolet sine consolamine fratrem

Hec fratrem flet et illa uirum- communiter ambe Fletibus incumbunt et tristia tempora ducunt Non cibus ullus eis- nec sompnus- nocte uagantes Sub uirgulta fouet tantus dolor arcet utramque Non secus indoluit sidonia- dido- solutis Classibus enee tunc cum properaret abire

Cum non demophon per tempora pacta rediret Taliter ingemuit fleuit que miserrima phillis Briseis absentem sic deplorauit achillem

Sic soror et coniux collamentantur et ardent Funditus internis cruciatibus usque dolendo Jn grauibus querulis dicebat talia cantans Nuntius et modulo uatis demulserat aures Micior ut fleret congauderet que canenti Ocius assurgit uates- iuuenem que iocosis Affatur uerbis- iterum que mouere precatur Cum digitis cordas elegosque sonare priores Admouet ille lire digitos iussum que reformat

Carmen item cogit que uirum modulando furorem Ponere paulatim- cithare dulcedine captum

Fit memor ergo sui- recolit que quod esse solebat Merlinus- furias que suas miratur et odit

Pristina mens rediit- rediit quoque sensus in illo Et gemit ad nomen motus pietate sororis Uxorisque simul mentis ratione recepta Conducique petit rodarchi regis ad aulam

Paruit alter ei- siluas que subinde relinqunt Et ueniunt pariter letantes regis in urbem

Ergo fratre suo gaudet regina recepto Proque sui reditu fit coniunx leta mariti Oscula certatim geminans et brachia circum Colla uiri flectunt tanta pietate mouentur

Rex quoque quo decuit reducem suscepit honore Tota que turba domus proceres letantur in urbe

At post quam tantas hominum merlinus adesse Jnspexit turmas- nec eas perferre valeret

Cepit enim furias- iterum que furore repletus Ad nemus ire cupit furtim que recedere querit Tunc precepit eum posito custode teneri Rodarchus- cithara que suos mulcere furores Astabat que dolens uerbis que precantibus illum Orabat ratione frui- secum que manere

Nec captare nemus- nec uiuere more ferino: Velle sub arboribus dum regia sceptra tenere Posset et in populos ius exercere feroces Hinc promittit ei se plurima dona daturum.

Afferi que iubet uestes- uolucres que canes que Quadrupedes que citos- aurum- gemmas que micantes Pocula que sculpsit guielandus in urbe sigeni

Singula pretendit uati rodarchus et offert

Et monet ut maneat secum siluas que relinquet Talia respondens spernebat munera vates

Jsta duces habeant sua quos confundit egestas Nec sunt contenti modico- set maxima captant Hiis nemus et patulas calidonis prefero quercus Et montes celsos- subtus virentia prata

Jlla michi- non ista placent- tu talia tecum Rex rodarche feras- mea me calidonis habebit

Silua ferax nucibus- quam cunctis prefero rebus Denique cumnullo potuisset munere tristem Rex retinere uirum- forti vincire cathena:

Jussit- ne peterit nemorum deserta solutus Ergo cum sensit circum se uincula vates Nec liber poterat siluas calidonis adire:

Protinus indoluit tristis que tacens que remansit Leticiamque suis subtraxit uultibus omnem

Ut non proferret uerbum- risum que moueret

Jnterea uisura ducem regina per aulam: Jbat et ut decuit- rex applaudebat eunti

Per que manum suscepit eam- iussit que sedere Et dabat amplexus et ad oscula labra premebat Conuertensque suos in eam per talia uultus Vidit in illius folium pendere capellis

Ergo suos digitos admouit et abstrait illud Et proiecit humi letus que iocatur amanti

Flexit ad hoc oculos uates- risumque resoluit Astantes que uiros fecit conuertere uultus

Jn se mirantes quoniam ridere negarat

Rex quoque miratur percunctatur que furentem Tam subito facti causas edicere risus

Adiecit que suis donaria plurima uerbis Jlle tacet- differt que suos exponere risus

At magis atque magis precio- precibus que mouere Jnstabat rodarchus eum- tum denique uates Jndignatus ei pro munere talia fatur

Munus auarus amat- cupidus que laborat habere Hii faciles animos flectunt quocunque iubentur Munere corrupti- quod habent non sufficit illis At michi sufficiunt glandes calidonis amene

Et nitidi fontes per olentia prata fluentes Munere non capior sua munera tollat auarus Et nisi libertas detur- repetam que virentes Siluarum ualles- risus aperire negabo

Ergo cum nullo potuisset munere uatem Flectere rodarchus- nec cur risisset hereret Confestim sua uincla uiro dissoluere iussit Dat que potestatem nemorum deserta petendi Vt uelit optatam risus expromere causam

Tunc merlinus ait gaudens quia possit abire Jccirco risi quoniam Rodarche fuisti

Facto culpandus simul et laudandus eodem Dum traheres folium modo quod regina capillis Nescia gestabat- fieres que fidelior illi

Quam fuit illa tibi quando uirgulta subiuit Quo suus occurrit secum que coiuit adulter

Dum que supina foret sparsis in crinibus hesit Forte iacens folium quod nescius eripuisti

Ergo super tali rodarchus crimine- tristis Fit subito- uultum que suum diuertit ab illa Dampnabat que diem que se coniunxerat illi Mota set illa nichil uultu ridente pudorem Celat- et alloquitur tali sermone maritum-

Cur tristaris amans- cur sic irasceris ab re

Me que nec ex merito dampnas- credisque furenti Qui ratione carens miscet mendacia ueris Multociens qui credit ei fit stulcior illo

Excipe nunc igitur ne sim decepta- probabo- Quod sit delirus- quod non sit uera locutus Ut plures alii fuerat puer unus in aula

Hunc cum prospiceret conuoluit protinus artem Jngeniosa nouam qua uult conuincere fratrem Jnde uenire iubet puerum- fratrem que precatur Qua moriturus erit- pueri predicere mortem

Ergo frater ei soror o- carissima: dixit Hic morietur homo de celsa rupe ruendo Jlla sub hec ridens puero precepit abire Et quibus indutus fuerat deponere uestes

Et uestire nouas- longos que recidere crines Sic que redire iubet- ut eis appareat alter Paruit ergo puer rediit nam talis ad illos Qualis erat iussus mutata veste redire

Mox iterum fratrem regina precatur et infit Que mors huius erit uaria dilecte sorori Tunc merlinus ait puer hic cum uenerit etas

Mente uagans forti succumbet in arbore morti Dixerat illa suum sic est affata maritum Siccine te potuit falsus peruertere vates

Vt crimen tantum me commisisse putares Ac si scire uelis qua sit ratione locutus Hoc nunc de puero censebis ficta fuisse Que de me dixit dum siluas possit adire

Absit ut hoc faciam castum seruabo cubile Casta que semper ero dum flabit spiritus in me Jllum conuici pueri de morte rogatum

Nunc quoque conuincam tu sedulus arbiter esto Hec ait et tacite puerum secedere iussit Vesteque feminea uestire- sic que redire

Mox puer abcessit- iussum que subinde peregit Et sub feminea rediit quasi femina ueste

Et stetit ante uirum cui sic regina iocando Eya frater ait- dic mortem uirginis huius Hec uirgo nec ne dixit morietur in ampne Frater ei- mouit que sua ratione cachinnum Regi Rodarcho- quoniam de morte rogatus Vnius pueri tres dixerat esse futuras

Ergo putabat eum de coniuge falsa locutum Nec credebat ei- set contristatur et odit

Quod sibi crediderat- quod condempnarat amantem Jd regina uidens ueniam dat et oscula iungit

Et blanditur ei letum quoque reddidit illum

Cogitat interea siluas Merlinus adire Egressus que domum portas aperire iubebat

Set soror obstabat lacrimis que rogabat abortis Ut secum remaneret adhuc- tollat que furorem Jmprobus ille suis non uult desistere ceptis Set perstat reserare fores- et abire Laborat

Et fremit et pugnat- famulos que fremendo coartat- Denique cum nullus posset retinere uolentem

Jre uirum iussit cicius Regina venire

Eius ad abcessum absentem guendoloenam Jlla uenit suplex que uirum remanere precatur

Spernit at ille preces- nec uult remanere- nec illam: Sicut erat solitus gaudenti cernere uultu

Jlla dolet- fletuque fluit- Laniatque capillos

Et secat ungue genas et humi moriendo uolutat Jd regina uidens affatur taliter illum

Hec tua que moritur sic pro te Guendoloena Quid faciet- dabitur ue uiro uiduamue manere:

Precipis- aut tecum quocumque recesseris ire Jbit enim tecumque nemus- nemorisque uirentes Leta colet saltus- dum te pociatur amante

Vocibus hiis igitur respondit talia vates Nolo soror pecudem patulo que fontis hiatu Diffundit latices ut uirginis urna sub estus

Nec curam mutabo meam uelut orpheus olim Quando suos calathos pueris commisit habendos Euridice stigias plus quam transnauit harenas Mundus ab alterutro ueneris sub labe manebo

Huic igitur detur nubendi iusta facultas Arbitrioque suo quem gestit ducere ducat Precaueat tamen ipse sibi qui duxerit illam Obuius ut numquam michi sit nec cominus astet Set se diuertat- ne si michi congrediendi

Copia prestetur- uibratum sentiat ensem Cumque dies aderit sollempni lege iugali Diuerse que dapes conuiuis distribuentur Ipsemet interero donis munitus honestis Ditabo que datam profuse Guendoloenam Dixerat atque uale gradiens subiunxit utrique Et peciit siluas nullo prohibente cupitas Guendoloena manet spectans in limine tristis Et regina- simul. casuque mouentur amici Mirantur que nimis rerum secreta furentem Nosse uirum- uenerem que sue sciuisse sororis Mentitum que tamen pueri de morte putebant Quam dixit ternam cum dicere debuit unam Jnde diu sua uisa fuit uox uana per annos Donec ad etatem uenit puer ille uirilem

Tum cunctis patefacta fuit multisque probata Nam dum uenatum canibus comitantibus iret Aspexit ceruum nemoris sub fronde latentem Dissoluit que canes- qui ceruo deuia viso: Transcendunt complentque suis latratibus auras Ipsemet urget equum calcaribus- insequitur que

Nunc cornu- nunc ore monens operis que ministros

Jncrepat- atque iubet cursu ciciore uenire Mons ibi celsus erat circumdatus undique saxis Juxta quem fluuius subtus per plana fluebat

Hunc fera transcendit fugiens dum uenit in amnem Exegit que suas solito de more Latebras

Jnstigat iuuenis montem quoque tramite recto Preterit- et ceruum per saxa iacentia querit Contigit interea dum duceret impetus ipsum: Labi quadrupedem celsa de rupe- uirum que Forte per abruptum montis cecidisse sub amnem Ut tamen hereret pes eius in arbore quadam

Et submersa forent sub flumine cetera membra Sicque ruit- mersusque fuit- ligno que pependit Et fecit uatem per terna pericula uerum

Qui nemus ingressus fuerat ritu que ferino Uiuebat- paciens concrete frigoris alge

Sub niue- sub pluuia sub iniquo flamine uenti Jdque placebat ei pocius quam iura per urbes Exercere suas gentes que domare feroces Jnterea ducente uiro labentibus annis

Cum grege siluestri talem per tempora uitam Guendoloena datur nubendi lege marito

Nox erat et nitide radiebant cornua lune Cuncta que conuexi splendebant lumina celi Purior aer erat solito- nam frigidus atrox Expulerat nubes boreas celum que serenum Reddiderat- sicco detergens nubila flatu Sidereum cursum uates spectabat ab alto Monte- loquens tacite sub diuo talia dicens

Quid sibi uult radius martis regem ne peremptum Portendit nouiter rutilans- alium que futurum

Sic equidem uideo nam constantinus obiuit Jpsius que nepos scelerata sorte conanus

Per patrui iugulum sumpto diademate rex est At tu summa uenus que certo limite Labens Jnfra zodiacum solem comitaris euntem Quid tibi cum radio qui duplex ethera findit Discidium ne mei sectus portendit amoris

Talis enim radius diuisos signat amores Forsitan absentem me guendoloena reliquit Alterius que uiri gaudens complexibus heret Sic igitur uincor- sic alter fungitur illa

Sic mea iura michi dum demoror eripiuntur

Sic equidem nam segnis amans superatur ab illo Qui non est segnis nec abest set cominus instat At non inuideo nubat nunc omine dextro

Vtatur que nouo me permittente marito Crastina cumque dies illuxerit- ibo- feram que Mecum munus ei promissum quando recessi Dixerat- et siluas et saltus circuit omnes: Cerorum que greges- agmen collegit in unum Et damas- capreas que simul ceruo que resedit Et ueniente die compellens agmina pre se Festinans uadit quo nubit guendoloena Postquam uenit eo pacienter stare coegit Ceruos ante fores- proclamans guendoloena Gendoloena ueni te talia munera spectant Ocius ergo uenit subridens Guendoloena Gestari que uirum ceruo- miratur et illum:

Sic parere uiro tantum quoque posse ferarum Vniri numerum quas pre se solus agebat

Sicut pastor oues quas ducere sueuit ad herbas

Stabat ab excelsa sponsus spectando fenestra Jn solio mirans equitem- risum que mouebat Ast ubi uidit eum uates- animo que quis esset: Calluit- extemplo diuulsit cornua cervo

Quo gestabatur- uibrata que iecit in illum Et caput illius penitus contriuit- eumque

Reddidit exanimem uitamque fugauit in auras Ocius inde suum talorum uerbere ceruum Diffugiens egit siluas que redire parauit Egrediuntur ad hec ex omni parte clientes

Et celeri cursu uatem per rura sequuntur Jlle quidem uelox sic precurrebat- ut isset

Ad nemus intactus- nisi preuius amnis obesset

Nam dum torrentem fera prosiliendo mearet Elapsus rapida cecidit merlinus in vnda Circueunt ripas famuli capiunt que natantem Adducunt que domum uinctum que dedere sorori

Captus item uates fit tristis et optat obire. Ad siluas- pugnat que suos dissoluere nexus

Et ridere negat- potum que cibum que refutat Tristicia que sua tristem facit esse sororem Ergo uidens illum rodarchus pellere cunctam: Leticiam- nec uelle dapes libare paratas Educi precepit eum miseratus in vrbem

Per fora- per populos ut letior esset evndo- Resque uidendo nouas que uendebantur ibidem

Ergo uir eductus dum progrederetur ab aula Jnspicit ante fores famulem sub paupere cultu Qui seruabat eas poscentem pretereuntes

Ore tremente uiros ad uestes munus emendas Mox stetit et risit uates miratus egentem

Jllinc progressus noua calciamenta tenentem Spectabat iuuenem commercantem que tacones Tunc iterum risit renuit que diutius ire

Per fora- spectandus populis quos inspiciebat At nemus optabat quod crebro respiciebat Quo nitebatur uetitos diuertere gressus

Jnde domum famuli redeunt- ipsum que cachinnum: Bis mouisse ferunt- siluas quoque uelle redire

Ocius ergo uolens rodarchus scire quid esset Quod portendisset risu dissoluere nexus Jlico iussit ei concedens posse reuerti

Ad solitas siluas si risus exposuisset Letior assistens respondit talia vates

Janitor ante fores tenui sub ueste sedebat Et uelut esset inops rogitabat pretereuntes Vt largirentur sibi quo uestes emerentur Ipsemet interea subter se denariorum

Occultos cumulos- occultus diues habebat Jllud ergo risi tu terram verte sub ipso Nummos inuenies seruatos tempore Longo Jllinc ulterius uersus fora ductus- ementem: Calciamenta uirum uidi- pariter que tacones Vt postquam dissuta forent- usuque forata: Jlla resartiret- primos que pararet ad usus Jllud item risi- quoniam nec calciamentis Nec superaddet eis miser ille taconibus vti

Postmodo compos erit quia iam submersus in undis Fluctuat ad ripas- tu uade uidere- videbis

Dicta probare uiri cupiens rodarchus ad ampnem Circumquaque suos iubet ocius ire clientes

Vt si forte uirum per proxima littora talem Demersum uideant festina uoce renarrent Jussa ducis peragunt- nam fluuia circumeuntes Submersum iuuenem squalentes inter harenas

Jnueniunt redeunt que domum- regi que renarrant At rex interea forium custode remoto

Suffodit et uertit terram reperit que sub ipsa Thesaurum positum uatem que iocosus adorat

His igitur gestis uates properabat abire Ad solitas siluas populos exosus in urbe Precipiebat ei secum regina manere

Optatum que nemus postponere donec abirent Que tunc instabant candentis frigora brume Atque rediret item teneris cum fructibus estas Unde frui posset dum tempora sole calerent Jlle repugnabat- uerbis et talibus illam Alloquitur- cupiens secedere frigore spreto

O dilecta soror quid me retinere Laboras Non me bruma suis poterit terrere procellis Non gelidus boreas cum flatu seuit iniquo

Balantum que greges subita cum grandine ledit Non conturbat aquas diffusis imbribus auster Quin nemorum deserta petam- saltus que uirentes Contentus modico potero perferre pruinam

Jllic arboreis sub frondibus inter olentes Herbarum flores estate iacere iuuabit

Ne tamen esca michi brumali tempore desit Jn siluis compone domos- adhibe que clientes

Obsequium que michi facient escas que parabunt Cum tellus gramen- fructum que negauerit arbor Ante domos alias unam compone remotam

Cui sex dena decem dabis hostia- tot que fenestras Per quas igninouum uideam cum uenere phebum Jnspitiam que polo labentia sydera noctu

Que me de populo regni ventura docebunt Totque notatores que dicam scribere docti Assint et studeant- carmen mandare tabellis

To quoque sepe ueni soror- o dilecta meam que: Tunc poteris releuare famem- potu que cibo que Dixit- et ad siluas festinis gressibus iuit

Paruit ergo soror nam iussam condidit aulam Atque domos alias et quicquit iusserat illi

Jlle quidem dum poma manent phebus que peracta Altius ascendit- gaudet sub fronde manere

Ac peragrare nemus zephiris mulcentibus ornos Tunc ueniebat yems rigidis hirsuta procellis Que nemus et terras fructu spoliabat ab omni Deficeret que sibi pluuiis instantibus esca Tristis et esuriens dictam ueniebat ad aulam Jllic multociens aderat regina- dapes que:

Et potum pariter fratri gauisa ferebat

Qui postquam uariis sese recreauerat escis Mox assurgebat complaudebat que sorori Deinde domum peragrans ad sidera respiciebat Talia dum caneret que tunc uentura sciebat

O rabiem britonum quos copia diuiciarum Vsque superueniens ultra quam debeat effert Nolunt pace frui- stimulis agitantur herinis Ciuiles acies cognata que prelia miscent Ecclesias domini paciuntur habere ruinam Pontifices que sacros ad regna remota repellunt

Cornubiensis apri conturbant queque nepotes Jnsidias sibimet ponentes ense nephando Jnterimunt sese- nec regno iure potiri Expectare uolunt regni diademate rapto

Jllic quartus erit crudelior asperior que

Hinc lupus equoreus debellans uincet et ultra Sabrinam uictum per barbara regna fugabit Jdem kaerkeri circumdabit obsidione Passeribus que domos et menia trudet ad imum Classe petet gallos- set telo regis obiuit Rodarchus moritur postquam discordia Longa Scotos et Cumbros per longum tempus habebit Donec crescenti tribuatur cumbria denti Cambrigei missos post illos cornubienses Afficient bello- nec eos lex ulla domabit Kambria gaudebit suffuso sanguine semper Gens inimica deo quid gaudes sanguine fuso Kambria compellet fratres committere pugnas Et dampnare suos scelerata morte nepotes

Scotorum cunei trans humbrum sepius ibunt Obstantes que uiros periment pietate remota Non impune tamen nam cesus ductor obibit Nomen habebit equi qui fiet seuus in illo Finibus ex nostris heres expulsus abibit Scote reconde tuos quos nudas ocius enses Vis tibi dispar erit nostra cum gente feroci

Corruet urbs acelud- nec eam reparabit in euum Rex aliquis donec subdatur scotcus apello

Urns sigeni et turres et magna palatia plangunt Diruta donec eant ad pristina predia cambri Kaeptis in portu sua menia rupta videbit Donec eam locuples cum uulpis dente reformet

Urbs loel spoliata suo pastore vacabit Donec reddat ei cambucam uirga Leonis

Urbs rutupi portus in littora strata iacebit Restaurabit eam galeata naue rutenus Menia meneuie reparabit quitus ab illo

Per quem palla sibi reddetur dempta per annos In que tuo sabrina sinu cadet urbs legionum Amittet que suos ciues per tempora Longa

Hos sibi reddet item cum uenerit ursus in agno Saxonici reges expulsis ciuibus vrbes

Rura – domos que simul per tempora longa tenebunt Ex hiis gestabunt ter tres diadema dracones

Ducenti monachi perimentur in urbe Leyri Et duce depulso uacuabit menia saxo

Qui prior ex anglis erit in diademate bruti Restaurabit item uacuatam cedibus urbem Gens fera per patriam prohibebit crisma sacre Inque dei domibus ponet – simulachra deorum Postmodo roma deum reddet mediante cuculla Rotabit que domos sacro sacer imbre sacerdos Quas renouabit item pastoribus intro locatis Legis diuine seruabunt iussa subinde

Plures ex illis et celo iure fruentur

Jd uiolabit item gens impia plena ueneno Miscebit que simul uiolentur fas que nephas que Vendet in extremos fines trans equora natos Cognatos que suos iram que tonantis inibit

O scelus infandum quem conditor orbis honore Celi dignatus cum libertate creauit

Jllum more bouis uendi duci que ligatum Cessabit miserande- deo qui proditor olim

Jn dominum fueras – cum primum regna subisti Classe superuenient daci populoque subacto Regnabunt breuiter propulsati que redibunt

His duo iura dabunt quos ledet acumine caude Federis oblitus pro sceptri stemate serpens Jndeque neustrenses ligno trans equora vecti Vultus ante suos et uultus retro ferentes Ferratis tunicis et acutis ensibus anglos

Acriter inuadent- periment campo que fruentur

Plurima regna sibi submittent atque domabunt Externas gentes per tempora donec erinus Circumquaque uolans uirus diffundet in ipsos Tum pax atque fides et uirtus omnis abibit Undique per patrias committent prelia ciues Virque uirum prodet non inuenietur amicus Coniuge despecta meretrices sponsus adibit Sponsa que cui cupiet despecto coniuge nubet Non honor ecclesiis seruabitur ordo peribit

Pontifices tunc arma ferent – tunc castra sequentur In tellure sacra turres et menia ponent Militibusque dabunt quod deberetur egenis Diuiciis rapti mundano tramite current

Eripient que deo quod sacra tyara vetabit

Tres diadema ferent per quos fauor ille nouorum Quartus erit sceptris – pietas cui leua nocebit Donec sit genitro suo vestitus ut apri

Dentibus accinctus galeati transeat umbram Quatuor ungentur uice uersa summa petentes Et duo succedent – quia sic diadema rotabunt Vt moneant gallos in se fera bella mouere Sextus hibernenses et eorum nomina uertet Qui pius et prudens populos renouabit et urbes Hec uortigerno cecini prolixius olim Exponendo duum sibi mistica bella draconum Jn ripa stagni quando consedimus hausti

At tu uade domum morientem uisere regem O dilecta soror thelgesino que venire

Precipe- namque loqui desidero plurima secum Venit enim nouiter de partibus armoricanis Dulcia quo didicit sapientis dogmata gilde

Jt ganieda domum thelgesinum que reuersum Defunctumque ducem reperit – tristesque clients Ergo fluens lacrimis collabitur inter amicos

Et laniat crines – et profert talia dicens

Funera rodarchi mulieres plangite mecum Ac deflete uirum qualem non protulit orbis

Hactenus in nostro quantum discernimus euo Pacis amator erat populo nam iura feroci

Sic dabat ut nulli ius inferretur ab vllo Tractabat sanctum iusto moderamine clerum Jure regi populo summos humiles que sinebat

Largus erat- nam multa dabat- uix quid retinebat Omnibus omnis erat faciens quodcumque decebat Flos equitum- regumque decor. regni que columpna Heu michi qui fueras inopinis uermibus esca :

Nunc datus es – corpus que tuum putrescit in urna Set ne cubile tibi post serica pulcra paratur Siccine sub gelido caro candida regia membra Condentur saxo – nec eris nisi puluis et ossa

Sic equidem – nam sors hominum miseranda per euum Ducitur – ut nequeant ad pristina iura reduci

Ergo nichil prodest pereuntis gloria mvndi Que fugit atque redit – fallit Leditque potentes Melle suo delinit apes – quod postmodo pungit Sic quos demulsit diuertens gloria mundi Fallit – et ingrate collidit uerbe caude

Fit breue quod prestat – quod habet durabile non est More fluentis aque transit quodcumque ministrat Quid rosa si rutilet – si candida lilia uernent

Si sit pulcher homo – uel equus – uel cetera plura Jsta creatori – non mundo sunt referenda Felices igitur qui perstant corde piato

Obsequium que deo faciunt – mundumque relinqunt Jllis perpetuo fungi concedet honore

Qui sine fine regit christus qui cuncta creauit Vos igitur proceres – uos menia celsa – lares que Vos nati dulces – mundanaque cuncta relinquo Et cum fratre meo siluas habitabo – deumque : Leta mente colam nigri cum tegmine pepli

Hec ait atque suo persoluit iusta marito Signauit que suam cum tali carmine tumbam Rodarchus largus – quo largior alter in orbe : Non erat – hic modica magnus requiescit in urna

Venerat interea merlinum uisere vatem Tunc telgesinus qui discere missus ab illo

Quid uentus – nimbus ue foret – nam mixtus uterque Tunc simul instabat et nubila conficiebant

Hec documenta dabat socia dictante minerua

Quatuor ex nichilo produxit conditor orbis Vt fierent rebus precedens causa creandis Materies que simul concordi pace iugata Celum quod stellis depinxit et altius extat

Et quasi testa nucem circumdans omnia claudit Aera deinde dedit formandis uocibus aptum Quo mediante dies et noctes sidera prestant

Et mare – quod terras cingit ualido que recursu Quatuor amfractus faciens sic aera pulsat

Vt generet uentos qui quatuor esse feruntur

Vique sua stantem nec se leuitate mouentem Supposuit terram partes in quinque resectam Quarum que media non est habitanda calore Extremeque due pre frigore diffugiuntur Temperiem reliquis permisit habere duabus

Has homines habitant – uolucres que greges que ferarum

Vt que darent subitas pluuias quo crescere fructus Arboris et terre facerent apergine miti

Adiecit celo nubes – que sole ministro Sicut utres fluuiis occulta lege replentur

Jnde per excelsum scandentes ethera sumptos Diffundunt latices uentorum uiribus acte

Hinc fiunt imbres – hinc nix – hinc grando rotunda Cum gelidus madidus mouet sua flamina uentus Qui nubes penetrans quales facit egerit amnes Naturam que suam zonarum proximitate Ventorum sibi quisque trahit dum nascitur illuc

Post firmamentum quo lucida sidera fixit Ethereum celum posuit – tribuit que colendum Cetibus angelicis quos contemplatio digna

Ac dulcedo dei reficit miranda per euum

Hoc quoque depinxit stellis et sole chorusco Jndicens legem que certo limite stella

Per sibi commissum posset discurrere celum

Postmodo supposuit lunari corpore fulgens Aerium celum quod per loca celsa redundat Spirituum cuneis qui nobis compaciuntur Et colletantur dum sic aliter ue mouemur

Sunt que preces hominum soliti perferre per auras Atque rogare deum quod sit placabilis illis Affectum que dei sompno uel uove referre

Vel signis aliis ut fiant inde scientes

At caco demonibus post lunam subtus habundat Qui nos decipiunt et temptant fallere docti

Et sibi multociens ex aere corpore sumpto Nobis apparent et plurima sepe sequuntur Quin etiam coitu mulieres agrediuntur

Et faciunt grauidas generantes pore prophano Sic igitur celos habitatos ordine terno Spirituum fecit – foueant ut singula queque Ac renouet mundum renouato germine rerum

Et mare per species uarias distinxit – ut ex se Proferret rerum formas generando per euum Pars etenim feruet – pars friget – et una duabus: Temperiem sumens- nobis alimenta ministrat

Ast ea que feruet baratrum cum gentibus acris Circuit et tetri diuersis fluctibus orbent Secernit refluens ignes ex ignibus augens

Jllic descendunt qui leges transgrediuntur Postposito que deo- quo uult peruersa uoluntas Jncedunt auidi corrumpere quod prohibentur Trux ibi stat iudex equali lance rependens Cumque suum meritum condignaque debita soluit

Alter que friget pretonsas uoluit harenas Quas secum gignit uicino prima uapore Quando suos radios inmiscet stella diones

Hanc perhibent arabes gemmas generare micantes Dum peragrat pisces dum respicit equora flammis Hec uirtute sua populis gestantibus ipsas

Prosunt- et multos reddunt seruant que salubres Has quoque per species distinxit ut omnia factor Vt discernamus per formas per que colores- Cuius sint generis- cuius uirtutis aperte

Tercia forma maris que nostram circuit orbem Proximitate sua nobis bona multa ministrat Nutrit enim pisces et sal producit habunda Fertque refertque rates commercia nostra ferentes Vnde suo lucro subito fit diues egenus

Vicinam fecundat humum- pascit que uolucres Quas perhibent ortas illinc cum piscibus esse Dissimilique tamen nature iure mouentur

Plus etenim dominatur eis quam piscibus equor Vnde leues excelsa petunt per inane uolantes

At piscis suus humor agit reprimit que sub undis Nec sunt ut uiuant dum sicca luce fruuntur

Hos quoque per species distinxit factor eorum Naturam que dedit distinctis unde per euum Mirandi fierent- egrotanti que salubres

Nempe ferunt nullum cohibere libidinis estum Set reddit cecos iugiter uescentis ocellos

At qui nomen habet timeos de flore timallus Sic quoniam redolet uescentem sepius illo Protrahit- ut tales oleat per flumina pisces

Femineo sexu subtracto iure murenas

Esse ferunt cunctas- coeunt tamen ac renouantur Multiplicat que suos alieno germine fetus Conueniunt etenim per littora sepius angues

Quo degunt faciunt que sonos ac sibila grati Et sic eductis coeunt ex more murenis

Est quoque mirandum quod semipedalis ethinus Herens cui fuerit fixam quasi litore Nauem

Detinet in ponto nec eam permittet abire Donec discedat- tali uirtuti timendus

Quemque uocant gladum quia rostro ledit acuto Sepius hunc nantem metuunt accedere naui Nam si sumptus erit confestim perforat illam

Et mergit sectam subito cum gurgite nauem

Fit que suis cristis metuendus serra carinis Quas infigit eis dum subnatat- atque secatas Deicit in fluctus crista uelut ense timendus

Equoreus que draco qui fertur habere uenenum Sub pennis metuendus erit capientibus illum- Et quociens pungit ledit fundendo uenenum

Ast alias clades torpedo fertur habere

Nam qui tangit eam uiuentem: protinus illi Brachia cum pedibus torpent et cetera membra Officio que suo quasi mortua destituuntur

Sic solet esse nocens illius corporis aura

Hiis deus- ac aliis ditauit piscibus equor Adiecit que suis plures in fructibus orbes Quos habitant homines pro fertilitate reperta Quam producit ibi fecundo cespite tellus

Quarum prima quidem melior que britannia fertur Vbertate sua producens singula rerum

Fert etenim segetes que nobile munus odoris Vsibus humanis tribuunt reddendo per annum: Siluas et saltus et ab hiis stillantia mella

Aerios montes lateque uirentia prata

Fontes et fluuios- pisces- pecudes- que feras- que Arboreos fructus- gemmas- preciosa metalla

Et quicquit prestare solet natura creatrix Preterea fontes unda feruente salubres Que fouet egrotos et balnea grata ministrat At subito sanos pellit languore repulso

Sic ac blandus eos regni dum sceptra teneret Constituit- nomen que sue consortis alaron

Vtilis- ad plures laticis medicamine morbos Set mage femineos ut sepius unda probauit

Adiacet huic thanatos que multis rebus habundat Mortifero serpente caret- tollit que uenenum

Si cua cum uino tellus commixta bibatur

Orchades a nobis nostrum quoque diuidit equor Hec tres ter dene se iuncto flumine fiunt

Bis dene cultore carent- alie que coluntur

Vltima que ytilie nomen de sole recepit Propter solsticium quod sol estiuus ibidem Dum facit- auertit radium ne luceat ultra Abducit que dies ut semper nocte perhenni

Aer agat tenebras faciat quoque frigore pontum Concretum pigrum que simul ratibus que negatum

Jnsula post nostram prestantior omnibus esse Fertur hibernensis felici fertilitate

Est etenim maior nec apes- nec aues nisi raras Educit- penitus que negat generare colubres Vnde fit ut tellus illinc auecta lapis ue

Si superaddatur serpentes tollat apes que Gadibus herculeis adiungitur insula gades Nascitur hic arbor cuius de cortice gummi Stillat- quo gemine fiunt super illita iura

Hesperides uigilem perhibentur habere draconem Quem seruare ferunt sub frondibus aurea poma

Gorgades habitant mulieres corprois hirci Que celeri cursu lepores superare feruntur

Argire crisse que gerunt ut dicitur aurum Argentum que simul ceu uilia saxa corinthus

Taprobana uiret fecundo cespite grata Bis etenim segetes anno producit in vno Bis gerit estatem- bis uer- bis coligit uuas Et fructus alios nitidis gratissima gemis

Atilis eterno producit uere uirentes

Flores et frondes per tempora cuncta uirendo Jnsula pomorum que fortunata uocatur

Ex re nomen habet quia per se singula profert Non opus est illi sulcantibus arua colonis Omnis abest cultus nisi quem natura ministrat Vltro fecundas segetes producit et uuas Nataque poma suis pretonso germine siluis

Omnia gignit humus uice graminis ultro redundans Annis centenis aut ultra viuiter illic

Jllic iura nouem geniali lege sorores

Dant his qui ueniunt nostris ex partibus ad se Quarum que prior est fit doctior arte medendi Excedit que suas forma prestante sorores Morgen ei nomen didicit que quid utilitatis Gramina cuncta ferant ut languida corpora curet Ars quoque nota sibi qua scit mutare figuram

Et resecare nouis quasi dedalus aera pennis Cum uult est bristi- carnoti- siue papie Cum uult in uestris es aere labitur horis

Hanc que mathematicam dicunt didicisse sorores Moronoe- mazoe- gliten- glitonea- gliton Tyronoe- thiten- cithara notissima thiten

Jlluc post bellum camblani uulnere lesum Duximus arcturum nos conducente barintho Equora cui fuerant et celi sydera nota

Hoc rectore ratis cum principe uenimus illuc Et nos quo decuit morgen suscepit honore Jnque suis talamis posuit super aurea regem Stulta manu que sibi detexit uulnus honesta Jnspexit que diu. tandem que redire salutem Posse sibi dixit- si secum tempore Longo Esset et ipsius uellet medicamine fungi Gaudentes igitur regem commisimus illi

Et dedimus uentis redeundo uela secundis

Tunc merlinus ad hec ait- o dilecte sodalis Postmodo quanta tulit uiolato federe regnum

Vt modo quod fuerat non sit- nam sorte sinistra Subducti proceres ac in sua uiscera uersi Omnia turbarunt ut copia diuiciarum

Fugerit ex prima bonitas que recesserit omnis Et desolati uacuent sua menia ciues

Jnsuper incumbit gens saxon a marce feroci Que nos et nostras iterum crudeliter urbes Subuertit legem que dei uiolabit et edes Nempe deus nobis ut corrigat insipientes Has patitur clades ob crimina nostra uenire

Non dum desierat cum talia protulit alter

Ergo necesse foret populo transmittere quendam Et mandare duci festina naue redire

Si iam conualuit solitis ut uiribus hostes Arceat- et ciues antiqua pace reformet

Non merlinus ait non sic gens illa recedet Vt semel in uestris ungues infixerit ortis

Regnum namque prius populos que iugabit et urbes Viribus atque suis multis dominabitur annis

Tres tamen ex nostris magna uirtute resistent Et multos periment et eos in fine domabunt Set non perficient quia sic sententia summi Judicis existit- britones ut nobile regnum Temporibus multis amittant debilitate

Donec ab armorico ueniet temone conanus Et cadualadrus cambrorum dum uenerandus Qui pariter scotos- cambros et cornubienses Armoricos que uiros sociabunt federe firmo Amissum que suis reddent diadema colonis Hostibus expulsis renouato tempore bruti Tractabunt que suas sacratis legibus urbes Jncipiunt reges iterum superare remotos

Et sua regna sibi certamine subdere forti

Nemo superstes erit tunc ex hiis qui modo uiuunt Telgensinus ait nec tot fera prelia quemquam Jnter conciues quot te uidisse putamus

Sic equidem merlinus ait- nam tempore multo Vixi multa uidens et de nostratibus in se

Et de barbarica turbanti singula gente

Crimen quod memini cum constans proditus esset Et Defugissent parui trans equora fratres

Vter et ambrosius ceperunt ilico bella

Per regnum fieri- quod tunc rectore carebat Vortigernus enim consul gewissus in omnes Agmina ducebat primas ut duceret illas Ledens innocuos miseranda clade colonos Denique ui subita rapuit diadema peremptis Nobilibus multis et regni cuncta subegit

Ast hii qui fuerant cognato sanguine iuncti Fratribus- if grauiter tolerantes igne cremare Ceperunt cunctas infausti principis urbes

Et turbare suum crudeli milite regnum Nec permiserunt illum cum pace potiri

Anxius ergo manens cum non obstare rebelli Quiuisset populo- parat inuitare remotos

Ad sua bella uiros quibus obuius iret in hostes Mox ex diuersis uenerunt partibus orbis Pugnatos turme- quas excipiebat honore Saxona gens etiam curuis aduecta carinis Eius ad obsequium galeato milite uenit

Hinc duo prefuerant audaci pectore fratres Horsus et hengistus qui prodicone nefanda Postmodo leserunt populos- lesere quod urbes Postquam namque ducem famulatus sedulitate Attraxere sibi ciues quoque lite propinqua Viderunt motos leuiter quo subdere regem Possent in populos uerterunt arma feroces

Ruperunt que fidem proceres quoque premeditatos Fraude necauerunt sedentes ferme uocatos Jnsumil ut pacem secum fedus que iugarent Truserunt que ducem niuei trans ardua montis Que sibi de regno cepi cantare futura

Jnde domos prime peragrantes igne cremabant

Et nitebantur sibimet submittere cuncta At uortimerus cum causa pericula regni

Expulsum que patrem bruti uidisset ab aula Assensu populi sumpsit diadema: feramque: Jnuasit gentem conciues dilaniantem

Atque coegit eam per plurima bella redire

Jn thanatum- qua classis erat que uexarat illam Set dum diffugerent- bellator corruit horsus

Et plures alii nostris perimentibus illos Jnde secutus eos circumdedit obsidione

Jlico rex tanathum terra que mari que resistens Set non preualuit subito nam classe potiti

Vi magna fecere uiam- ducti que per equor Exegere suam festino remige terram

Ergo triumphato bellis uictricibus hoste Fit vortimerus rector uenerandus in orbe

Attrectando suum iusto moderamine regnum Set soror hengisti successus renua tales

Jndignando ferens- protecta que fraude uenenum Miscuit- existens pro fratre maligna nouerca

Et dedit ut biberet- fecit que perire bibentem Confestimque suo mandauit trans freta fratri Vt remearet item cum tot tantisque cateruis Quot sibi pugnaces possent submittere ciues Sic igitur fecit- nam tantus in agmina nostra Venit- ut eriperet cunctis sua predia pregnans Et loca per patrias penitus combureret igne Hec ita dum fierent in finibus armoricanis Vter et ambrosius fuerant cum rege Biduco Jam gladio fiunt cuncti bello que probati

Et sibi diuersas sociabant undique turmas

Vt peterent natale solum- gentesque fugarent Quod tunc instabant primam uastare paternam Ergo dedere suas uento que mari que carinas Presidio que suis conciuibus applicuerunt

Nam vortigernum per cambrica regna fugatum Jnclusum que sua pariter cum turre cremarunt

Enses inde suos uertere recenter in anglos Congressi que simul uincebant sepius illos Et uice transuersa deuincebantur ab illis Denique consortis magno conamine dextris Jnstant nostrates et ledunt acriter hostes

Hengistum que necant christo que uolente triumphant

Hiis igitur gestis cleri- populi que fauore Ambrosio regnum que datur- regni que corona Postmodo quam gessit tractando singula iuste Emensis autem per lustra quaterna diebus Proditur a medico moritur que bibendo uenenum Mox germanus ei succesit iunior vter

Nec primum potuit regnum cum pace tueri Perfida gens etenim demum consueta redire Venerat et solita uastabat cuncta phalange Oppugnauit eam seuis congressibus vter

Et pepulit uictam trans equora remige uerso Mox reformauit posito certamine pacem Progenuit que sibi natum qui postmodo talis Extitit ut nulli fieret probitate secundus Arturus sibi nomen erat regnum que per annos Optinuit multos postquam pater uter obiuit

Jd que dolore graui gestum fuit atque labore Et nece multorum per plurima bella uirorum

Nam dum predictus princeps langueret ab angla Venerat infidus populos- cunctas que per enses Trans humbrum patrias submiserat ac periones Et puer arturus fuerat- nec debilitate

Etatis poterat tantas compescere turmas Ergo consilio cleri populi que recepto Armorico regi mittens mandauit Hoeli Vt sibi presidio festina classe rediret

Sanguis enim communis eos sociabat amor que Alter ut alterius deberet dampna Leuare

Mox igitur collegit hoel ad bella feroces Circumquaque uiros et multis milibus ad nos Venit et arturo sociatus pertulit hostes

Sepius agrediens et stragem fecit acerbam Hoc socio securus erat fortis que per omnes Arturus turmas dum progrederetur in hostes Quos tandem uicit patriam que redire coegit

Composuit que suum legum moderamine regnum Mox quoque submisit post hec certamina scotos Ac hibernenses conuertens bella feroces Supposuit patrias illatis uiribus omnes

Et norwegenses trans equora lata remotos Subdidit et dacos inuisa classe petitos Gallorum populos ceso frollone subegit Cui curam prime dederat romana potestas Romanos etiam bello sua regna petentes Obpugnans uicit- procuratore perempto Hybero lucio qui tunc collega que legnis Jnduperatoris fuerat iussuque senatus Venerat ut fines gallorum demeret illi

Ceperat interea nostrum sibi subdere regnum Jnfidus iustos modredus desipiens que Jllicitam uenerem cum coniuge regis agebat Rex etenim transire uolens ut fertur in hostes Reginam regnum que suum commiserat illi Ast ut fama mali tanti sibi uenit ad aures

Distulit hanc belli curam primam que reuertens Applicuit multis cum milibus- atque nepotem Obpugnans pepulit trans equora diffugientem Jllic collectis uir plenus prodicione

Vndique saxonibus cepit committere pugnam Cum duce set cecidit deceptus gente prophana Jn qua confisus tantos inceperat actus

O quantas hominum strages matrum que dolores Quarum conciderant illic per prelia nati

Jllic rex etiam letali uulnere Lesus

Deseruit regnum- tecumque per equora uectus Vt predixisti nimpharum uenit ad aulam

Jlico modredi duo nati regna uolentes Subdere quisque sibi ceperunt bella mouere

Alternaque suos prosternere cede propinquos Deinde nepos regis dux constantinus in illos Acriter insurgens populos laniauit et urbes Prostratis que simul crudeli morte duobus Jura dedit populo regni diademate sumpto Nec cum pace fuit quoniam cognatus in illum Prelia dira mouens- uiolauit cuncta conanus Proripuit que sibi regiones- rege perempto- Quas nunc debiliter nec cum ratione gubernat

Hoc illo dicente cito uenere clientes

Et dixere sibi fontem sub montibus illis Erupisse nouum- latices que refundere puros Qui iam manantes longe per concaua uallis Girabant saltus refluo cum murmure lapsu Mox igitur spectare nouum : consurgit uterque Festinus fontem uiso que resedit in herba

Merlinus- laudat que locum- limphas que fluentes Et miratur eas de cespite taliter ortas

Moxque siti captus se proclinauit in amnes Potauit que libens et tempora proluit unda Vtque per internos alui stomachique meatus Humor iit laticis subsedauitque uaporem Corporis interni- confestim mente recepta Sese cognouit- rabiem quoque perdidit omnem Et qui torpuerat per longum tempus in illo

Sensus item rediit- mansit que quod ante manebat Sanus et incolumis rursus ratione recepta

Ergo deum laudans uultus ad sidera tollit Edidit et uoces deuoto famine tales

O rex siderea quo constant machina celi

Quo mare- quo tellus- leto cum germine- fetus Dant que fouent suos crebro que iuuamine prosunt Humano generi profusa fertilitate

Quo sensus rediit mentisque reuanuit error Raptus eram michimet quasi spiritus acta sciebam Preteriti populi predicebamque futura

Tunc rerum secreta sciens- uolucrumque uolutus

Stellarum que uagos motus- lapsus que natantum Jd me uexabat- naturalem que negabat

Humane menti districta lege quietem Nunc in me redii uideorque uigore moueri

Quo uegetare meos animus consueuerat arctus Ergo summe pater tibi sic obnoxius esse Debeo- condignas ut digno pectore laudes Dicam semper agens letus libamina Leta

Bis etenim tua larga manus- michi profuit uni Munere dando nouum uiridi de cespite fontem Nam modo possideo latices quibus ante carebam Et reducem capitis sumpsi potando salutem

Jsta set inde uenit bis- o dilecte sodalis

Vt fons iste nouus sic effluit atque reformet

Me michi que fueram quasi uecors hactenus ex me

Telgesinus ait- rerum moderator opimus Flumina per species diuisit et addidit ultro Cumque suas uires ut prosint sepius egris

Sunt etenim fontes- fluuii que lacus que per orbem Qui uirtute sua multis et sepe medentur

Albula namque rapax rome fluit amne salubri Quem sanare ferunt certo medicamine uulnus

Manat in italia fons alter- qui ciceronis Dicitur- hic oculos ex omni uulnere curat

Ethiopes etiam stagnum perhibentur habere Quo uelut ex oleo facies perfusa nitescit

Affrica fert fontem qui uulgo zema uocatur Potus dat uoces subita uirtute canoras

Dat lacus italie dictonus tedia vini

Qui de fonte chios potant perhibentur habere

Fertur habere duos tellus boetica fontes

Hic facit inmemores- memores facit ille bibentes

Continent ipsa lacum tam dira peste uotiuum Vt generet furias nimie que libidinis estum

Fons syticus uenerem- uenerisque repellit amorem Campana regione fluunt ut dicitur amnes

Qui faciunt steriles fecundas flumine poto Jdem dicuntur furias abolere virorum

Ethiopum tellus fert rubro flumine fontem Qui bibit ex ilo limphaticus inde redibit

Fons lentus fieri numquam permittit abortum Sunt duo sycilie fontes steriles facit alter

Alter fecundans geniali Lege puellas

Flumina thessalie duo sunt uirtutis opime Hoc potans nigrescit ouis- candescit ab illo Ast ab utroque bibens uariato uellere degit

Clitumnus lacus est quem continet umbrica tellus Hic aliquando boues fertur producere magnos

Jn que reatina fit equorum dura palude Vngula confestim dum progrediuntur arenas

A falci que lacu iudee corpora mergi Nequaquam possunt uuegetat dum spiritus illa

At contra stagnum sygen fert indica tellus Quo res nulla natat- set mergitur ilico fundo

Et lacus est aloe quo res non mergitur ulla Omnia set fluitant quamuis sint plumbea saxa

Fons quoque marsidie compellit saxa natare Stix fluuius de rupe fluit- perimet que bidentes Has clades eius testatur achadia tellus

Fons ydumeus quater inmutando diebus Mira lege suos fertur uariare colores

Puluerilentus enim uiridus que fit ordine uerso Fit quoque sanguines- fit limpidus amne decoro

Ex hiis per ternos unum retinere colorem Asseritur menses semper uoluentibus annis

Rogotis lacus est eius quoque profluit unda Ter fit amara die- ter dulci grata sapore

Epirir de fonte faces ardere feruntur Extincte rursus que suum deponere lumen

Sic algere die perhibetur fons garamantum Et uice transuersa tota feruescere nocte

Vt neget accessum pre frigore pre que calore Sunt et aque calide multos feruore minantes Feruorem que trahunt dum perlabuntur alumen Aut sulphur quibus est uis ignea grata medendi His aliis que deus ditauit uiribus amnes

Vt fierent egris subite medicina salutis Et manifestarent quanta uirtute creator Premineat rebus dum sic operatur in illis

Hos etiam latices summa ratione salubres Esse reor- subitam que reor conferre medelam Nunc potuere nouo sic erumpendo liquore

Hii modo sub terra per concaua ceca fluebant Vt plures alii qui submanare feruntur Forsitan excursus illorum prepediente

Obice uel saxi- uel terre- pondere Lapse Retrogradum cursum facientes arbitror illos Paulatim penetrasse solum fontem que dedisse Sic plures manare uides- iterum que redire Sub terram rursus que suas tenuisse cauernas Hec ita dum gererent: rumor discurrit ubique Jn calidone nouum siluis erumpere fontem Sanatum que uirum post quam potauit ab illo Temporequi multo rabie corruptus- et isdem Extiterat siluis- ritu uiuendo ferarum

Mox igitur uenere duces- proceres que uidere- Et colletari curato flumine vati

Cum que statum prime per singula notificassent Atque rogaretur sua sceptra resumere rursus

Et tractare suam solito moderamine gentem Sic ait- o iuuenes mea non hoc exigit etas

Jn senium uergens que sic michi corripit artus Vt uix preteream laxatis viribus arua

Jam satis exegi longeuo tempore Letos Glorificando dies michi dum rideret habundans Copia magnarum profuse diuiciarum

Roboris annosi silua stat quercus in ista Quam sic exegit consumens cuncta uetustas Vt sibi deficiat succus penitus que putrescat Hanc ego cum primum cepisset crescere uidi Et glandem de qua processit forte cadentem Dum super astaret picus- ramum que uideret Hic illam creuisse suo iam pene sedebam Singula prospiciens tunc et uerebar in istis

Saltibus atque locum memori cummente notaui Ergo diu uixi- mea me grauitate senectus Detinuit dudum- rursus regnare recuso

Me calidonis opes uiridi sub fronde manentem Delectant pocius quam quas fert india gemme Quam quod habere tagus per littora dicitur aurum Quam segetes situle- quam dulcis methidis uue Aut celse turres- aut cincte menibus urbes

Aut fraglascentes tirio medicamine uestes Res michi nulla placet que me diuellere possit Ex calidone mea- me iudice semper amena Hic ero dum uiuam pomis contentus et herbis Et mundabo meam pia per ieiunia carnem

Vt ualeam fungi uita sine fine perhenni

Hec dum dicebat proceres super ethera cernunt Agmina longa gruum flexo per inane uolatu Ordine girantes per littora certa videre

Posset in exstructa liquido super aere turma Hec admirantes merlinum dicere poscunt Quid certe fuerat quod tali more uolerant

Mox merlinus eis uolucres ut cetera plura Natura propria ditauit conditor orbis

Sic didici multis siluis habitando diebus

Est igitur natura gruum dum celsa pererrant Si plures assint ut earum sepe uolatu

Aut hanc- aut aliam uideamus inesse figuram Vna modo clamando monet seruare uolando Turbatus solitis ne discrepet ordo figuris

Aut dum raucescit subit altera deficienti Excubias noctis faciunt- custos que lapillum Sustinet in digitis dum uult expellere sompnos Cumque uident aliquos subito clamore citantur Penne nigrescunt cunctarum quando senescunt

Ast aquile que nomen habent ab acumine uisus Obtuitus tanti pre cunctis esse feruntur

Vt perferre queant non flexo lumine solem Ad radium pullos suspendunt scire uolentes Jllo uitato ne degener exstet in illis

Jn montis sullime manent super equora pennis Aspirant que suas uno sub gurgite predas

Jlico descendunt rapido per inane uolatu Et rapiunt pisces- ut poscit origo natantis

Postposito coitu sine semine sepe mariti Concipit et generat dictu mirabile uultur

Hec per celsa uolans aquilarum more cadauer Naribus elatis longe trans equora sentit

Quod quamuis tardo non horret adire uolatu Vt sese ualeat preda saciare cupita

Jdem centenis robustus uiuit in annis

Nuntia ueris auis crepitante ciconia rostro Dicta fouere suos in tantum sedula natos Exuat ut proprias nudato pectore plumas Hec cum bruma uenit fertur uitare procellas Et fines asie ductu cornicis adire

Pascit eam pullus senio cum deficit etas Quod depauit eum iam debuit ipsa diebus

Excedit uolucres dulci modulamine cunctas Cum moritur cignus nautis gratissimus ales Hunc in hiperboreo perhibent accedere tractu Ad cantum cithare per littora forte sonantis

Strucio que ponit sub puluere deserit oua Vt foueantur ibi dum negligat ipsa fouere Jnde creantur aues radio pro matre cubante

Ardea cum pluuias tempestates que perhorret Euolat ad nubes ut tanta pericula uitet

Hinc illam subitos dicunt portendere nimbos Sublimem quociens spectant super ethera naute

Vnica semper auis diuino munere phenix Jn terris arabum rediuiuo corpore surgit Cumque senescit adit loca feruidiora calore Solis- et ingentes ab aromate iungit aceruos

Componit que rogum quem crebris motibus ale Succendit- fertur que super penitus que crematur Producit uolucrem puluis de corpore facto

Et fit item phenix hac lege nouata per euum Nidificare uolens fert cinnom cinomolgus Edificat que suum pro cero robore nidum Jllinc pennatis homines abducere telis Mouerunt cumulum soliti transmittere uenum

Alcion auis est que stagna marina frequentat Edificat que suos hiemali tempore nidos

Dum cubat equora sunt septem tranquilla diebus Et uenti cessant- tempestates que remisse Jnpendunt placidam uolucri famulando quietem

Psitacus humanam proprio modulamine uocem Dum non spectatur prorsus proferre putatur Jntermiscet aue uerbis et chere iocosis

Est pelicanus auis pullos consueta necare Et confusa tribus lugere dolore diebus Denique supposito laniat sua corpora rostro Et scindens uenas educit sanguinis undas

Et uite reduces reddit rorando uolucres Dum diomedee lacrimosa uoce resultant

Et faciunt planctus subitam portendere mortem Dicuntur regum uel magna pericula regni Cumque uident aliquem discernunt ilico quid sit Barbarus an grecus nam grecum plausibus ale Et blandimentis adeunt lete que resultant Circueunt alios pennis que feruntur iniquis Horrentique sono uelut hostes agrediuntur Mennonides quinto semper dicuntur in anno Mennonis ad tumulum longo remeare uolatu

Et deflere ducem troiano marte peremptum

Fert quoque mirandam splendens circinea pennam Nocte sub obscura que fulget ut ignea lampas

Aque ministrat iter si preportetur eunti Quando nidificat deuellit ab arbore picus Clauos et cuneos quos non diuelleret ullus Cuius ab impulsu uicinia tota resultant

His igitur dictis: quidam uesanus ad illos Accessit subito seu sors conduxerat illum Terrifico clamore nemus complebat et auras Et quasi seuus aper spumabat bella minando Ocius ergo uirum capiunt secum que sedere

Cogunt ut moueat risus que iocos que loquendo Jnspiciens igitur uates attentius illum

Quis fuerit recolit gemitum que reducit ab imo Pectore- sic dicens non hec fuit eius ymago Olim- dum nobis iuuenilis floruit etas

Pulcher enim fortis fuerat tunc tempore miles Et quem nobilitas regum que ferebat origo

Hunc mecum plures que simul tunc diues habebam Tot que bonis sociis felix censebar eram que Accidit interea dum uenaremur in altis

Montibus argustli nos deuenisse sub vna: Que patulis ramis surgebant in aera quercu Fons ibi manabat uiridi circumdatus herba Cuius erant latices humanis haustibus apti

Ergo siti pariter correpti sedimus illic Et fontis puros auide libauimus amnes

Deinde super teneras solito conspeximus herbas Jn riuo fontis redolentia poma iacere

Mox ea collegit qui primus adheserat iste Porrexit que michi subito pro munere ridens Ergo distribui data poma sodalibus et me Expertem feci quia non suffecit aceruus Riserunt alii quibus impertita fuerunt

Me que uocant largum cupidis quoque faucibus illa Agrediendo uorant et pauca fuisse queruntur

Nec mora corripuit rabies miserabilis istum Et cunctos alios qui mox ratione carentes More canum sese lacerant mordendo uicissim

Strident et spumant et humi sine mente uolutant Denique digressi sunt illinc more Lupino Complentes uacuas miseris ululatibus auras

Hec michi non illis uelut estimo poma dabantur Postmodo seu didici nam tunc in partibus illis Vna fuit mulier que me dilexerat ante

Et mecum multis uenerem saciauerat annis Hanc post quam spreui secum que coire negaui Vt me dampanaret rapuit mox leua uoluntas Cumque monens aditus alios reperire nequiret Apposuit fonti super illita dona veneni

Quo rediturus eram meditans hac arte nocere Si fruerer pomis in gramine forte repertis

At me sors melior sic conseruauit ab illis Vt modo predixi set eum compellere queso Hoc de fonte nouo limphas potare salubres Vt si forte suam possit rehabere salutem

Se cognoscat item- mecum que laboret in istis Saltibus in domino dum postera uita manebit Sic igitur fecere duces sumpto que liquore Redditur ille sibi qui uecors uenerat illuc Cognouit que suos subito curatus amicos

Tunc merlinus ait tibi nunc constanter eundum Est in agone dei qui te tibi reddidit ut nunc Jpsemet inspectas qui per deserta tot annis

Vt fera uixisti sine sensu turpis eundo

Ne modo diffugias fructices ratione recepta Aut uirides saltus quos iam limphando colebas Set mecum maneas ut quos tibi surripiebat

Vis uerunca dies iterum reparare labores Obsequio domini quod erit per singula mecum Ex hoc nunc commune tibi dum uiuit uterque

Ergo subhoc maeldinus ait- nam nomine tali Dictus erat- non hoc pater- o uenerande recuso Letus enim tecum siluas habitabo- deum que: Tota mente colam tremulos dum rexerit artus Spiritus iste meos quem te doctore piabo

Sic et ego faciam uobiscum tercius auctus Telgesinus ait despecto themate mundi Jam satis exegi uiuendo tempora vane

Et nunc tempus adest quo me michi te duce reddam

Vos set abite duces urbes defendere uestras Non decet ut nostram uestro sermone quietem A modo turbetis- satis applausistis amico Discedunt proceres- remanent tres et ganieda

Quarta soror uatis- sumpta quoque denique uita Ducebat uitam regis post fata pudicam

Que modo tot populos indicto iure regebat Nunc cum fratre sibi- siluis nil dulcius exstat- Hanc etiam quandoque suis rapiebat ad alta Spiritus- ut caneret de regno sepe futura

Ergo die quadam cum fratris staret in aula Jnspiceret que domos radiantes sole fenestra Edidit has dubias dubio de pectore uoces

Cerno ridichenam galeatis gentibus urbem Jmpletam- sacros que uiros- sacras que tyaras Nexibus addictos sic consiliante iuuenta

Pastor in excelsa mirabitur edita turris Et reserare sui cogetur futile dampni

Cerno kaerloyctoyc uallatam milite seuo Jnclusos que duos quorum diuelliter alter Vt redeat cum gebte fera cum principe uallis Et uincat rapto seuam rectore cateruam

Heu quantum scelus est capiant ut sidera solem Cui sullabuntur nec ui nec marte coacta Jnspicio binas prope kaerwen in aere lunas Gestari que duos nimia feritate Leones

Jnque duos homines unus miratur et alter

Jn totidem pugnam que parant et cominus astant Jnsurgunt alii quartum que ferocibus armis Acriter obpugnant nec preualet ullus eorum

Perstat enim clipeum que mouet telis que repugnat Et uictor ternos confestim proterit hostes

Jmpellit que duos trans frigida regna boetes Dans alii ueniam qui postulat ergo per omnes Diffugiunt partes tocius sidera campi Armoricanus aper quercu protectus auita Abducit lunam gladiis post terga rotatis Sidera bina feris uideo committere pugnam Colle sub urgenio quo conuenire deyri Gewissique simul magno regnante cohelo

O quanta sudore uiri- tellus que cruore Manat in externas dum dantur uulnera gente Concidit in latebras collisum sydere sidus Abscondit que suum renouato lumine lumen

Heu quam dira fames incumbit ut arceat aluos Euacuat que suos populorum uiribus arctus Jncipit a kambris peragrat que cacumina regni Et miseras gentes equor transire cohercet Diffugiunt uituli consueti uiuere Lacte Vaccarum- scotie morientum clade nephanda Iteque neustrenses cessate diutius arma

Ferre per ingenium uiolento milite regnum Non est unde gulam ualeatis pascere uestram

Consumpsistis enim quicquid natura creatrix Fertilitate bona dudum produxit in illa

Christe tuo populo fer opem- compesce Leones Da regno placidam bello cessante quietem

Non super hoc tacuit- commirantur que sodales Germanus que suus qui mox accessit ad illam Hoc que modo uerbis applaudens fertur amicis Te ne soror uoluit res precantare futuras

Spiritus- os que meum compescuit atque libellum Ergo tibi labor iste datur- leteris in illo

Auspiciis que meis deuote singula dicas Duximus ad metam carmen uos ergo britanni Laurea serta date Gaufrido de monumeta

Est etenim uester nam quondam prelia uestra Vestrorum que ducum cecinit scripsit que libellum Quem nunc gesta uocant britonum celebrata per orbem.

Table of Contents

An Open Entrance to the Closed Palace of the King………………………………………………………………………… 1

by An Anonymous Sage and Lover of Truth……………………………………………………………………………. 2

 THE AUTHOR’S PREFACE………………………………………………………………………………………………. 3

 CHAPTER I. Of the need of Sulphur for producing the Elixir…………………………………………………….. 4

CHAPTER II. Of the Component Principles of the Mercury of the Sages………………………………………. 5

CHAPTER III. Concerning the Chalybs of the Sages………………………………………………………………… 6

CHAPTER IV. Of the Magnet of the Sages…………………………………………………………………………….. 7

CHAPTER V. Of the Chaos of the Sages……………………………………………………………………………….. 8

CHAPTER VI. Of the Air of the Sages………………………………………………………………………………….. 9

CHAPTER VII. Of the First Operation −− Preparation of Mercury by means of the Flying Eagles…….. 10

CHAPTER VIII. Of the Difficulty and Length of the First Operation………………………………………….. 11

CHAPTER IX. On the Superiority of our Mercury over All Metals…………………………………………….. 12

CHAPTER X. On the sulphur which is in the Mercury of the Sages……………………………………………. 13

CHAPTER XI. oncerning the Discovery of the Perfect Magistery………………………………………………. 14

CHAPTER XII. The Generic Method of Making the Perfect Magistery……………………………………….. 15

 CHAPTER XIII. Of the Use of Mature Sulphur in the Work of the Elixir……………………………………. 16

 CHAPTER XIV. Of the Circumstantial and Accidental Requisites of our Art………………………………. 18

 CHAPTER XV. Of the Incidental Purging of Mercury and Gold………………………………………………. 19

 CHAPTER XVI. Of the Amalgam of Mercury and Gold, and of their respective Proportions………….. 20

 CHAPTER XVII. Concerning the Size, Form, Material, and Mode of Securing the Vessel……………… 21

 CHAPTER XVIII. Of the Furnace or Athanor of the Sages……………………………………………………… 22

 CHAPTER XIX. Of the Progress of the Work during the First Forty Days………………………………….. 23

 CHAPTER XX. Of the Appearance of Blackness in the Work of the Sun and Moon……………………… 25

 CHAPTER XXI. Of the Caution required to avoid Burning the Flowers……………………………………… 26

 CHAPTER XXII. Of the Regimen of Saturn………………………………………………………………………… 27

 CHAPTER XXIII. Of the different Regimens of this Work……………………………………………………… 28

 CHAPTER XXIV. Of the First Regimen, which is that of Mercury……………………………………………. 29

 CHAPTER XXV. The Regimen of the Second Part, which is that of Saturn………………………………… 30

 CHAPTER XXVI. Of the Regimen of Jupiter……………………………………………………………………….. 31

 CHAPTER XXVII. Of the Regimen of the Moon………………………………………………………………….. 32

 CHAPTER XXVIII. Of the Regimen of Venus……………………………………………………………………… 33

 CHAPTER XXIX. Of the Regimen of Mars…………………………………………………………………………. 34

 CHAPTER XXX. Of the Regimen of the Sun……………………………………………………………………….. 35

 CHAPTER XXXI. Of the Fermentation of the Stone……………………………………………………………… 36

 CHAPTER XXXII. The Imbibition of the Stone……………………………………………………………………. 37

 CHAPTER XXXIII. The Multiplication of the Stone……………………………………………………………… 38

 CHAPTER XXXIV. Of Projection…………………………………………………………………………………….. 39

 CHAPTER XXXV. Of the Manifold uses of this Art……………………………………………………………… 40

An Open Entrance to the Closed Palace of the King

by An Anonymous Sage and Lover of Truth

 THE AUTHOR’S PREFACE

• CHAPTER I. Of the need of Sulphur for producing the Elixir
• CHAPTER II. Of the Component Principles of the Mercury of the Sages
• CHAPTER III. Concerning the Chalybs of the Sages
• CHAPTER IV. Of the Magnet of the Sages
• CHAPTER V. Of the Chaos of the Sages
• CHAPTER VI. Of the Air of the Sages
• CHAPTER VII. Of the First Operation −− Preparation of Mercury by means of the Flying Eagles
• CHAPTER VIII. Of the Difficulty and Length of the First Operation
• CHAPTER IX. On the Superiority of our Mercury over All Metals
• CHAPTER X. On the sulphur which is in the Mercury of the Sages
• CHAPTER XI. oncerning the Discovery of the Perfect Magistery
• CHAPTER XII. The Generic Method of Making the Perfect Magistery
• CHAPTER XIII. Of the Use of Mature Sulphur in the Work of the Elixir
• CHAPTER XIV. Of the Circumstantial and Accidental Requisites of our Art
• CHAPTER XV. Of the Incidental Purging of Mercury and Gold
• CHAPTER XVI. Of the Amalgam of Mercury and Gold, and of their respective Proportions
• CHAPTER XVII. Concerning the Size, Form, Material, and Mode of Securing the Vessel
• CHAPTER XVIII. Of the Furnace or Athanor of the Sages
• CHAPTER XIX. Of the Progress of the Work during the First Forty Days
• CHAPTER XX. Of the Appearance of Blackness in the Work of the Sun and Moon
• CHAPTER XXI. Of the Caution required to avoid Burning the Flowers
• CHAPTER XXII. Of the Regimen of Saturn
• CHAPTER XXIII. Of the different Regimens of this Work
• CHAPTER XXIV. Of the First Regimen, which is that of Mercury
• CHAPTER XXV. The Regimen of the Second Part, which is that of Saturn
• CHAPTER XXVI. Of the Regimen of Jupiter
• CHAPTER XXVII. Of the Regimen of the Moon
• CHAPTER XXVIII. Of the Regimen of Venus
• CHAPTER XXIX. Of the Regimen of Mars
• CHAPTER XXX. Of the Regimen of the Sun
• CHAPTER XXXI. Of the Fermentation of the Stone
• CHAPTER XXXII. The Imbibition of the Stone
• CHAPTER XXXIII. The Multiplication of the Stone
• CHAPTER XXXIV. Of Projection
• CHAPTER XXXV. Of the Manifold uses of this Art

THE AUTHOR’S PREFACE

I, being an anonymous adept, a lover of learning, and a philosopher, have decreed ‘to write this little treatise of medicinal, chemical, and physical arcana, in the year 1645, after the Birth of Christ, and in the 23rd year of my age, to assist in conducting my straying brethren out of the labyrinth of error, and with the further object of making myself known to other Sages, holding aloft a torch which may be visible far and wide to those who are groping in the darkness of ignorance. The contents of this Book are not fables, but real experiments which I have seen, touched, and handled, as an adept will easily conclude from these lines. I have written more plainly about this Art than any of my predecessors; sometimes I have found myself on the very verge of breaking my vow, and once or twice had to lay down my pen for a season; but I could not resist the inward prompting of God, which impelled me to persevere in the most loving course, who alone knows the heart, and to whom only be glory for ever. Hence, I undoubtedly gather that in this last age of the world, many will become blessed by this arcanum, through what I have thus faithfully written, for I have not willingly left any−thing doubtful to the young beginner. I know many who with me do enjoy this secret, and am persuaded that many more will also rejoice in its possession. Let the holy Will of God perform what it pleases, though I confess myself an unworthy instrument through whom such great things should be effected.

CHAPTER I. Of the need of Sulphur for producing the Elixir

Whoever wishes to possess this secret Golden Fleece, which has virtue to transmute metals into gold, should know that our Stone is nothing but gold digested to the highest degree of purity and subtle fixation to which it can be brought by Nature and the highest effort of Art; and this gold thus perfected is called “our gold,” no longer vulgar, and is the ultimate goal of Nature. These words, though they may be surprising to some of my readers, are true, as I, an adept, bear witness; and though overwise persons entertain chimerical dreams, Nature herself is most wonderfully simple. Gold, then, is the one true principle of purification. But our gold is twofold; one kind is mature and fixed, the yellow Latten, and its heart or centre is pure fire, whereby it is kept from destruction, and only purged in the fire. This gold is our male, and it is sexually joined to a more crude white gold −− the female seed: the two together being indissolubly united, constitute our fruitful Hermaphrodite. We are told by the Sages that corporal gold is dead, until it be conjoined with its bride, with whom the coagulating sulphur, which in gold is outwards, must be turned inwards. Hence it follows that the substance which we require is Mercury. Concerning this substance, Geber uses the following words: “Blessed be the Most High God who created Mercury, and made it an all−prevailing substance.” And it is true that unless we had Mercury, Alchemists might still boast themselves, but all their boasting would be vain. Hence it is clear that our Mercury is not common mercury; for all common mercury is a male that is corporal, specific, and dead, while our Mercury is spiritual, female, living, and life−giving. Attend closely to what I say about our Mercury, which is the salt of the wise men. The Alchemist who works without it is like a man who draws a bow without a string. Yet it is found nowhere in a pure state above ground, but has to be extracted by a cunning process out of the substance in which it exists.

CHAPTER II. Of the Component Principles of the Mercury of the Sages

Let those who aim to purify Mercury by means of salts, faeces and other foreign bodies, and by strange chemical processes, understand that though our water is variousy composed, it is yet only one thing, formed by the concretion of divers substances of the same essence. The components of our water are fire, the vegetable “Saturnian liquid,” and the bond of Mercury. The fire is that of mineral Sulphur, which yet can be called neither mineral nor metallic, but partakes of both characters: it is a chaos or spirit, because our fiery Dragon, that overcomes all things, is yet penetrated by the odour of the Saturnian liquid, its blood growing together with the Saturnian sap into one body which is yet neither a body (since it is all volatile) nor a spirit (since in fire it resembles melted metal). It may thus be very properly described as chaos, or the mother of all metals. From this chaos I can extract everything −− even the Sun and Moon −− without the transmutatory Elixir. It is called our Arsenic, our Air, our Moon, our Magnet, and our Chalybs: these names representing the different stages of its development, even unto the manifestation of the kingly diadem, which is cast out of the menstruum of our harlot. Learn then, who are the friends of Cadmus; who is the serpent that devoured them; what the hollow oak to which Cadmus spitted the serpent. Learn who are the doves of Diana, that overcome the green lion by gentleness: even the Babylonian dragon, which kills everything with its venom. Learn, also, what are the winged shoes of Mercury, and who are those nymphs whom he charms by means of his incantations.

CHAPTER III. Concerning the Chalybs of the Sages

Our Chalybs is the true key of our Art, without which the Torch could in no wise be kindled, and as the true magi have delivered many things concerning it, so among vulgar alchemists there is great contention as to its nature. It is the ore of gold, the purest of all spirits; a secret, infernal, and yet most volatile fire, the wonder of the world, the result of heavenly virtues in the lower world −− for which reason the Almighty has assigned to it a most glorious and rare heavenly conjunction, even that notable sign whose nativity is declared in the East. This star was seen by the wise men of old, and straightway they knew that a Great King was born in the world. When you see its constellation, follow it to the cradle, and there you will behold a beautiful Infant. Remove the impurities, look upon the face of the King’s Son; open your treasury, give to him gold, and after his death he will bestow on you his flesh and blood, the highest Medicine in the three monarchies of the earth.

CHAPTER IV. Of the Magnet of the Sages

As steel is attracted towards the magnet, and the magnet turns towards the steel, so also our Magnet attracts our Chalybs. Thus, as Chalybs is the ore of gold, so our Magnet is the true ore of our Chalybs. The hidden centre of our Magnet abounds in Salt, which Salt is the menstruum in the Sphere of the Moon, and can calcine gold. This centre turns towards the Pole with an archetic appetite, in which the virtue of the Chalybs is exalted into degrees. In the Pole is the heart of Mercury, the true fire (in which is the rest of its Master), sailing through this great sea that it may arrive at both the Indies, and direct its course by the aspect of the North Star, which our Magnet will manifest.

CHAPTER V. Of the Chaos of the Sages

Let the student incline his ear to the united verdict of the Sages, who describe this work as analogous to the Creation of the World. In the Beginning God created Heaven and Earth; and the Earth was without form and void, and the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. These words are sufficient for the student of our Art. The Heaven must be united to the Earth on the couch of friendship, so shall he reign in glory for ever. The Earth is the heavy body, the womb of the minerals, which it cherishes in itself, although it brings to light trees and animals. The Heaven is the place where the great Lights revolve, and through the air transmit their influences to the lower world. But in the beginning all was one confused chaos. Our Chaos is, as it were, a mineral earth (by virtue of its coagulation), and yet also volatile air −− in the centre of which is the Heaven of the Sages, the Astral Centre. which with its light irradiates the earth to its surface. What man is wise enough to evolve out of this world a new King, who shall redeem his brothers from their natural weaknesses, by dying, being lifted on high, and giving his flesh and blood for the life of the world ? I thank Thee, O God, that Thou hast concealed these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto babes!

CHAPTER VI. Of the Air of the Sages

Our air, like the air of the firmament, divides the waters; and as the waters under the firmament are visible to us mortals, while we are unable to see the waters above the firmament, so in “our work” we see the extracentral mineral waters, but are unable to see those which, though hidden within, nevertheless have a real existence. They exist but do not appear until it please the Artist, as the author of the New Light has testified. Our air keeps the extracentral waters from mingling with those at the centre. If through the removal of this impediment, they were enabled to mingle, their union would be indissoluble. Therefore the external vapours and burning sulphur do stiffy adhere to our chaos, and unable to resist its tyranny, the pure flies away from the fire in the form of a dry powder. This then should be your great object. The arid earth must be irrigated, and its pores softened with water of its own kind, then this thief with all the workers of iniquity will be cast out, the water will be purged of its leprous stain by the addition of true Sulphur, and you will have the Spring whose waters are sacred to the maiden Queen Diana. This thief is armed with all the malignity of arsenic, and is feared and eschewed by the winged youth.

Though the Central Water be his Spouse, yet the youth cannot come to her, until Diana with the wings of her doves purges the poisonous air, and opens a passage to the bridal chamber. Then the youth enters easily through the pores, presently shaking the waters above, and stirring up a rude and ruddy cloud. Do thou, O Diana, bring in the water over him, even unto the brightness of the Moon ! So the darkness on the face of the abyss will be dispersed by the spirit moving in the waters. Thus, at the bidding of God, light will appear on the Seventh Day, and then this sophic creating of Mercury shall be completed, from which time, until the revolution of the year, you may wait for the birth of the marvellous Child of the Sun, who will come to deliver his brethren from every stain.

CHAPTER VII. Of the First Operation −− Preparation of Mercury by means of the Flying Eagles

Know, my brother, that the exact preparation of the Eagles of the Sages, is the highest effort of our Art. In this first section of our work, nothing is to be done without hard and persevering toil; though it is quite true that afterwards the substance develops under the influence of gentle heat without any imposition of hands. The Sages tell us that their Eagles must be taken to devour the Lion, and that they gain the victory all the sooner if they are very numerous; also that the number of the work varies between 7 and 9. The Mercury of the Sages is the Bird of Hermes (now called a goose, now a pheasant). But the Eagles are always mentioned in the plural, and number from 3 to lo. Yet this is not to be understood as if there should be so many weights or parts of the water to one of the earth, but the water must be taken so oftentimes acuated or sharpened as there are Eagles numbered. This acuation is made by sublimation. There is, then, one sublimation of the Mercury of the Sages, when one Eagle is mentioned, and the seventh sublimation will so strengthen your Mercury, that the Bath of your King will be ready… Let me tell you now how this part of the work is performed. Take 4 parts of our fiery Dragon, in whose belly is hidden the magic Chalybs, and 9 parts of our Magnet; mingle them by means of a fierce fire, in the form of a mineral water, the foam of which must be taken away. Remove the shell, and take the kernel. Purge what remains once more by means of fire and the Sun, which may be done easily if Saturn shall have seen himself in the mirror of Mars. Then you will obtain our Chameleon, or Chaos, in which all the virtues of our Art are potentially present. This is the infant Hermaphrodite, who, through the bite of a mad dog, has been rendered so fearful of water, that though of a kindred nature, it always eschews and avoids it. But in the grove of Diana are two doves that soothe its rabid madness if applied by the art of the nymph Mercury. Take it and plunge it under water till it perish therein; then the rabid and black dog will appear panting and half suffocated −− drive him down with vigorous blows, and the darkness will be dispelled. Give it wings when the Moon is full, and it will fly away as an Eagle, leaving the doves of Diana dead (though, when first taken they should be living). Repeat this seven times, and your work is done, the gentle coction which follows is child’s play and a woman’s work.

CHAPTER VIII. Of the Difficulty and Length of the First Operation

Some Alchemists fancy that the work from beginning to end is a mere idle entertainment; but those who make it so will reap what they have sown −− viz., nothing. We know that next to the Divine Blessing, and the discovery of the proper foundation, nothing is so important as unwearied industry and perseverance in this First Operation. It is no wonder, then, that so many students of this Art are reduced to beggary; they are afraid of work, and look upon our Art as mere sport for their leisure moments. For no labour is more tedious than that which the preparatory part of our enterprise demands. Morienus earnestly entreats the King to consider this fact, and says that many Sages have complained of the tedium of our work. “To render a chaotic mass orderly”‘ says the Poet, “is matter of much time and labour” −− and the noble author of the Hermetical Arcanum describes it as an Herculean task. There are so many impurities clinging to our first substance, and a most powerful intermediate agent is required for the purpose of eliciting from our polluted menstruum the Royal Diadem. But when you have once prepared your Mercury, the most formidable part of your task is accomplished, and you may indulge in that rest which is sweeter than any work, as the Sage says.

CHAPTER IX. On the Superiority of our Mercury over All Metals

Our Mercury is that Serpent which devoured the companions of Cadmus, after having first swallowed Cadmus himself, though he was far stronger than they. Yet Cadmus will one day transfix this Serpent, when he has coagulated it with his Sulphur. Know that this, our Mercury, is a King among metals, and dissolves them by changing their Sulphur into a kindred mercurial substance. The Mercury of one, two, or three eagles bears rule over Saturn, Jupiter, and Venus. The Mercury of from three to seven eagles sways the Moon; that of ten eagles has power over the Sun; our Mercury is nearer than any other unto the first ens of metals; it has power to enter metallic bodies, and to manifest their hidden depths.

CHAPTER X. On the sulphur which is in the Mercury of the Sages

It is a marvellous fact that our Mercury contains active sulphur and yet preserves the form and all the properties of Mercury. Hence it is necessary that a form be introduced therein by our preparation, which form is a metallic sulphur. This Sulphur is the inward fire which causes the putrefaction of the composite Sun. This sulphureous fire is the spiritual seed which our Virgin (still remaining immaculate) has conceived. For an uncorrupted virginity admits of a spiritual love, as experience and authority affirm. The two (the passive and the active principle) combined we call our Hermaphrodite. When joined to the Sun, it softens, liquefies, and dissolves it with gentle heat. By means of the same fire it coagulates itself; and by its coagulation produces the Sun. Our pure and homogeneous Mercury, having conceived inward Sulphur (through our Art), coagulates itself under the influence of gentle outward heat, like the cream of milk −− a subtle earth floating on the water. When it is united to the Sun, it is not only not coagulated, but the composite substance becomes softer day by day; the bodies are almost dissolved; and the spirits begin to be coagulated, with a black colour and a most fetid smell. Hence it appears that this spiritual metallic Sulphur is in truth the moving principle in our Art; it is really volatile or unmatured gold, and by proper digestion is changed into that metal. If joined to perfect gold, it is not coagulated, but dissolves the corporal gold, and remains with it, being dissolved, under one form, although before the perfect union death must precede, that so they may he united after death, not simply in a perfect unity, but in a thousand times more than perfect perfection.

CHAPTER XI. oncerning the Discovery of the Perfect Magistery

There are those who think that this Art was first discovered by Solomon, or rather imparted to him by Divine Revelation. But though there is no reason for doubting that so wise and profoundly learned a sovereign was acquainted with our Art, yet we happen to know that he was not the first to acquire the knowledge. It was possessed by Hermes, the Egyptian, and some other Sages before him; and we may suppose that they first sought a simple exaltation of imperfect metals into regal perfection, and that it was at first their endeavour to develop Mercury, which is most like to gold in its weight and properties, into perfect gold. This, however, no degree of ingenuity could effect by any fire, and the truth gradually broke on their minds that an internal heat was required as well as an external one. So they rejected aqua fortis and all corrosive solvents, after long experiments with the same −− also all salts, except that kind which is the first substance of all salts, which dissolves all metals and coagulates Mercury, but not without violence, whence that kind of agent is again separated entire, both in weight and virtue, from the things it is applied to. They saw that the digestion of Mercury was prevented by certain aqueous crudities and earthy dross; and that the radical nature of these impurities rendered their elimination impossible, except by the complete inversion of the whole compound. They knew that Mercury would become fixed if it could be freed from their defiling presence −− as it contains fermenting sulphur, which is only hindered by these impurities from coagulating the whole mercurial body. At length they discovered that Mercury, in the bowels of the earth, was intended to become a metal, and that the process of development was only stopped by the impurities with which it had become tainted. They found that that which should be active in the Mercury was passive; and that its infirmity could not be remedied by any means, except the introduction of some kindred principle from without. Such a principle they discovered in metallic sulphur, which stirred up the passive sulphur in the Mercury, and by allying itself with it, expelled the aforesaid impurities. But in seeking to accomplish this practically, they were met by another great difficulty. In order that this sulphur might be effectual in purifying the Mercury, it was indispensable that it should itself be pure. All their efforts to purify it, however, were doomed to failure. At length they bethought them that it might possibly be found somewhere in Nature in a purified condition

−− and their search was crowned with success. They sought active sulphur in a pure state, and found it cunningly concealed in the House of the Ram. This sulphur mingled most eagerly with the offspring of Saturn, and the desired effect was speedily produced −− after the malignant venom of the ” air” of Mercury had been tempered (as already set forth at some length) by the Doves of Venus. Then life was joined to life by means of the liquid; the dry was moistened; the passive was stirred into action by the active; the dead was revived by the living. The heavens were indeed temporarily clouded over, but after a copious downpour of rain, serenity was restored.

Mercury emerged in a hermaphroditic state. Then they placed it in the fire; in no long time they succeeded in coagulating it, and in its coagulation they found the Sun and the Moon in a most pure state. Then they considered that, before its coagulation, this Mercury was not a metal, since, on being volatilised, it left no residue at the bottom of the distilling vessel; hence they called it unmatured gold and their living (or quick) silver It also occurred to them that if gold were sown, as it were, in the soil of its own first substance, its excellence would probably be enhanced; and when they placed gold therein, the fixed was volatilised, the hard softened, the coagulated dissolved, to the amazement of Nature herself. For this reason they wedded these two to each other, put them in a still over the fire, and for many days regulated the heat in accordance with the requirements of Nature. Thus the dead was revived, the body decayed, and a glorified spirit rose from the grave; the soul was exalted into the Quintessence −− the Universal Medicine for animals, vegetables, and minerals.

CHAPTER XII. The Generic Method of Making the Perfect Magistery

The greatest secret of our operation is no other than a cohobation of the nature of one thing above the other, until the most digested virtue be extracted out of the digested body of the crude one. But there are hereto requisite: Firstly, an exact measurement and preparation of the ingredients required; secondly, an exact fulfilment of all external conditions; thirdly a proper regulation of the fire; fourthly, a good knowledge of the natural properties of the substances; and fifthly, patience, in order that the work may not be marred by overgreat haste. Of all these points we will now speak in their proper order.

CHAPTER XIII. Of the Use of Mature Sulphur in the Work of the Elixir

We have spoken of the need of Mercury, and have described its properties more plainly and straightforwardly than has ever been done before. God knows that we do not grudge the knowledge of this Art to our brother men; and we are not afraid that it can ever become the property of any unworthy person. So long as the secret is possessed by a comparatively small number of philosophers, their lot is anything but a bright and happy one; surrounded as we are on every side by the cruel greed and −− the prying suspicion of the multitude, we are doomed, like Cain, to wander over the earth homeless and friendless. Not for us are X the soothing influences of domestic happiness; not for us the delightful confidences of friendship. Men who covet our golden secret pursue us from place to place, and fear closes our lips, when love tempts us to open ourselves freely to a brother. Thus we feel prompted at times to burst forth into the desolate exclamation of Cain: “Whoever finds me will slay me.” Yet we are not the murderers of our brethren; we are anxious only to do good to our fellow−men. But even our kindness and charitable compassion are rewarded with black ingratitude− ingratitude that cries to heaven for vengeance. It was only a short time ago that, after visiting the plague−stricken haunts of a certain city, and restoring the sick to perfect health by means of my miraculous medicine, I found myself surrounded by a yelling mob, who demanded that I should give to them my Elixir of the Sages; and it was only by changing my dress and my name, by shaving off my beard and putting on a wig, that I was enabled to save my life, and escape from the hands of those wicked men. And even when our lives are not threatened, it is not pleasant to find−ourselves, wherever we go, the central objects of human greed… I know of several persons who were found strangled in their beds, simply because they were suspected of possessing this secret, though, in reality, they knew no more about it than their murderers; it was enough for some desperate ruffians, that a mere whisper of suspicion had been breathed against their victims. Men are so eager to have this Medicine that your very caution will arouse their suspicions, and endanger your safety. Again, if you desire to sell any large quantity of your gold and silver, you will be unable to do so without imminent risk of discovery. The very fact that anyone has a great mass of bullion for sale would in most places excite suspicion. This feeling will be strengthened when people test the quality of our gold; for it is much finer and purer than any of the gold which is brought from Barbary, or from the Guinea Coast; and our silver is better even than that which is conveyed home by the Spanish silver fleet. If, in order to baffle discovery, you mix these precious metals with alloy, you render yourself liable, in England and− Holland at least, to capital punishment; for in those countries no one is permitted to tamper with the precious metals except the officers of the mint, and the licensed goldsmiths. I remember once going, in the disguise of a foreign merchant to a goldsmith’s shop, and offering him 600 pounds worth of our pure silver for sale. He subjected it to the usual tests, and then said: “This silver is artificially prepared.” When I asked him why he thought so, his answer was: “I am not a novice in my profession, and know very well the exact quality of the silver which is brought from the different mines.” When I heard these words I took myself away with great secrecy and dispatch, leaving the silver in the hands of the goldsmith. On this account, and by reason of the many and great difficulties which beset us, the possessors of this Stone, on every side, we do elect to remain hidden, and will communicate the Art to those who are worthily covetous of our secrets, and then mark what public good will befall. Without Sulphur, our Mercury would never be properly coagulated for our supernatural work; it is the male substance, while Mercury may be called the female; and all Sages say that no tincture can be made without its latten, which latten is gold, without any double speaking. Wise men, notwithstanding, can find this substance even on the dunghill; but the ignorant are unable to discern it even in gold. The tincture of gold is concealed in the gold of the Sages, which is the most highly matured of bodies; but as a raw material it exists only in our Mercury; and it (gold) receives from Mercury the multiplication of its seed, but in virtue rather than in weight. The Sages say that common gold is dead, while their’s is living; and common gold is dead in the same sense in which a grain of wheat is dead, while it is surrounded by dry air; and comes to life, swells, softens, and germinates only when it is put into moist earth. In this sense gold, too, is dead, so long as it is surrounded by the corporeal husk, always allowing, of course, for the great difference between a vegetable grain and metallic gold. Our grain is quickened in water only; and as wheat, while it remains in the barn is called grain, and is not destined to be quickened, because it is to be used for bread making −− but changes its name, when it is sown in the field, and is then called seedcorn; so our gold, while it is in the form of rings, plate, and coins, is called common gold, because in that state it is likely to remain unchanged

to the end of the world; but potentially it is even then the gold of the Sages, because if sown in its own proper element, it would in a few days become the Chaos of the Sages. Hence the Sages bid you revive the dead (i.e., the gold which already appeared doomed to a living death) and mortify the living, i.e., the Mercury which, imparting life to the gold, is itself deprived of the vital principle. Their gold is taken in a dead, their water in a living, state, and by their composition and brief coction, the dead gold revives and the living Mercury dies, i.e., the spirit is coagulated, the body is dissolved, and thus both putrefy together, until all the members of the compound are torn into atoms. The mystery of our Art, which we conceal with so great care, is the preparation of the Mercury, which above ground is not to be found made ready to our hand. But when it is prepared, it is “our water” in which gold is dissolved, whereby the latent life of the gold is set free, and receives the life of the dissolving Mercury, which is to gold what good earth is to the grain of wheat. When the gold has putrefied in the Mercury, there arises out of the decomposition of death a new body, of the same essence, but of a glorified substance. Here you have the whole of our Philosophy in a nutshell. There is no secret about it, except the preparation of Mercury, its mingling with the gold in the right proportions, and the regulation of the fire in accordance with its requirements. Gold by itself does not fear the fire; hence the great point is, to temper the heat to the capacity of the Mercury. If the Mercury is not properly prepared, the gold remains common gold, being joined with an improper agent; it continues unchanged, and no degree of heat will help it to put off its corporeal nature. Without our Mercury the seed (i.e., gold) cannot be sown; and if gold is not sown in its proper element, it cannot be quickened any more than the corn which the West Indians keep underground, in air−tight stone jars, can germinate. I know that some self−constituted “Sages” will take exception to this teaching, and say that common gold and running Mercury are not the substance of our Stone. But one question will suffice to silence their objections: Have they ever actually prepared our Tincture? I have prepared it more than once, and daily have it in my power; hence I may perhaps be permitted to speak as one having authority. Go on babbling about your rain water collected in May, your Salts, your sperm which is more potent than the foul fiend himself, ye self−styled philosophers; rail at me, if you like; all you say is conclusively refuted by this one fact −− you cannot make the Stone. When I say that gold and Mercury are the only substances of our Stone I know what I am writing about; and the Searcher of all hearts knows also that I say true. The time has arrived when we may speak more freely about this Art. For Elias the artist is at hand, and glorious things are already spoken of the City of God. I possess wealth sufficient to buy the whole world −− but as yet I may not use it on account of the craft and cruelty of wicked men. It is not from jealousy that I conceal as much as I do: God knows that I am weary of this lonely, wandering life, shut out from the bonds of friendship, and almost from the face of God. I do not worship the golden calf, before which our Israelites bow low to the ground; let it be ground to powder like the brazen serpent. I hope that in a few years gold (not as given by God, but as abused by man) will be so common that those who are now so mad after it, shall contemotuously spurn aside this bulwark of Antichrist. Then will tie day of our deliverance be at hand when the streets of the new Jerusalem are paved with gold, and its gates are made of great diamonds. The day is at hand when, by means of this my Book, gold will have become as common as dirt; when we Sages shall find rest for the soles of our feet, and render fervent thanks to God. My heart conceives unspeakable things, and is enlarged for the good of the Israel of God. These words I utter forth with a herald’s clarion tones. My Book is the precursor of Elias, designed to prepare the Royal way of the Master; and would to God that by its means all men might become adepts in our Art −− for then gold, the great idol of mankind, would lose its value, and we should prize it only for its scientific teaching. Virtue would be loved for its own sake. I am familiar with many possessors of this Art who regard silence as the great point of honour. But I have been enabled by God to take a different view of the matter; and I firmly believe that I can best serve the Israel of God, and put my talent out at usury, by making this secret knowledge the common property of the whole world. Hence I have not conferred with flesh and blood, nor attempted to obtain the consent of my Brother Sages. If the matter succeeds according to my desire and prayer, they will all rejoice that I have published this Book.

CHAPTER XIV. Of the Circumstantial and Accidental Requisites of our Art

We have weeded out all vulgar errors concerning our Art, and have shewn that gold and Mercury are the only substances required. We have shewn that this gold is to be understood, not metaphorically, but in a truly philosophical sense. We have also declared our Mercury to be true quicksilver, without any ambiguity of acceptation. The latter, we have told you, must be made by art, and be a key to the former. We have made everything as clear as noonday; and our teaching is based, not on hearsay, or on the writings of others, but on our own personal and oft repeated experience. The things we faithfully declare are what we have both seen and known. We have made and do possess the Stone −− the great Elixir. Moreover, we do not grudge you this knowledge, but wish you to attain it out of this Book. We have spoken out more plainly than any of our predecessors; and our Receipt, apart from the fact that we have not called things by their proper names, is perfectly trustworthy. It remains for us to give you some practical tests by which the goodness or unsuitableness of your Mercury may be known. and some directions for amending its defects. When you have living Mercury and gold, there remains to be accomplished, first, the purging of the Mercury and the gold, then their espousal, and finally the regulation of the fire.

CHAPTER XV. Of the Incidental Purging of Mercury and Gold

Perfect gold is found in the bowels of the earth in little pieces, or in sand. If you can meet with this unmixed gold, it is pure enough; if not, purge it with antimony or royal cement, or boil it with aqua fortis, the gold being first granulated. Then smelt it, remove the impure sediment, and it is ready. But Mercury needs inward and essential purging. which radical cleansing is brought about by the addition of true Sulphur, little by little, according to the number of the Eagles. Then it also needs an incidental purgation for the purpose of removing from its surface the impurities which have, by the essential purgation, been ejected from the centre. This process is not absolutely necessary, but it is useful, as it accelerates the work. Therefore, take your Mercury, which you have purified with a suitable number of Eagles, sublime it three times with common salt and iron filings, and wash it with vinegar and a moderate quantity of salts of ammonia, then dry and distil in a glass retort, over a gradually increasing fire, until the whole of the Mercury has ascended. Repeat this four times, then boil the Mercury in spirits of vinegar for an hour, stirring it constantly. Then pour off the vinegar, and wash off its acidity by a plentiful effusion of spring water. Dry the Mercury, and its splendour will be wonderful. You may wash it with wine, or vinegar and salt, and so spare the sublimation; but then distil it at least four times without addition, after you have perfected all the eagles, or washings, washing the chalybeat retort every time with ashes and water; then boil it in distilled vinegar for half a day, stirring it strongly at times. Pour off the blackish vinegar, add new, then wash with warm water.

This process is designed to purge away the internal impurities from the surface. These impurities you may perceive if, on mixing Mercury with purest gold, you place the amalgam on a white sheet of paper. The sooty blackness which is then seen on the paper is purged away by this process.

CHAPTER XVI. Of the Amalgam of Mercury and Gold, and of their respective Proportions

When you have done all this, take one part of pure and laminated gold, or fine gold filings, and two parts of Mercury; put them in a heated (marble) jar, i.e., heaved with boiling water, being taken out of which it dries quickly, and holds the heat a long time. Grind with an ivory, or glass, or stone, or iron, or boxwood pestle (the iron pestle is not so good; I use a pestle of crystal): pound them, I say, as small as the painters grind their colours; then add water so as to make the mass as consistent as half melted butter. The mixture should be fixable and soft, and permit itself to be moulded into little globules −− like moderately soft butter; it should be of such a consistency as to yield to the gentlest touch. Moreover, it should be of the same temperature throughout, and one part should not be more liquid than another. The mixture will be more or less soft, according to the proportion of Mercury which it contains; but it must be capable of forming into those little globules, and the Mercury should not be more lively at the bottom than at the top. If the amalgam be left undisturbed, it will at once harden; you must therefore judge of the merits of the mixture, while you are stirring it; if it fulfils the above conditions, it is good Then take spirit of vinegar, and dissolve in it a third part of salt of ammonia, put the amalgam into this liquid, let the whole boil for a quarter−of−an−hour in a long necked glass vessel; then take the mixture out of the glass vessel, pour off the liquid, heat the mortar, and pound the amalgam (as above) vigorously, and wash away all blackness with hot water. Put it again into the liquid, let it boil up once more in the glass vessel, pound it as before, and wash it. Repeat this process until the blackness is entirely purged out. The amalgam will then be as brilliant and white as the purest silver. Once more regulate the temperature of the amalgam according to the rules given above; your labour will be richly rewarded. If the amalgam be not quite soft enough, add a little Mercury. Then boil it in pure water, and free it from all saltness and acidity. Pour off the water, and dry the amalgam. Make quite sure that it is thoroughly dried, by waving it to and fro on the point of a knife over a sheet of white paper.

CHAPTER XVII. Concerning the Size, Form, Material, and Mode of Securing the Vessel

Let your glass distilling vessel be round or oval; large enough to hold neither more nor much less than an ounce of distilled water in the body thereof. Let the height of the vessel’s neck be about one palm, hand−breath, or span, and let the glass be clear and thick (the thicker the better, so long as it is clear and clean, and permits you to distinguish what is going on within) −− but the thickness should be uniform. The substance which will go into this vessel consists of 1/2 oz. of gold, and one oz. of mercury; and if you have to add 1/3 oz. of mercury, the whole compound will still be less than 2 oz. The glass should be strong in order to prevent the vapours which arise from our embryo bursting the vessel. Let the mouth of the vessel be very carefully and effectually secured by means of a thick layer of sealing−wax. The utensils and the materials required are not then very expensive −− and if you use my thick distilling−vessel you will avoid loss by breakage. The other instruments that are requisite are not dear. I know that many will take exception to this statement; they will say that the pursuit of our Art is a matter of all but ruinous expense. But my answer consists in a simple question: What is the object of our Art? Is it not to make the Philosopher’s Stone −− to find the liquid in which gold melts like ice in tepid water? And do those good people who are so eager in their search after “Mercury of the Sun,” and “Mercury of the Moon,” and who pay so high a price for their materials, ever succeed in this object? They cannot answer this question in the affirmative.

One florin will buy enough of the substance of our water to quicken two pounds of mercury, and make it the true Mercury of the Sages. But, of course, glass vessels, coals, earthen vessels, a furnace, iron vessels, and other instruments, cannot be bought for nothing. Without a perfect body, our ore, viz., gold, there can be no Tincture, and our Stone is at first vile, immature, and volatile, but when complete it is perfect, precious, and fixed. These two aspects of our Stone are the body, gold, and the spirit, or quicksilver.

CHAPTER XVIII. Of the Furnace or Athanor of the Sages

I have spoken about Mercury, Sulphur, the vessel, their treatment, etc. etc.; and, of course, all these things are to be understood with a grain of salt. You must understand that in the preceding chapters I have spoken metaphorically; if you take my words in a literal sense, you will reap no harvest except your outlay. For instance, when I name the principal substances Mercury and gold −− I do not mean common gold in the state in which it is sold at the goldsmiths −− but it must be prepared by means of our Art You may find our gold in common gold and silver, but it is easier to make the Stone than to get its first substance out of common gold. “Our gold” is the Chaos whose soul has not been taken away by fire. The soul of common gold has retired before the fiery tyranny of Vulcan into the inmost citadel. If you seek our gold in a substance intermediate between perfection and imperfection, you will find it: but otherwise, you must unbar the gates of common gold by the first preparatory process (ch. xv.), by which the charm of its body is broken, and the husband enabled to do his work. If you choose the former course, you shall use only gentle heat; in the latter case, you will require a fierce fire. But here you will be hopelessly lost in a labyrinth, if you do not know your way out of it. But whether you choose our gold, or common gold, you will in either case need an even and continual fire. If you take our gold, you will finish the work a few months sooner, and the Elixir will be ten times more precious than that prepared from common gold. If you work with “our gold,” you will be assisted in its calcination, putrefaction, and dealbation by its gentle inward (natural) heat. But in the case of common gold, this heat has to be applied externally by foreign substances, so as to render it fit for union with the Virgin’s Milk. In neither case, however, can anything be effected without the aid of fire. It was not, then, in vain that Hermes counts fire next to the Sun and Moon as the governor of the work. But this is to be under stood of the truly secret furnace, which a vulgar eye never saw.

There is also another furnace, which is called our common furnace, made of potter’s earth, or of iron and brass plates, well compacted with clay. This furnace we call Athanor, and the shape which I like best is that of a tower with a “nest” at the top. The “tower” should be about three feet high, and nine fingers wide within the plates. A little above the ground, let there be a little opening of about three or four fingers wide, for removing the cinders; over that, there should be a fire−place built with stones. Above this, we place the furnace itself, which should be such as to exclude all draughts and currents of air. The coals are put in from above, and the aperture should then be carefully closed. But it is not necessary that your furnace should exactly correspond to the description which I have given so long as it fulfils the following conditions: firstly, it must be free from draughts; secondly, it must enable you to vary the temperature, without removing your vessel; thirdly, you must be able to keep up in it a fire for ten or twelve hours, without looking to it. Then the door of our Art will be opened to you; and when you have prepared the Stone, you may procure a small portable stove, for the purpose of multiplying it.

CHAPTER XIX. Of the Progress of the Work during the First Forty Days

When you have prepared our gold and Mercury in the manner described, put it into our vessel, and subject it to the action of our fire; within 40 days you will see the whole substance converted into atoms, without any visible motion, or perceptible heat (except that it is just warm). If you do not yet rightly know the meaning of “our gold,” take one part of common gold (well purified), and three parts of our Mercury (thoroughly purged), put them together as directed (cap. xvi), place them over the fire, and there keep them at the boiling point, till they sweat, and their sweat circulates. At the end of 90 days you will find that the Mercury has separated and reunited all the elements of the common gold. Boil the mixture 50 days longer, and you will discover that our Mercury has changed the common gold into “our gold,” which is the Medicine of the first order. It is already our Sulphur, but it has not yet the power of tinging. This method has been followed by many Sages, but it is exceedingly slow and tedious, and is only for the rich of the earth. Moreover, when you have got this Sulphur do not think that you possess the Stone, but only its true Matter, which you may seek in an imperfect thing, and find it within a week, by our easy yet rare way, reserved of God for His poor, contemned, and abject saints. Hereof I have now determined to write much, although in the beginning of this Book I decreed to bury it in silence. This is the one great sophism of all adepts; some speak of this common gold and silver, and say the truth, and others say that we cannot use it, and they too, say the truth. But in the presence of God I will call all our adepts to account, and charge them with jealous surliness. I, too, had determined to tread the same path, but God’s hand confounded my scheme. I say then, that both ways are true, and come to the same thing in the end −− but there is a vast difference at the beginning. Our whole Art consists in the right preparation of our Mercury and our gold. Our Mercury is our way, and without it nothing is effected. Our gold is not common gold, but it may be found in it; and if you operate on our Mercury with common gold (regulating the fire in the right way), you will after 150 days have our gold, since our gold is obtained from our Mercury. Hence if common gold have all its atoms thoroughly severed by means of our Mercury, and then reunited by the same agency, the whole mixture will, under the influence of fire, become our gold. But, if, without this preparatory purging, you were to use common gold with our Mercury for the purpose of preparing the Stone, you would be sadly mistaken; and this is the great Labyrinth in which most beginners go astray, because the Sages in writing of these ways as two ways, purposely obscure the fact that they are only one way (though of course the one is more direct than the other). The gold of the Sages may then be prepared out of our common gold and our Mercury, from which there may afterwards be obtained by repeated liquefactions, Sulphur and Quicksilver which is incombustible, and tinges all things else. In this sense, our Stone is to be found in all metals and minerals, since our gold may be got from them all −− but most easily, of course, from gold and silver. Some have found it in tin, some in lead, but most of those who have pursued the more tedious method, have found it in gold. Of course, if our gold be prepared in the way I have described, out of common gold (in the course of 150 days), instead of being found ready made, it will not be so effectual, and the preparation of the Stone will take 1 1/2 years instead of 7 months. I know both ways, and prefer the shorter one; but I have described the longer one as well in order that I may not draw down upon myself the scathing wrath of the “Sages.” The great difficulty which discourages all beginners is not of Nature’s making: the Sages have created it by speaking of the longer operation when they mean the shorter one, and vice versa. If you choose common gold, you should espouse it to Venus (copper), lay them together on the bridal bed, and, on bringing a fierce fire to bear on them, you will see an emblem of the Great Work in the following succession of colours: black, the peacock’s tail, white, orange, and red. Then repeat the same operation with Mercury (called Virgin’s Milk), using the “fire of the Bath of Dew,” and (towards the end) sand mixed with ashes. The substance will first turn a much deeper black, and then a completer white and red. Hence if you know our Art, extract our gold from our Mercury (this is the shorter way), and thus perform the whole operation with one substance (viz., Mercury); if you can do this, you will have attained to the perfection of philosophy. In this method, there is no superfluous trouble: the whole work, from beginning to end, is based upon one broad foundation −− whereas if you take common gold, you must operate on two substances, and both will have to be purified by an elaborate process. If you diligently consider what I have said, you have in your hand a means of unravelling all the apparent contradictions of the Sages. They speak of three operations: the first, by which the inward natural heat expels all cold through the aid of external fire, the second, wherein gold is purged with our Mercury, through the mediation

of Venus, and under the influence of a fierce fire; the third, in which common gold is mixed with our Mercury, and the ferment of Sulphur added. But if you will receive my advice, you will not be put out by any wilful obscurity on the part of the Sages. Our sulphur you should indeed strive to discover; and if God enlightens you, you will find it in our Mercury. Before the living God I swear that my teaching is true. If you operate on Mercury and pure common gold, you may find “our gold” in 7 to 9 months, and “our silver” in 5 months. But when you have these, you have not yet prepared our Stone: that glorious sight will not gladden your eyes until you have been at work for a year−and−a−half. By that time you may obtain the elixir by subjecting the substance to very gentle continuous heat.

CHAPTER XX. Of the Appearance of Blackness in the Work of the Sun and Moon

If you operate on gold and silver, for the purpose of finding our Sulphur, let your substance first become like a thin paste, or boiling water, or liquid pitch; for the operation of our gold and Mercury is prefigured by that which happens in the preparation of common gold with our Mercury. Take your substance and place it in the furnace, regulate the fire properly for the space of twenty days, in which time you will observe various colours, and about the end of the fourth week, if the fire be continuous, you will see a most amiable greenness, which will last for about ten days. Then rejoice, for in a short time it will be as a black coal, and your whole compound shall be reduced to atoms. The operation is a resolution of the fixed into the not fixed that both afterwards, being conjoined, may make one matter, partly spiritual and partly corporal. Once more, I assure you, the regulation of the fire is the only thing that I have hidden from you. Given the proper−regimen, take the Stone, govern it as you know how, and then these wonderful phenomena will follow: The fire will at once dissolve the Mercury and the Sulphur like wax; the Sulphur will be burnt, and change its colours from day to day; the Mercury will prove incombustible, and only be gradually tinged (and purified, without being infected) with the colours of the Sulphur. Let the heaven stoop to the earth, till the latter has conceived heavenly seed. When you see the substances mingle in your distilling vessel, and assume the appearance of clotted and burnt blood, be sure that the female has received the seed of the male. About seventeen days afterwards your substance will begin to wear a yellow, thick, misty, or foamy appearance. At this time, you must take care not to let the embryo escape from your vessel; for it will give out a greenish, yellow, black, and bluish vapour and strive to burst the vessel. If you allow these vapours (which are continuous when the Embryo is formed) to escape, your work will be hopelessly marred. Nor should you allow any of the odour to make its way through any little hole or outlet; for the evaporation would considerably weaken the strength of the Stone. Hence the true Sage seals up the mouth of his vessel most carefully. Let me advise you, moreover, not to neglect your fire, or move or open the vessel, or slacken the process of decoction, until you find that the quantity of the liquid begins to diminish; if this happens after thirty days, rejoice, and know that you are on the right road. Then be doubly careful, and you will, at the end of another fortnight, find that the earth has become quite dry and of a deep black. This is the death of the compound; the winds have ceased, and there is a great calm. This is that great simultaneous eclipse of the Sun and Moon, when the Sea also has disappeared. Our Chaos is then ready, from which, at the bidding of God, all the wonders of the world may successively emerge.

CHAPTER XXI. Of the Caution required to avoid Burning the Flowers

The burning of the flowers is fatal, yet soon committed: it is chiefly to be guarded against after the lapse of the third week. In the beginning there is so much moisture that if the fire be too fierce it will dry up the liquid too quickly, and you will prematurely obtain a dry red powder, from which the principle of life has flown; if the fire be not strong enough the substance will not be properly matured. Too powerful a fire prevents the true union of the substances. True union only takes place in water. Bodies collide, but do not unite; only liquids (and spirits) can truly mingle their substance. Hence our homogeneous metallic water must be allowed to do its work properly, and should not be dried up, until this perfect mutual absorption has taken place in a natural manner. Premature drying only destroys the germ of life, strikes the active principle on the head as with a hammer, and renders it passive. A red powder is indeed produced, but long before the time: for redness should be preceded by blackness. It is true that, in the beginning of our work, when heaven is wedded to earth, and earth conceives the fire of nature, a red colour does appear. But the substance is then sufficiently moist; and the redness soon gives way to a green colour, which in its turn gradually yields to blackness. Do not be in a hurry; let your fire be just powerful enough, but not too powerful; steer a straight course between Scylla and Charybdis: you will behold in your vessel a variety of colours and grotesque transformations −− until the substance settles down into a powder of intense blackness. This should happen within the first fifty days. If it does not, either your Mercury, or the regulation of your fire, or the composition of your substance is at fault −− if, indeed, you have not moved or shaken your glass vessel.

CHAPTER XXII. Of the Regimen of Saturn

All the Sages who have written on our Art, have spoken of the work and regimen of Saturn; and their remarks have led many to choose common lead as the substance of the Stone. But you should know that our Saturn, or lead, is a much nobler substance than gold. It is the living earth in which the soul of gold is joined to Mercury, that they may bring forth Adam and his wife Eve. Wherefore, since the highest has so lowered itself as to become the lowest, we may expect that its blood may be the means of redeeming all its brethren. The Tomb in which our King is buried, is that which we call Saturn, and it is the key of the work of transmutation; happy is he who can salute this planet, and call it by its right name. It is a boon which is obtained by the blessing of God alone; it is not of him that willeth, or of him that runneth; but God bestoweth it on whom He will.

CHAPTER XXIII. Of the different Regimens of this Work

Let me assure you that in our whole work there is nothing hidden but the regimen, of which it was truly said by the Sage that whoever knows it perfectly will be honoured by princes and potentates. I tell you plainly that if this one point were clearly set forth, our Art would become mere women’s work and child’s play: there would be nothing in it but a simple process of “cooking.” Hence it has always been most carefully concealed by the Sages. But I have determined to write in a more sympathetic and kindly spirit: know then that our regimen throughout consists in coction and digestion, but that it implies a good many other processes, which those jealous Sages have made to appear different by describing them under different names. But we intend to speak more openly in regard to this subject.

CHAPTER XXIV. Of the First Regimen, which is that of Mercury

This first regimen has been studiously kept secret by all the Sages. They have spoken of the second regimen, or that of Saturn, as if it were the first, and have thus left the student without guidance in those operations which precede the appearance of that intense blackness. Count Bernard, of Trevisa, says, in his Parable, that When the King has come to the Fountain, he takes off the golden garment, gives it to Saturn, and enters the bath alone, afterwards receiving from Saturn a robe of black silk. But he does not tell us how long it takes to put off that golden robe; and thus, like all his brethren, leaves the poor beginner to grope in the dark during 40 or 50 days. From the point where the stage of blackness is reached to the end of the work their directions are more full and intelligible. It is in regard to these first 40 days that the student requires additional light. This period represents the regimen of Mercury (of the Sages), which is alone active during the whole time, the other substance being temporarily dead. You should not suffer yourself to be deluded into the belief that when your matters are joined, namely, our Sun and Mercury, the “setting of the Sun” can be brought about in a few days. We ourselves waited a tedious time before a reconciliation was made between the fire and the water. As a matter of fact, the Sages have called the substance, throughout this first period, Rebis, or Two−thing: to shew that the union is not effected till the operation is complete. You should know, then, that though our Mercury consumes the Sun, yet a year after you shall separate them, unless they are connected together by a suitable degree of fire. It is not able to do anything at all without fire. We must not suppose that when our gold is placed in our Mercury it is swallowed up by it in the twinkling of an eye. This conception rests on a misunderstanding of Count Bernard’s teaching about the King’s plunge in the fountain. But the solution of gold is a more difficult matter than these gentry appear to have any idea of. It requires the highest skill so to regulate the fire in the first stage of the work as to solve the bodies without injuring the tincture. Attend to my teaching therefore. Take the body which I have shewed you, put it into the water of our sea, and bring to bear on the compound the proper degree of heat, till dews and mists begin to ascend, and the moisture is diminished night and day without intermission. Know that at first the two do not affect each other at all, and that only in course of time the body absorbs some of the water, and thus causes each to partake of the other’s nature. Only part of the water is sublimed; the rest gradually penetrates the pores of the body, which are thereby more and more softened, till the soul of the gold is enabled gently to pass out. Through the mediation of the soul the body is reconciled and united to the spirit, and their union is signalized by the appearance of the black colour. The whole operation lasts about 40−50 days, and is called the Regimen of Mercury, because the body is passive throughout, and the spirit, or Mercury, brings about all the changes of colour, which begin to appear about the 20th day, and gradually intensify till all be at last completed in black of the deepest dye, which the both day will manifest.

CHAPTER XXV. The Regimen of the Second Part, which is that of Saturn

The Regimen of Mercury, the operation whereof despoils the King of his golden garments, is followed by the Regimen of Saturn. When the Lion dies the Crow is born. The substance has now become of a uniform colour, namely, as black as pitch, and neither vapours, or winds, or any other signs of life are seen; the whole is dry as dust, with the exception of some pitch−like substance, which now and then bubbles up; all presents an image of eternal death. Nevertheless, it is a sight which gladdens the heart of the Sage. For the black colour which is seen is bright and brilliant; and if you behold something like a thin paste bubbling up here and there, you may rejoice.

For it is the work of the quickening spirit, which will soon restore the dead bodies to life. The regulation of the fire is a matter of great importance at this juncture; if you make it too fierce, and thus cause sublimation at this stage, everything will be irrecoverably spoilt. Be content, therefore, to remain, as it were, in prison for forty days and nights, even as was the good Trevisan, and employ only gentle heat. Let your delicate substance remain at the bottom, which is the womb of conception, in the sure hope that after the time appointed by the Creator for this Operation, the spirit will arise in a glorified state, and glorify its body −− that it will ascend and be gently circulated from the centre to the heavens, then descend to the centre from the heavens, and take to itself the power of things above and things below.

CHAPTER XXVI. Of the Regimen of Jupiter

Black Saturn is succeeded by Jupiter, who exhibits divers colours. For after the putrefaction and conception, which has taken place at the bottom of the vessel, there is once more a change of colours and a circulating sublimation. This Reign or Regimen, lasts only three weeks. During this period you see all conceivable colours concerning which no definite account can be given. The “showers” that fall will become more numerous as the close of this reign approaches, and its termination is signalized by the appearance of a snowy white streaky deposit on the sides of the vessel. Rejoice, then, for you have successfully accomplished the regimen of Jupiter. What you must be particularly careful about in this operation, is to prevent the young ones of the Crow from going back to the nest when they have once left it; secondly, to let your earth get neither too dry by an immoderate sublimation of the moisture, nor yet to swamp and smother it with the moisture. These ends will be attained by the proper regulation of the outward heat.

CHAPTER XXVII. Of the Regimen of the Moon

When the Reign of Jupiter comes to an end (towards the close of the fourth month) you will see the sign of the waxing moon (Crescent), and know that the whole Reign of Jupiter was devoted to the purification of the Laton. The mundifying spirit is very pure and brilliant, but the body that has to be cleansed is intensely black. While it passes from blackness to whiteness, a great variety of colours are observed; nor is it at once perfectly white; at first it is simply white −− afterwards it is of a dazzling, snowy splendour. Under this Reign the whole mass presents the appearance of liquid quicksilver. This is called the sealing of the mother in the belly of the infant whom she bears; and its intermediate colours are more white than black, just as in the Reign of Jupiter they were more black than white. The Reign of the Moon lasts just three weeks; but before its close, the substance exhibits a great variety of forms; it will become liquid, and again coagulate a hundred times a day; sometimes it will present the appearance of fishes’ eyes, and then again of tiny silver trees, with twigs and leaves. Whenever you look at it you will have cause for astonishment, particularly when you see it all divided into beautiful but very minute grains of silver, like the rays of the Sun. This is the White Tincture, glorious to behold, but nothing in respect of what it may become.

CHAPTER XXVIII. Of the Regimen of Venus

The substance, if left in the same vessel, will once more become volatile and (though already perfect in its way) will undergo another change. But if you take it out of the vessel, and after allowing it to cool, put it into another, you will not be able to make anything of it. In this Reign you should also give careful attention to your fire. For the perfect Stone is fusible and if the fire be too powerful the substance will become glazed, and unsusceptible of any further change. This “vitrification” of the substance may happen at any time from the middle of the Reign of the Moon to the tenth day of the Reign of Venus, and should be carefully guarded against. The heat should be gentle so as to melt the compound very slowly and gradually; it will then raise bubbles, and receive a spirit that will rise upward, carrying the Stone with it, and imparting to it new colours, especially a copper−green colour, which endures for some time, and does not quite disappear till the twentieth day; the next change is to blue and livid, and at the close of this Reign the colour is a pale purple. DO not irritate the spirit too much −− it is more corporeal than before, and if you sublime it to the top of the vessel, it will hardly return. The same caution should be observed in the Reign of the Moon, when the substance begins to thicken. The law is one of mildness, and not of violence, lest everything should rise to the top of the vessel, and be consumed or vitrified to the ruin of the whole work. When you see the green colour, know that the substance now contains the germ of its highest life.

DO not turn the greenness into blackness by immoderate heat. This Reign is maintained for forty days.

CHAPTER XXIX. Of the Regimen of Mars

When the Regimen of Venus is over, and therein has appeared the philosophical tree, with all its branches and leaves, the Reign of Mars begins with a light yellow, or dirty brown colour, but at last exhibits the transitory hues of the Rainbow, and the Peacock’s Tail. At this stage the compound is drier, and often shews like a hyacinth with a tinge of gold. The mother being now sealed in her infant’s belly, swells and is purified, but because of the present great purity of the compound, no putridness can have place in this regimen, but Some obscure colours are chief actors, while some middle colours come and go, and they are pleasant to look on. Our Virgin Earth is now undergoing the last degree of its cultivation, and is getting ready to receive and mature the fruit of the Sun. Hence you should Weep up a moderate temperature; then there will be seen, about the thirtieth day of this Reign, an orange colour, which, within two weeks from its first appearance, will tinge the whole substance with its own hue.

CHAPTER XXX. Of the Regimen of the Sun

As you are now approaching the end of the work, the substance receives a golden tinge, and the Virgin’s Milk which you give your substance to drink has assumed a deep orange colour. Pray to God to keep you from haste and impatience at this stage of the work; consider that you have now waited for seven months, and that it would be foolish to let one hour rob you of the fruits of all your labour. Therefore be more and more careful the nearer you approach perfection. Then you will first observe an orange−coloured sweat breaking out on the body; next there will be vapour of an orange hue. Soon the body below becomes tinged with violet and a darkish purple. At the end of fourteen or fifteen days, the substance will be, for the most part, humid and ponderous, and yet the wind still bears it in its womb. Towards the 26th day of the Reign it will begin to get dry, and to become liquid and solid in turn (about a hundred times a day); then it becomes granulated; then again it is welded together into one mass, and so it goes on changing for about a fortnight At length, however, an unexpectedly glorious light will burst from your substance, and the end will arrive three days afterwards. The substance will be granulated, like atoms of gold (or motes in the Sun), and turn a deep red −a red the intensity of which makes it seem black like very pure blood in a clotted state. This is the Great Wonder of Wonders, which has not its like on earth.

CHAPTER XXXI. Of the Fermentation of the Stone

I forgot to warn you in the last chapter to be on your guard against the danger of vitrification; too fierce a fire would render your substance insoluble and prevent its granulation. You now possess the incombustible red Sulphur which can no longer be affected in any way by fire. In order to obtain the Elixir from this Sulphur by reiterate solution and coagulation, take three parts of purest gold, and one part of this fiery Sulphur. Melt the gold in a clean crucible, and then cast your Sulphur into it (protecting it well from the smoke of the coals) Make them liquid together, when you will obtain a beautiful mass of a deep red, though hardly transparent. This you should permit to cool, and pound into a small powder. Of this powder take one part, and two parts of our Mercury; mix them well, and put them in a glass vessel, well sealed. They should be exposed to gentle heat for two months. This is the true fermentation, which may be repeated if needful.

CHAPTER XXXII. The Imbibition of the Stone

Many authors take fermentation in this work for the invisible external agent, which they call ferment; by its virtue the fugitive and subtle spirits, without laying on of hands, are of their own accord thickened, and our before−mentioned fermentation they call cibation with bread and milk. But I follow my own judgment There is another operation, called Imbibition of the Stone, by which its quantity rather than its quality is increased. It is this: Add to three parts of your perfect Sulphur (either white or red) one part of water, and after six or seven days’ coction the water will become thick like the Sulphur Add again as much water as you did before; and when this is dried up, with a convenient fire, add three distinct times so much water as shall be equal to one−third of the original quantity of Sulphur. Then add (for the 7th imbibition) five parts of water (the parts being equal to the original parts of the Sulphur). Seal up the vessel; subject it to gentle coction, and let the compound pass through all the different Reigns of the original Substance, which will be accomplished in a month. Then you have the true Stone of the third order, one part of which will perfectly tinge 1,000 parts of any other metal.

CHAPTER XXXIII. The Multiplication of the Stone

Take the perfect Stone; add one part of it to three or four parts of purified Mercury of our first work, subject it to gentle coction for seven days (the vessel being carefully sealed up), and let it pass through all the Reigns, which it will do very quickly and smoothly. The tinging power of the substance will thus be exalted a thousandfold; and if you go through the whole process a second time (which you can do with ease in three days) the Medicine will be much more precious still. This you may repeat as often as you like; the third time the substance will run through all the Reigns in a day, the fourth time in a single hour, and so on −− and the improvement in its quality will be most marvellous. Then kneel down and render thanks to God for this precious treasure.

CHAPTER XXXIV. Of Projection

Take four parts of your perfect Stone, either red or white (of both for the Medicine): melt them in a clean crucible. Take one part of this pulverisable mixture to ten parts of purified Mercury; heat the Mercury till it begins to crackle, then throw in your mixture, which will pierce it in the twinkling of an eye; increase your fire till it be melted, and you will have a Medicine of an inferior order. Take one part of this, and add it to a large quantity of well purged and melted metal, which will thereby be transmuted into the purest silver or gold (according as you have taken white or red Sulphur). Note that it is better to use a gradual projection, for otherwise there may be a notable loss of the Medicine. The better the metals are purged and refined, the quicker and more complete will the transmutation be.

CHAPTER XXXV. Of the Manifold uses of this Art

He that has once found this Art, can have nothing else in all the world to wish for, than that he may be allowed to serve his God in peace and safety. He will not care for pomp or dazzling outward show. But if he lived a thousand years, and daily entertained a million people, he could never come to want, since he has at hand the means of indefinitely multiplying the Stone both in weight and virtue, and thus of changing all imperfect metals in the world into gold. In the second place, he has it in his power to make stones and diamonds far more precious than any that are naturally procured. In the third place, he has an Universal Medicine, with which he can cure every conceivable disease, and, indeed, as to the quantity of his Medicine, he might heal all sick people in the world.

Now to the King Eternal, Immortal, and sole Almighty, be everlasting praise for these His unspeakable gifts and invaluable treasures. I exhort all that possess this Treasure, to use it to the praise of God, and the good of their neighbours, in order that they may not at the last day be eternally doomed for their ingratitude to their Creator.

To God Alone be the Glory

My son, after having imparted to thee a knowledge of all things, and after having taught thee how to live, after what manner to regulate thy conduct by the maxims of a most excellent wisdom, and after having also enlightened thee in that which concerns the order and the nature of the monarchy of the universe, it only remains for me to communicate those Keys of Nature which hitherto I have so carefully held back.

Among all these Keys, that which is most closely allied to the highest spirits of the universe deserves to take the first rank, and there is no one who questions that it is very specially endowed with an altogether divine property. When one is in possession of this Key, the rich become miserable in our eyes, inasmuch as there is no treasure which can possibly be compared to it. In effect, what is the use of wealth, when one is liable to be afflicted with human infirmities? Where is the advantage of treasures, when death is about to destroy us? There is no earthly abundance which we are not bound to abandon upon the threshold of the tomb. But it is no longer thus when I am possessed of this Key, for then I behold death from afar, and I am convinced that I have within my hands a secret which extinguishes all fear of misfortunes in this life. Wealth is ever at my command, and I no longer want for treasures; weakness flees away from me; and I can ward off the approach of the destroyer while I own this Golden Key of the Grand Work.

My son, it is of this Key that I propose to make thee the inheritor; but I conjure thee, by the name of God, and by the Holy Place wherein He dwelleth, to lock it up in the cabinet of thy heart, under the seal of silence. If thou knowest how to make use of it, it will overwhelm thee with good things, and when thou shalt be old or ill, it will rejuvenate, console, and cure thee; for it has the special virtue of curing all diseases, of transfigurating metals, and of making happy those who possess it. It is that Key to which our fathers have often exhorted us under the bond of an inviolable oath. Learn, then, to know it, cease not to do good to the poor, to the widow, to the orphan, and learn its seal of me, and its true character.

Know that all beings which are under heaven, each after its own kind, derives origin from the same principle, and it is, as a fact, unto Air that all owe their birth as to a common principle. The nourishment of each existence makes evident the nature of its principle, for that which sustains the life is that which gives the being. The fish joys in the water; the child sucks from its mother. The tree no longer bears fruit when its trunk is deprived of humidity. It is by the life that we discern the principle of things; the life of things is the Air, and by consequence Air is their principle. It is for this reason that Air corrupts all things, and even as it gives life, so also it takes it away. Wood, iron, stones, are consumed by fire, and fire cannot subsist but by Air. Now, that which is the cause of corruption is also the cause of generation. When, by reason of divers corruptions, it comes to pass that creatures fall sick and do suffer, either through length of days or by mischance, the Air coming to their succour cures them, whether they be imperfect or languishing. The earth, the tree, the herb languish under the heat of excessive drought; but all things are recuperated by the dew of the Air. But, nevertheless, as no creature can be restored and re-established except by its own nature, Air being the fountain and original source of all things, it is in like manner the universal source. It is manifestly certain that the seed, the death, the sickness, and the remedy of all things are all alike in the Air. There has Nature stored up all her treasures, establishing therein the principles of the generation and corruption of all things, and concealing them as behind special and secret doors. To know how to open these doors with sufficient facility so as to draw upon the radical Air of the Air, is to possess in truth the golden Keys, and to be in ignorance thereof precludes all possibility of acquiring that which cures all maladies and recreates or preserves the life of men.

If thou desirest then, O my Son, to chase away all thine infirmities, thou must seek the means in the primal and universal source. Nature produces like from like alone, and that only which is in correspondence or conformity with Nature can effect good to her. Learn then, my Son, to make use of Air, learn to conserve the Key of Nature. It is truly a secret which transcends the possibilities of the vulgar man, but not those of the sage, this knowledge of the Extraction of Air, the Celestial Aerial Substance, from Air; for Air may be familiar to all beings, but he who would truly avail himself thereof must possess the secret Key of Nature.

It is a great secret to understand the virtue which Nature has imprinted in substances. For natures are attracted by their like; a fish is attracted by a fish – a bird by a bird – and air by another air, as with a gentle allurement. Snow and ice are an air that has been congealed by cold; Nature has endowed them with the qualities which are requisite to attract air.

Place thou, therefore, one of these two things in an earthen or metallic vessel, well closed, well sealed, and take thou the Air which congeals round this vessel when it is warm. Receive that which is distilled in a deep vessel with a narrow neck, neat and strong, so that thou canst use it at thy pleasure, and adapt to the rays of the Sun and Moon – that is, Silver and Gold. When thou hast filled a vessel cork it well, so that the heavenly scintillation concentrated therein shall not escape into the air. Fill as many vases as thou wilt with liquid; then hearken to thy next task, and keep silent. Build a furnace, place a small vessel therein, half full of the Liquid Air which thou hast collected ; seal and lute the said vessel effectually. Light thy fire in such a manner that the thinner portion of the smoke may rise frequently above. Thus shall Nature perform that which is continually accomplished by the central fire in the bowels of the earth, where it agitates the vapours of the air by an unceasing circulation. The fire must be light, mild, and moist, like that of a hen brooding over her eggs, and it must be sustained in such a manner that it will cook without burning the aerial fruits, which, having been for a long time agitated by a movement, shall rest at the bottom of the vessel in a state of perfect coction.

Add next unto this Cocted Air a fresh air, not in great quantity, but as much as may be necessary; that is to say, a little less than on the first occasion. Continue this process until there shall be no more than half a bowl of Liquid Air uncooked. Proceed in such wise that the cooked portion shall gently liquefy by fermentation in a warm dunghill, and shall in like manner blacken, harden, amalgamate, become fixed, and grow red. Finally, the pure part being separated from the impure by means of a legitimate fire, and by a wholly divine artifice, thou shalt take one part of pure crude Air and one part of pure hardened Air, taking care that the whole is dissolved and united together till it becomes moderately black, more white, and finally perfectly red. Here is the end of the work, and then hast thou composed that elixir which produces all the wonders that our Sages aforetime have with reason held so precious; and thou dost possess in this wise the Golden Key of the most inestimable secret of Nature – the true Potable Gold and the Universal Medicine. I bequeathe unto thee a small sample, the quality and virtues of which are attested by the perfect health which I enjoy, being aged over one hundred and eight years.

Do thou work, and thou shalt achieve as I have done. So be it in the name and by the power of the great Architect of the Aniverse. Such skilful artists of the Great Work as have pondered deeply on the principles confided to the son of Aristeus, have concluded that it would be no vain operation to make an Amalgam with the veritable Balm of Mercury, and this is the way in which they claim to produce this Balm :-
Take one pound of the best Mercury that can be obtained; purge it three times through a skin, and once by calcined Montpellier Tartar. Place it in a glass horn, which shall be strong enough to resist a fierce heat. With it combine Vitriol, Salt of Nitre, Rock Alum, and eight ounces of good Spirit of Wine. Having hermetically sealed the horn, so that nothing can evaporate, place it for digestion in a warm dung-hill during a space of fifteen days. At the end of this time the composition will be transformed into a phlegmatic grease; it must then be exposed to a sand fire, and the fire must be raised gradually to an extreme point, till a white, milky humour exudes from the substance and falls into the recipient. Let it then be replaced in the horn to be rectified, and for the consumption of the phlegm. This second distillation will cause a sweet, white oil to exude; this oil will be devoid of corrosive qualities; it will surpass all other metallic oils in excellence; and there is no doubt that, combined with the Elixir of Aristeus, it will be possible to perform such marvels as might be expected from so admirable an experiment.

Theatrum Chemicum Britannicum

Theatrum Chemicum Britannicum is a comprehensive collection of English alchemical texts compiled and edited by Elias Ashmole in the seventeenth century. Published in 1652, it includes works by prominent alchemists such as George Ripley, Thomas Charnock, and William Backhouse, as well as lesser-known authors. The texts cover a wide range of topics, from practical laboratory procedures to more abstract philosophical ideas.

Ashmole, himself a prominent alchemist and astrologer, was deeply interested in the history and practice of alchemy. He spent years compiling and organizing the texts that would eventually make up Theatrum Chemicum Britannicum, drawing on his extensive personal library and the collections of other prominent alchemists. The resulting volume is an important historical record of the English alchemical tradition and a valuable resource for scholars of the history of science and esotericism.

Theatrum Chemicum Britannicum was influential in its time and continues to be studied and referenced today. Its texts provide insights into the ways in which alchemists of the seventeenth century approached the study of nature, as well as the social and cultural context in which they worked. Overall, Theatrum Chemicum Britannicum is an important work for anyone interested in the history of alchemy and the development of early modern science.

Studies in Alchemy

The Science of Self-Transformation

by Saint Germain

Studies in Alchemy by Saint Germain is included in the book Saint Germain on Alchemy, which is available for purchase from our online bookstore, and from fine bookstores everywhere.

Saint Germain on Alchemy includes the following:

• The Wonderman of Europe

• Studies in Alchemy – The Science of Self-Transformation

• Mystical Origins of the United States of America

• Intermediate Studies in Alchemy – Alchemical Formulas for Self-Mastery

• Jesus Christ and Saint Germain – Wayshowers of the Aquarian Age

• A Trilogy on the Threefold Flame of Life – The Alchemy of Power, Wisdom and Love

• A Valentine from Saint Germain

• The Alchemy of the Word – Stones for the Wise Masterbuilders – Glossary

Home Teachings Library

Chapter 1

The Law of Transfer of Energy Chapter 2

The Purpose of Your Alchemical Experiment Chapter 3

The Sacred Science

Chapter 4 Dare to Do! Chapter 5

The Need, Power, and Motive to Change Chapter 6

Molding Factors

Chapter 7

Methods of Transfer Chapter 8 Commanding Consciousness

Chapter 9

The Crucible of Being

Chapter I‌

The Law of Transfer of Energy

Two thousand years ago when Christ walked upon the waters of the Sea of Galilee, his demonstration was a manifestation of the natural law of levitation operating within an energy frame-work of cohesion, adhesion, and magnetism–the very principles which make orbital flight possible. The light atoms composing the body of Christ absorbed at will an additional quantity of cosmic rays and spiritual substance whose kinship to physical light made his whole body light, thereby making it as easy for him to walk upon the sea as upon dry land.

His body was purely a ray of light shining upon the waters. The most dazzling conception of all was his ability to transfer this authority over energy to Peter through the power of Peter’s own vision of the Christ in radiant, illumined manifestation.

By taking his eyes temporarily from the Christ, however, Peter entered a human fear vibration and vortex which immediately densified his body, causing it to sink partially beneath the raging seas. The comforting hand of Christ, extended in pure love, reunited the alchemical tie; and the flow of spiritual energy through his hand raised Peter once again to safety.

The further example of the Master Jesus releasing a flow of energy–as in the case of the woman who touched the hem of his garment without his knowledge aforehand–shows the impersonal love of God which responds equally to the call of faith from any of those creatures he has fashioned so wonderfully and so purely in the supreme hope of absolute cosmic freedom for all.

These two examples refer to aspects of the Great Cosmic Law which are not commonly known but which are commonly discussed or skirted about by religious groups. The law of transfer of energy is vital to the science of alchemy; for without it, it is impossible to “create” Matter. It is a law that nothing cannot create something.

True knowledge of the impersonal law of transfer of energy is also vital to the correct understanding of the Great Law. For it proves that God, who makes the sun to shine on both the just and the unjust,<1> does manifest through both.

Jesus declared during his Palestinian mission that “the kingdom of heaven suffereth violence, and the violent take it by force.”<2> It must be realized, then, that it is possible to wrest from the hand of God some of the secrets of governing the forces of nature and controlling Matter, even though the individual and motive be not absolutely pure. But let none ever think that the one so doing shall escape from accountability, for he is fully responsible for each use or abuse of energy within his world.

The reason I am choosing to begin my exposition on alchemy with a note of warning and a sobering explanation is not to cause anyone fear, but rather to instill in all who read a deep and abiding reverence for God–which is the only fear permitted in our octave. It is in reality holy awe that engenders within all who love the Great Law of Love the fullest respect and adoration for the wisdom which so fearfully and wonderfully made all creation in the image of fearless freedom.

All those who misuse the powers of the universe for selfish ends find sooner or later that they must relinquish their hold upon their ill-gotten gains; and the penalty they pay is frightful indeed. To produce substance to feed the poor, to heal at a touch a withered hand, to raise the dead, and even to set aside natural law and perform, by the magic of alchemy, miracles of infinite wonder–this seems to mankind to be the ultimate in their use of heaven’s grace.

Let me embrace the Spirit of freedom that makes it possible for a man made in the immortal, loving, God- free image of his Creator to do these things and many more to the benefit of society and to the happiness of his benefactors. But above all, let me praise the proper use of the blessed divine science of spiritual alchemy.

The ancient alchemist has ever been a colorful figure–even to his own contemporaries. But time has gilded his image with a glory far greater than that which he ever possessed, and it is ever thus when approaching the aspects of mystery.

It is in the simple graces of life that men will find their freedom, albeit the more complex aspects are progressive expressions of the laws of Life that shall enrich the well-being of this earth and of all its people, harnessing their total good on behalf of the most lovely world of freedom that could ever be conceived of, even in the mind of a New Atlantean!

So much for the moment regarding the world society. Let us now consider the individual and his role in the use of alchemy.

The inner meaning of alchemy is simply all-composition, implying the relation of the all of the creation to the parts which compose it. Thus alchemy, when properly understood, deals with the conscious power of controlling mutations and transmutations within Matter and energy and even within life itself. It is the science of the mystic and it is the forte of the self-realized man who, having sought, has found himself to be one with God and is willing to play his part.

Through the years men have attempted to glamorize me with the allure of distance in time and space, which always lends enchantment to the view. I do not sell myself short as the Father’s handiwork, but in common with beloved Jesus and others among the great Masters of our Brotherhood, I am especially interested that each man obtain his rightful place and the proper understanding of how he ought to exercise authority in the universe and in his own world and affairs.

Let everyone who begins this study do so with the understanding that I have a purpose in speaking here

and that that purpose is to make each one of you alchemists in the truest sense of the word. This means that you must become familiar at inner levels with the all-chemistry of God and how each facet of creation is brought into manifestation in Matter, in your consciousness, and in your daily life.

In order to do this properly, you will need to meditate and reread these lessons many times, calling to me and to your own God Self, your I AM Presence, for illumination on any point that is not immediately clear to you. When you have the inner degree of Alchemist of the Sacred Fire conferred upon you by your own Christ Self, you immediately become a candidate for admission to the outer court of the Great White Brotherhood. This factor alone is a great incentive for you to become proficient in genuine spiritual alchemy.

It has ever been a fallacy of human thought to deny the so-called miracles in the life of the great avatar Jesus. Nonetheless, he, as a son of God, revealed to all these mighty formulas which, if understood and practiced, would long ago have transformed the planet into a paradise of perfection.

Enough, then, of human nonsense and human creation! As Shakespeare would have said it: Off then with the old,

The decay, and the mouldering mustiness

Of this shapeless mass:

On then with the eternal vastness Of an unfettered spirit–

A being of such freedom As moving seems apart Even from Reality

And projects the image Of eternal hope

Into the tiniest gem or dewdrop Cupped within a blossom rare.

I AM for the freedom of all, Lovingly,

Saint Germain

Notes

1. Matt. 5:45.

2. Matt. 11:12.

Chapter II‌

The Purpose of Your Alchemical Experiment

Void is unfruitful energy. The alchemist must develop a sense of the value of time and space and the opportunity to manipulate both. Freedom is won by quest and conquest, but mainly by the conquest of the finite self. True mastery of the finite comes through the indrawing love, the compelling, almost magnetic heart call of the soul to its Divine Source.

Only the great inflow of the cosmic light of God can release the soul from the imprisoning shadows of its human creation. Summon, then, the purity of purpose which will make your creative design good; relentlessly challenge the base elements which arise like hobgoblins to disturb and try the plan you have begun; then patiently evolve your God-design–the purpose of your alchemical experiment.

The true science of the Spirit is more exact than mundane measures can yet determine. Therefore, know thy Self as the white stone or elixir from whence all thy creation must proceed in orderly fashion. If the key ideas are not created from within thee who art the alchemist, then the whole act is either hapless or an imitation of the work of another.

Now, if it be God thou wouldst imitate, then “Well done!” may truly be spoken of thee; but if the vanity of mankind, then piteous let thy consciousness remain. The True Self of man, from whence cometh every goodly design, is worthy to be consulted as to what it is desirable to create. Therefore, the true alchemist begins his experiment by communing with himself in order to perceive the inspiring thoughts of the radiant mind of his Creator.

It is in imitation of lesser qualities and lesser states of consciousness that society has molded many of its erroneous concepts. To correct these concepts, to forge an ennobling culture, to draw the lines of good character, man and society must look to lofty examples.

Let men who would practice alchemy learn first to mirror the great examples of all ages who have used heaven as their design, and then let them learn to select the best qualities of their lives so that alchemy can be used as it was divinely intended, as the most noble method of achieving the desires of the heart right here and now.

I strongly suspect that many of my auditors, but few, if any, of the most sincere students, are anxious to have imparted unto them at once the philosophers’ stone or the magical properties that will make them at will a combination of Aladdin and Midas with a trace of benevolence sprinkled in.

I here declare for those who think thusly that while I shall impart tremendous knowledge concerning the science of alchemy in the whole of this nine-part study, I doubt very much that unless they absorb the secrets of the first lessons with utter humility, allowing me as the instructor the privilege of preparing the teachings as God would have me do, they will not at the very end find themselves wanting. And it will not be the fault of either teaching or teacher!

I do not intend to give a lengthy discourse on the vanities of worldly life, but I would like to point out that it is the hope of the Brotherhood in releasing these teachings at this time to avoid for our students the mistakes of some of the early alchemists whose sole purpose seemed to be the acquirement of riches and honor and the ability to produce from universal substance the energies to change base metals into gold.

Let me hasten to say that not all of the early alchemists confined their goals to temporary gain. Indeed many stalwart souls pursued alchemy with the same reverence they would a quest for the Holy Grail, seeing it as a divine art and the origin of the Christian mysteries, as when Christ changed the water into wine at the marriage in Cana of Galilee.<1>

We desire to see the original concepts about alchemy given new meaning, and we desire to see the meaning it acquired in the mystery schools brought to the fore. For the uses to which this science is presently put must be translated to a higher dimension if mankind are to reap the full benefits thereof.

Unless this spiritual science is applied to the freeing of individuals and society from drudgery, confusion, and compromise with the densities of human thought–as is our wish–the purposes to which God ordained it will remain unfulfilled. We who pursue the high calling of the alchemist aspire to see all attain a place where they can both teach and extol the basic purposes of life to the youth of the world as having far greater than mere temporal pleasures, which in reality serve a lesser purpose to a divine alchemist than does a pacifier to a suckling child.

Let no one think because I spend this time in introducing the heart of the subject to you that my discussion is not pertinent to the facts at hand. Unless each one understands that he individually must exercise his God-given right to use power wisely and lovingly, he cannot help but fall into pits of self- delusion and rationalization.

Now, it is God’s plan that everyone on earth pursue the understanding of himself and his destiny. Conceit born of intellectual pride has caused many a sincere student, and even a number of worldly masters of one science or another, to fall into traps of their own creation; and in many cases they never knew when the snare was sprung.

Therefore, if any subject be included here, let no one think he can omit it simply because he may seem to know it already or because he has considered it before. We place many gems of thought in the most unlikely sentences, which, though plain enough of speech and easily seen, may require more than the diligence of even an honest heart’s scanning.

Saint Peter voiced the query “And if the righteous scarcely be saved, where shall the ungodly and the sinner appear?”<2> It is well for the would-be alchemist to realize that this is an exact and true science whose illumination is conferred upon man by God himself. Its purpose is to teach mankind how to obtain for themselves every gracious gift and virtue which their lifestreams might require in finding the way back Home to God’s heart.

I do not say that you cannot learn to materialize every wish of your being–and this aspect of alchemy is for some the easiest part of the whole, while for others it remains the most difficult. I do say that the design of those wishes ought to be contemplated more than the wondrous science of bringing them into manifestation from the invisible. For to create a worthy design is a most noble endeavor, worthy of the God in man, which alone can set him free to fulfill his immortal destiny.

We have labored below and waited above for the children of this world to cease the plunder and pillage of war, to cultivate the education of the underprivileged, to relinquish the desire for class distinction, and to offer themselves as would princes of the realm to serve effectively the needs of their impoverished yet noble kin. We are presently determined to seek out the faithful of all nations and to empower them with the means whereby they can individually escape from the self-imposed bondage of the times and obtain their own priceless inheritance.

Naturally, this heritage is neither temporal nor ephemeral. However, when serving in Europe to dissipate some of the poverty and confusion so prevalent there, I did use universal alchemy to produce the substance which, although temporary in nature, supplied many human needs and was both comforting and helpful to the world and to the personal lives of my beneficiaries.

I conceive nothing wrong in the idea, nor do I look with disfavor upon your having a divine source of supply to meet all your needs. I do feel it is needful for you to keep constantly humble and grateful as God places within your hands the key to the control of natural forces.

Again, and second to no idea contained herein, is the constant need to understand the universal scheme or plan of creation so that all that you design and do will be harmonious with eternal Law and cosmic principles.

I hope that I shall have neither affrighted nor discouraged any of the students of alchemy from pursuing this marvelous divine study. I am, however, now free to proceed with more relish, for I have magnified the eternally manifest principle of the immortal intelligence of God which some call inspiration, while others call it simply the mind of God.

Whatever men may call a quality, it is its possession that counts the whole nine points of the Law. Therefore, love the emanation of divine wisdom contained herein, which, like sunlight shimmering through the trees, touches with its fingers of Light all through which it passes. For only by love can you truly possess.

I AM the resurrection and the life of cosmic purpose within you. In the name of Freedom, I remain

Saint Germain

Notes

1. John 2:1-11.

    

2. I Pet. 4:18.

Chapter III‌

The Sacred Science

The domain of individual destiny is controlled by an interplay of many cosmic forces, mainly benign; but in the present world society, due to mankind’s misunderstanding of both earthly and heavenly purposes, these forces have been turned to other uses, frequently chaotic and disintegrating.

Alchemy was originally intended to be a means of enriching individual destiny by making available the technique of changing base metals into gold, thereby producing opulence in the affairs of the successful practitioner. The dedication of the early alchemists to the cause of ferreting out its secrets was complete, and it was sanctified by the coordination of their minds with the works of their hands.

These alchemists pursued their experiments under the duress of persecution led by the entrenched reactionary forces of their day, and it is a tribute to their lives and honor that they persisted in the search. Thus they brought forth and bequeathed to humanity the bona fide results of their efforts as acknowledged scientific achievement and annotated philosophic knowledge to bless the culture and archives of the world order.

It ought to become increasingly clear to the students of this course that I am determined to bring to your minds and feelings a new sense of freedom. The wholesome concepts presented herein must indicate to your total being that the key to alchemy that must precede the acquisition of all other keys is the mastery of yourself, to a greater or lesser degree.

This key must be recognized for what it is, for self-mastery is the key to all self-knowledge. It must then be understood and used, at least in part. And you must acknowledge without question that you yourself are the alchemist who shall determine the design of your creation. Furthermore, you must know your self as the Real Self and your creation as coming forth from that Self.

It may surprise some to learn that seething vortices of humanly discordant thoughts and feelings daily impose a hypnotic effect upon almost everyone on earth. These tend to nullify the great concentration of intelligent, creative power that is the birthright of every man, woman, and child on this planet, though it is consciously employed by far too few.

While increasing numbers among mankind seek after freedom, the reactionary elements, either with or without purpose, attempt to burden the race with new shackles each time deliverance from one form or another of human bondage is secured.

The alchemist, to be successful, must be consciously aware of his God-given freedom to create. Those restrictions and restraints imposed upon the soul as forms of human bondage must be shunned. Yet in every case these must be distinguished from the necessary laws which structure society. Beauty and righteousness must be emblazoned upon the left and right hand to remind the would-be alchemist of his responsibility to God and man to behold his works before releasing them to see that they are indeed good, and good for all men.

I am releasing in these studies in alchemy methods of visualization which will give to the students who will apply them as I did the ability to perform for God and man a service of the first magnitude.

I trust that the myth of human equality will be dispelled and that in the dignity of equal opportunity the evolutions of this planetary home will come to know and love the expansive potential of the Christ in all. Thus the forging-ahead of humanity will be marked by a greater malleability of the soul and less ignorance of man’s universal purpose to develop his individual talents than has heretofore existed on earth.

As the early alchemists attained a measure of success in probing the secrets of the universe, they became acutely aware of the need to band together and to withhold from the public eye certain discoveries which they made. A number of religious orders and secret societies grew out of this need, and the remnants thereof have survived to the present day.

The need to repress as well as to express was recognized, just as enlightened men of today realize that harmony in the social order and among the nations and the eradication of the causes of war and civil strife would remove all reasons for withholding any knowledge that would prove to be universally beneficial.

Let me declare–because I can speak in the light of true knowledge–that the early alchemists were not nearly so unsuccessful as history would have men believe. Their discoveries were legion and they included knowledge both secular and religious, scientific and philosophic. Above all, they unlocked many truths which at a later date were made general knowledge.

Let not the world discount all of the stories that have been recounted of the suppression of invention and new ideas for economic and political reasons. When it suited their purposes, men in high places have ever so often instructed their hirelings to keep secret the very knowledge which belongs to the ages and which is the heritage of the people of all nations.

Regardless of such dishonorable dealings, the Masters of Wisdom will never transfer this knowledge to mankind until the alchemy of reason heals the internal breach of selfishness within enough of the race that the torch of knowledge may be everlastingly held in the selfless hand of Justice.

I am preparing your minds in these first three lessons to better assimilate the full release of wisdom’s flame that has been made a part of this course. It is frequently the despair of men that they did not have a

certain choice bit of knowledge long before it came into their hands. This feeling is certainly understandable, but no lamentation that is without constructive leadings is ever desirable.

It is preferable that men perceive the now of the present as God’s hour rather than the folded parchments of past ages. The fading hieroglyphs of yesterday’s errors can neither confute the present truth nor act as a panacea to heal their unfortunate sowings; they serve only as media of contrast to amplify the present sense of gratitude that glories in such progress as now manifests to dispel the ignorance of former times.

A determined dedication to use the energies of today to open the doorway into the domain of the future is expected of the student of alchemy. Therefore, let him see to it that his present expansion of the science of alchemy is sufficient to transform the base qualities of the human nature into an altar on which the flame of living Reality will fire the grandeur of the golden age now emerging within the Christ mind.

Let his endeavors likewise be sufficient to balance the travails of world injustice. And let him work to secure for posterity eras of increasingly abundant progress, enlightenment, happiness, and universal spirituality.

When used by the alchemist, symbols and symbology properly understood are literally charged with meaning. For example, mercury is the symbol of speed and interprets to the consciousness the thought of wakeful, reverent alertness, which swiftly endows the chemistry of action with the intensity of application.

Salt equates with the idea of selfhood and reminds mankind of the need to have the self retain the savor<1> of its Divine Source in preference to the crystallization of identity within the Sodom and Gomorrah of materiality indicated in the historical figure of Lot’s wife.<2>

Fire, as Life, is the catalyst which can be increased from the cosmic light within the cosmic rays in order to intensify and purify the radiance of Life in the contemplated design. Moreover, the conscious invocation of Life makes all of the alchemist’s manifestations doubly secure.

Earth symbolizes the natural crystalline densities created out of Spirit’s energies and sustained by the beings of the elemental kingdom. These tiny creators, in their mimicry of human discord, have transferred to nature mankind’s inharmonious patterns.

Thus the convergence of human error upon the planetary body came forth as thorn, thistle, insect, and beast of prey. And the Pandora’s box of astral forms was opened by laggard civilizations whose misguided free will and selfishness have perverted Life’s energies even on other systems of worlds. It is this discord imposed upon the very atoms of substance which the alchemist must remove from his laboratory before he can create. It is this dross which the alchemist will purify by fire.

I do not expect that every reader will immediately understand all of the concepts that are included in this course. While it is true that I advocate simplicity in the phrasing of the basic laws of God, I am also

aware that thoughtforms worded in the higher order will be productive of greater good as the world is able to accept them.

I therefore include herein elements designed to challenge those of every level of awareness to study to show themselves approved unto the God flame within.<3> Thus individual alchemical advances will be achieved by all who faithfully apply the teachings.

The most insidious type of bondage is that in which the prisoner is not aware of his chains. I am certain that the real science of alchemy can serve to set free everyone on earth who will accept it. Therefore, out of respect for its supreme purpose, I consider it to be the sacred science.

Remember, blessed children of men, that the purpose of true science should be to increase happiness and to free the race from every outer condition that does not serve to exalt man into the pristine greatness of his original cosmic purpose.

All postulations–whether of a social, economic, religious, or scientific nature–should be infused with the freedom which allows men to progress. All who attempt to lead mankind progressively forward in these fields should admit to the possibility of change without in any way challenging those infallible pinions of the human spirit referred to as “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.”

Certainly the opportunity for progress and the freedom to innovate cannot affect the immutability of divine truth or the integrity of the Logos, whose power uttereth speech from those untrammeled heights to which we jointly aspire.

I AM progressively yours in the holy science,

Saint Germain

Notes

1. Matt. 5:13.

    

2. Gen. 19:26.

    

3. II Tim. 2:15.

Chapter IV‌

Dare to Do!

Versatility! I am eternally grateful for that many-splendored quality of creation! The universe is fragmented; it is spread apart from a center of oneness to a diversity of light, color, tone, and density. Each partaker of a scene, whether pastoral or of transitory ugliness, ought to remember that the splintered shafts of light rays that compose the swaddling garments of all of creation connect directly with the Great Source and Fountainhead of cosmic unity.

In my historical experiences preceding my ascension–which was identical in its raising action to the elevation of Jesus the Christ–I was in a constant state of listening grace whereby my inner ears and eyes were fixed upon a lovely realm of light and perfection which served to remove the sting of earthly life from my consciousness, producing a comfort that my friends did not perceive. They often pondered the cause of my inner serenity without understanding its origin.

The contacts with my earthly brethren and the appearances that I have made since my ascension have not always been under circumstances where those I met were aware of either my identity or my power. May I humbly state that as in other similar cases where one of the ascended host has elected to part the veil of Matter and maya to contact directly unascended humanity, the latter have entertained “angels unawares.”<1>

I am well aware that some of my readers may opine, inasmuch as I am one who has passed through the veil, that this release of my words is of a psychic or spiritualistic nature. Let me quickly affirm that it is neither. God be praised that my own lifestream need not subscribe to such limiting forms.

The fact that we are expressing or “vibrating” our life in higher dimensions where ordinary human faculties of seeing and hearing do not function renders neither our service nor our reality of any less effect, nor does it force me to subscribe to the above-named methods of communication. Blessed ones, you do not by ordinary means perceive radio waves, for they remain inaudible until detected in the miracle of the electronic tube; therefore, trust in heaven’s capacity to communicate with man directly.

Because of my dedication to the holy cause of freedom, I have since my ascension consistently maintained a contact with one or more lifestreams embodied upon earth–and that by cosmic decree and with the approval of the heavenly hierarchy. Beloved Jesus and other great luminaries who have descended in the fullness of the divine plan have likewise appeared to their disciples down through the ages and do occasionally manifest to men and women of today with no more effort than that employed to dial a radio or television.

My purpose in discussing the subject of heaven’s winged messages from the great cloud of witnesses<2> is not as foreign to alchemy as might at first appear; for it portrays to you a necessary part of my program in the cause of freedom, of which the current series in alchemy is an integral part.

You see, blessed ones, the creation of the visible is wholly dependent upon those essences which are not visible to the unaided eye. Yet the central ideas occupying the minds of most people–originating as they do in the transient effects of human causation–are not of enough consequence to deserve comment or to be ordained with permanent reality.

I am certain you will agree that even as the range of ordinary human experience becomes monotonous for souls both great and small, so it is a wonderful blessing to them to be able to see into the higher octaves of creation by means of an adjusted consciousness and thus draw inspiration directly from the mind of nature and nature’s God.

Ignorance with its defilement of the Law deprives the individual and society of enlightenment. The only cure is illumined obedience, together with scientific attentiveness to the detail of the Law.

The benefits of divine wisdom remain unknown to many who suppose that the old familiar theories are adequate to meet the demands of the hour and that nothing beyond empiricism or the empirical method is required. Actually, the accepted tenets of modern science, being but partially true, are incomplete and therefore provide an inadequate foundation upon which to base advanced research and the control of the elements.

An attitude of complacency does not allow for progress in any endeavor, human or divine. Thus, where grace might abound it does not. Complacency remains a bulwark of reactive ignorance, preventing mankind from sharing in the abundance which all heaven stands waiting to shower upon those free souls whose purity of heart and guileless nature make most receptive to our thoughts.

Before conferring alchemical knowledge of any depth upon you, I wish to exalt you into that divine nobility which is as real as the light of the day and your greatest strength in meeting the challenges of the morrow! To do this may require some examination of the spirit of those sincere alchemists whose excursions into the unknown were productive in more ways than one.

Even the souls who failed completely to discover a method of changing base metals into gold were benefited beyond their farthest dreams by the blessings which came to them as a result of their search. Even the persecutions served to band them together in singleness of purpose, which, midst human diversity with its unfortunate tendencies toward greed and selfishness, is an achievement in itself.

I am in the hope that you will prepare yourself to succeed in your endeavors. Above all, stand ready to make the necessary changes in your thoughts and preconceived ideas that will make it possible for you to be victorious. If man expects to succeed in alchemy, which is in truth dependent on the higher laws of spiritual science, he must nurture the faith on which the strength of his invocation and concentration will

rest.

The fusion of metal, the control of atomic forces, and the direction of electronic energy by the mind of man acting in higher dimensions are easy enough once the grasp is acquired. However, after years of dependence upon the five senses and the attendant acceptance of mortal limitation, I am certain you can see how utterly important it is that your thinking become geared to new possibilities in order to function free of human restrictions and the dampening of a divine ardor by those who say because they do not know, “Impossible!” Let me say to all in freedom’s name, try!

While you are preparing your consciousness for the reception of the knowledge of tomorrow, be aware, then, of the need to ponder the origin of concepts involving limitation.

Beloved ones, you must be sane and balanced in all you do, but realize that true science borders on the miraculous to those who do not understand its formulas. You approach a solid wall with the idea that you cannot walk through it; yet it is not solid at all, but as full of holes as the wire of a chicken coop.

You cannot walk upon hot coals without burning your feet, and yet medicine men of a less illumined culture than your own do so with impunity.

Countless miracles of Christ have been duplicated by men and women of various times and climes since his wondrous advent, and yet because of human skepticism and forgetfulness, the wonder of it all has been relegated to the realm of myth or the imaginings of gullible minds. Let me plead for a renewal of faith in the power of God, for this is a requirement of everyone who would be a wonderman of spiritual accomplishment on behalf of the holy purposes of the universal law itself.

Without faith it is not only impossible to please God,<3> but I declare unto you, it is impossible to manifest the perfection of his laws. As faith is so great a requirement, would it not pay well for each one to reexamine his reasons for doubt?

Note well that most doubts arise from patterns of self-deception and the practice of deceit and the failures of the human mind to fulfill its professed integrity. Seeing, then, that such negative conditions stem from the consciousness of error, would it not be ever so wise for all to look unto Me (the Presence of Almighty God) and live?<4>

With God all things are possible,<5> but as in every science, proficiency does not usually come about without knowledge and its persistent application. The few who are exceptions to this rule may be called geniuses, but when the whole law is understood, it will be proven that even they had their hours of diligent study and practice.

I particularly want to point out that the purpose of our release of alchemical secrets in this course is to place in your hands and in the laboratory of your consciousness the knowledge of the law which we ourselves have used for centuries with the greatest of success and with the reverence for life which is of prime necessity to an inquiring mind poised on the loving intent of an honest heart.

Here idle curiosity is exchanged for that moral grandeur which so lifts a man above his fellows as to make of him a divine star in the firmament of his contemporaries. Lifted, then, by no false pride or intellectual misinterpretations, the true alchemist stands with humble mien, gazing expectantly at the teacher who will impart to him, if the attitude and the application be correct, the priceless knowledge of the ages.

May I fondly hope that you will reread the early lessons and assimilate therefrom a new sense of progress and of new possibilities? I am determined that many in this class shall succeed, and I shall continue to do my part above and below in your octave that this prove true and that great illumination, hope, peace, and understanding be born and renewed within you all.

I AM faithfully yours,

Saint Germain

Notes

1. Heb. 13:2.

    

2. Heb. 12:1.

    

3. Heb. 11:6.

    

4. Amos 5:4.

    

5. Matt. 19:26.

Chapter V‌

The Need, Power, and Motive of Change

The now of the present hour must be utilized as a chalice of spiritual opportunity. Life must be indulged by its highest objectives, honored by the adoration of exalting principles, and merited by selfless service. Beloved people, the power to change is within every man. Prefer this power and venerate it above every limiting condition, and watch the alchemy of Self expand!

Transmute the lies of shadowed substance that arrest your spirit’s upward soaring. Realize that conditions of human limitation are but ghosts that parade upon the stage of mortal existence, only to be laid to rest forever by eternal Reality.

Each man must become aware of his choices and select either freedom or fetters as he explores the chemistry of his present state, brings it into focus upon the mirror of truth, and then determines to alter each base condition, constructing within the crucible of the hour that hallowed progress which is born of eternal perception.

Destruct, then, the base and senseless mania of your origin in Matter consciousness, that possessive nature, the perversion of the Mother, which, failing to assess the fullness of cosmic possibilities, limits itself to the baubles and trinkets of temporal possession. Let heaven use your consciousness to expand its window into the infinite, and then behold at last the beautiful possibilities present in the most dire outer conditions. Give wealth to the poor in spirit, understanding to the rich, and compassion to everyone.

So often a lifestream may have in abundance the very qualities in which his neighbor is lacking. Exchange your virtues by exalting the valleys of another, and trust Life to remove the peaks of his pride as well as your own. Transmute the conditions in your own world that you do not want by determined and persistent effort. Every divine being who exalts the life of God within you knows that the power to do these things is in your hands this very day, within the reach of your intelligence and spirit.

Construct those spires of attainment which compose the Celestial City, and enfold the world of physical substance, the conscious mind, and the feelings of your heart with the radiance of immortal spheres.

Gazing at the universe with renewed hope, behold the need to sustain the proper regard.

Vanity has held sway upon earth far too long. Wondrous opportunities, like spirits in the night, have vanished with the dawn, resisted by the cold shackles that imprison the soul in a mantle of disintegrating moments descending in the glass of the hours.

The son of Elizabeth inquired of the Christ, “Art thou he that should come, or look we for another?”<1> The reply of the Christ referred to his miraculous accomplishments: the deaf were made to hear, the blind to see, and the lame to walk. The lesson contained in his answer urges each lifestream to accept the greatness of his own Reality.

All should see that life has brought to them its great and wondrous graces through the “I AM He” consciousness which must emerge from the cave of materiality. The gross separation of the whole into weak and incomplete components–men’s concept of themselves as particles remote from their Source– obliges their struggle through human misfortune instead of their acceptance of the grandiose concept of cooperative oneness charged with the power of love and freedom unbounded.

Truth raises all and defeats no one save those enemies of righteousness whose shadowed misunderstanding makes them little more than savage animals in the jungle of human creation. Even these are given more compassion by Life than they deserve. This I know, because the record is laid before me. Beloved Kuan Yin has called for mercy and given it freely to all without limit and without price.

This is God’s great gift: he always returns more love to life than life ever gives to him. Selflessly, the magnitude of God sends forth a torrent of love when a few droplets would suffice and thereby sweeps mankind on the upward pilgrim way, regardless of men’s erroneous notions.

Now, looking to another is not the solution to your problems; nor will it win the intended fulfillment God holds for thee, blessed son of man. As an alchemist enlightened by the torch of divine knowledge, aware of the magnificence of true Selfhood, you must summon the strength from the invisible realm and use the processes of transmutative alchemy within your own world and affairs to master daily all outer conditions by the spiritual means and physical appurtenances available to you.

To make bricks without straw<2> may not always be a requirement and may seem most difficult, but to the determined alchemist it is merely an obstacle to be overcome.

No one who occupies the earth at present should limit his recognition of the now-is-the-hour concept which mounts each wave of opposition and rides it forward into the crest of victory. Everyone should see his life–at any age or time–as amenable to change for the better and himself as possessing the capability to surmount any condition at will. Law and justice are natural factors of control, but the universe, guided by its own law, has the creative methods of transcending that law, approximating cosmic dimensions, and expanding geometrically into infinity.

Friends of freedom must disallow old ideas as quickly as they are able and discard outworn concepts as outmoded garments. It was difficult for men to accept that the world was round in Columbus’ day; they dogmatically subscribed to the theory that the earth was flat. Chemical formulas of basic and complex matter are simple to the chemist but to the unlearned seem but a jumble of symbols.

Our purpose in this course is not merely to confer knowledge, but to effect your acceptance of that knowledge by an almost a priori methodology. This is needed because the categorical proof of alchemical laws is universally and necessarily seen through their action in man!

Let there be light within your personal orbit and within the sphere of your being. Life is not an experiment, but mankind have experimented with it. Humanity has ridden the tide of the peripheral world of effects while neglecting the inner causative realm. All unhappiness is rooted in basic factors of cause. Mend the flaws and you shall be self-healed and self-revealed.

I am interested in bringing about a complete reversal of deleterious human attitudes and replacing them by such right methods and concepts that each life can quickly rise out of the human forcefield with its heavy, gravitational magnetism that hinders mankind’s progressive ascension.

By transmutation let every would-be alchemist first act to transform himself here and now and gain thereby an inner peace and a sense of outer accomplishment–especially at the close of each life’s term. Surely, unless both an interior and an exterior focus be maintained where Good is accented, one’s concentration of positive control which has the power to alter substance within and without cannot manifest the blessing God intends all to have and exercise each day.

Beloved ones, a life lived for reward or punishment is not a raison d’être. The destiny inherent within life has escaped the intelligent comprehension of many on earth and is anchored in but a few. Thousands daily take pleasure in the sweepstakes, the races, or games of chance, hoping against fantastic odds to become a winner, whilst they ignore the most certain of all laws: the cosmic purpose.

Those who deny God or life itself do so out of a dearth of genuine experience. They have not witnessed the dawn of pure reason in themselves. They prefer to accept those popular ideas associated with “non- gullibility”!

Well, the losses of such as these are legion. And while I do not expect to change every such individual, I do repeat my admonishment here that all might be inspired to keep on keeping on. The search is worth all effort. I know the law; the alchemy of action is its own proof.

Those who desire to enter into debate to prove the nonexistence or the nonessentiality of a First Cause may not wish to lose the transient pleasure of so doing. But if they accede to the divine logic, the golden grain of truth will replace the husks of pride in the stifling, airtight systems of the human intellect which disdains the verification of any knowledge not experienced by the physical senses.

Frequently individuals like to think they are en rapport with hoary heads of wisdom. Now, I think that the centuries I lived before my ascension and those which have since transpired have entitled me to some distinction in this respect. Neither ego nor human motive would inspire me to write this series. I am aware only of the deep love I feel for the earth as a unit of cosmic progress, and I desire to impart herein something of the sweet simplicity of that love and the wisdom that is guided thereby.

Let us see now how reasonable it is to suppose that enough people serving in harmony can change the most calcified condition and create an influx of love that will sweep the hills and valleys with an inspired movement to heal the breach between the realities of eternal alchemy (the all-chemistry of God) and the artificialities which rise from the caves of base error. Then the emerging gold of personal integrity and personal integration will be a gift equally shared by all; individual man will reflect pure genius and the social order will reflect the kingdom of heaven.

The forces that would bind mankind to their past errors and thus prevent the flame of peace from being released in the present must themselves be bound as in heaven, so on earth.<3> And mankind must arise to sound the death knell of these forces here and now ere war shall cease. Freedom from confusion can be found only in the true understanding of life and the alchemy of being.

Step by step, I am leading you to the right understanding of alchemy. In the first lessons I reminded you of responsibility–your responsibility to prove the law of your being by the right use of alchemy. Now I am reminding you of the need to effect changes in yourself where change is desirable. Finally, I shall instruct you in the art and practice of precipitation.

A prerequisite to applying the methods of precipitation is knowing what you want to precipitate. It was this truth which Jesus taught in the Lord’s Prayer and when he said, “Nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done.”<4>

The will of God, the will of the Higher, is the will of your Real Self–the most important part of you. Because the lesser you, although it retains through the soul the capacity to contact this Higher Self, is but a bundle of impulses crowded with bits of human knowledge, I am advocating that you become acquainted with the Reality of yourself. For this Reality is the genie (genius) in you that can give the Aladdin (symbolizing the alchemist who rubs the lamp of pure knowledge) the right desires of his immortal being.

Ponder now the need to change (Thine is the kingdom), the power to change (Thine is the power), and the motive to change (Thine is the glory), and evolve out of the passing flame of earnestness the permanent sun of renewed hope.

Graciously, I AM

Saint Germain

Notes

1. Matt. 11:2-5.

    

2. Exod. 5:6-19.

    

3. Matt. 16:19; 18:18.

    

4. Luke 22:42.

Chapter VI‌

Molding Factors

Oh, the mold–there’s the rub! Aye, and the mowlde,<1> too, contaminates. But how beautiful is the original hope of heaven for each lifestream!

Following the descent into form and material substance come those formative years when the pressures, both clamorous and silent, make their impression upon the clean white consciousness of the individual. Beginning with the first fond gawking of parents and kin, there is a gradual buildup of environmental factors which serve to create patterns and concepts upon the tender screen of the embryonic mind.

These molding factors continue to exert their multifarious influence upon the plastic personality of man. That selfhood, then, which is first identified wholly with God-Good, is affected and shaped by myriad experience patterns. Thus does example, for woe or for weal, sculpt the mind and being of man.

Experience is not, however, the sole way to expand consciousness. For each moment spent with God or one of his cosmic band serves to exalt and broaden individual consciousness, conveying illumination on the instant–in the twinkling of an eye!<2>

The empirical proof of human imperfection is epitomized in the past/present lives of mass humanity. Life in bondage and life in peril decries the meaning of existence. Religion and hope for salvation arise in the human heart and burgeon from the human tree! (“And he looked up, and said, I see men as trees, walking.”<3>) The alchemy of change was needed in Jesus’ day and is still needed, because all too frequently the mold is imperfect and the product cannot excel its matrix.

I have declared that the mowlde, too, contaminates; and thus I direct your attention to the untransmuted accumulation of human filth and misery which, like trash, litters the sidewalks of the human consciousness, reeking forth from the literary stalls of the world. The crusty mowlde masquerades as legitimate culture while undermining the decency of lusty souls.

Freedom of the press was not intended to give license to the corrupters of youthful minds; neither was it intended to be used to confuse and disorganize the populace, flooding their brains with jingoistic propaganda and prejudicial discriminations. Rather, the power of Light was intended to emanate from a free press and exalt everyone into a rightful sense of cosmic destiny.

America, my beloved country! How precious are the footsteps of your heroes sung and unsung; but every mother’s heart can take a just pride in offering with the “consent of the governed” the fruit of her

life–sons and daughters of excellence who from the heart of this beloved nation serve the cause of freedom across the earth.

Because each dire effect of the mold and the mowlde must be counteracted, I am releasing these remarks pertaining to personal freedom through the correct use of alchemy. I do not say that more will not be spoken on the subject to parallel and conclude the course, but herein is my specific advice to those who would use alchemy to further their own personal advancement in the divine plan fulfilled and thus change their present circumstances for the better.

Those who are familiar with the process of refining precious metals are aware of the intense heat needed to liquify many metals. Heat is also necessary to release impurities and foreign material from the pure metal. Separation of the dross occurs in two ways: (1) a portion is vaporized and passes into the very atmosphere of the room wherein the refining furnace is operating, and (2) much of this unwanted substance is brought to the surface and skimmed off by the alert refiner.

Apropos of this, few parents exist who are equipped with the type of instruction which would enable their children to know from the beginning the tenets of their full freedom. I do not say that the world is not full of aspiration and good intentions, but the highways so paved do not seem to lead to the best places. Thus it happens that the children of the world become wiser in each succeeding generation in the arts and artifices of war and in the many customs of world society without ever becoming too stirred about the regenerate and peaceful society of saints!

In the main, few are born and come to years with a right understanding of the universal purpose. And of necessity, personal destinies, which often run crosscurrent to the universal flow, are periodically thwarted and broken.

The pages of history are full of the downfall of tyrants and the overthrow of monsters of misdirected purpose. Failures and successes in many fields draw recognition while the average man moves into the burial ground of mediocrity. Nothing is further from the plan of God and nature than these counterfeits of the golden mean.

How ill-equipped is the concept of a destiny which can be shaped by human misconceptions. How noble are they who acknowledge an Intellect, a Mind, a Spiritual Overseer, and a Creator whose forethought, greater even than that of his emissaries, is revealed as a mountain of universal purpose to be scaled by the brave who do not hesitate or fear to trust the wisdom of those early climbers of the rugged summit

peaks.

Those linked to the lifeline of these spiritual pioneers are given greater guidance, for the elder brothers of the race lovingly extend to them the freedom of the ages as a gift of faith. This gift is extended to all who, by accepting that faith, can likewise summon the will to pursue it and the perseverance to let it fashion them in a mold made purer still and in an accumulation of that purity whose reality is the treasure of heaven!

Beloved friends of freedom, you stand now at the gateway to higher alchemical truths, which I am releasing in the seventh lesson; but it is needful for you to contemplate your life in a manner wholly in keeping with the Spirit of Universal Alchemy. No longer act from the vanity of desiring recognition, but from the valor of necessary achievement and because service is needed and worthy in itself. God needs a vehicle through which to manifest in the world of form, and you lend your hands and feet to him!

You must understand the mystery of oneness whereby a thread of contact between each life and its Source serves to connect all who live to one great central switchboard. Here the interaction of thought and feeling is guarded lest it hurt any part of life in the holy mountain of God.

Consider all the beauty of life which can be. Perceive this as pure gold. All causes of unhappiness, every vibration of discord, fear, doubt, suspicion, condemnation, criticism, judgment, self-righteousness, and all negative traits are part of either the human mold or the mowlde which must be purged as dross before purity can so regenerate a lifestream as to enable the individual to partake of the waters of Life freely.<4>

It is not enough that men come to drink when the invitation from higher sources has gone forth. They must make new skins to retain the new wine of infinite goodness and purpose.<5> This is spiritual alchemy; and wise are they who first master it in themselves before attempting to govern the elements in others or in nature, for thus is karma justified by wisdom and rendered benign. Sin does not come to the door of such a practitioner, for his motives, purpose, and methods are pure, and his acts are also just.

Gracious alchemists, the very fact that you are studying this course should denote your interest in improving. In the very word improving is a spiritual lesson to be mastered.

The words impression and proving combine here to denote that life brings its impressions to the heart of your consciousness to prove the worth of each impression. Every idle thought is thereby brought to judgment before the magnificence that is the higher glory of God, the upper light in the vaulted chamber of heaven.

The mind of Christ is synonymous with the mind of Light and characterizes one whose attunement is specifically directed to the Higher Intelligence. The inflow of impressions from the world at large should be directed by the student for comparison and proof to the pure patterns of the purposes of heaven.

When these are improved upon by the alchemical fire, they become part of each man’s forte of useful objects and ideas–permanent matrices for good, drawing unto the consciousness of man more of their kind. Thus is the kingdom of Selfhood expanded on wings of heavenly wisdom proved day after day by the speech uttered from the hills of spiritual watchfulness.

The sincere alchemist knows that the vast Intelligence that created all that is, expands mighty wings of light over the all of the cosmos. As above in the Macrocosm, so below in the microcosm, in the

miniaturized world of appearance, is this Intelligence individualized! The watchful care of God ever manifests to his wondrous purposes as a Guardian Presence who seeks not the defilement, but the glorious fulfillment of each person in whom dwells the flame of almighty, ever-present life.

So-called physical death does not represent the end of being. It merely divides eternal life into compartments of identity and experience whereby expansion and opportunity can be utilized to the fullest and each outworn mold discarded. Forgotten fragments can be pieced together by the seeker and woven strand by strand into a tapestry of such beauty as to thrill the beholder with a sense of gratitude for the perfection and glory present in each day of eternity!

I am aware of human discouragement caused by identifying with elements of disintegration in society. I know full well the deceits practiced in the name of religion. But my concern is not so much with these matters as it is with those lives that do emerge from the crucible of experience with a wonderful garment patined with pure gold.

Your life need never be vacant, for Life watches you and Life is intelligent and considerate. Life is tangible and real. Life is earnest and tender. Life is dramatic and moving toward glory.

The high road, as distinguished from the low road, is the way of the alchemist, whose heart is in the shining glory all the day and all the way that his pilgrim feet walk the dusty ways of man–transmuting, transmuting, and transmuting that dust into purest radiance!

I AM the life, I AM the truth, and I AM the way,

Saint Germain

Notes

1. mowlde: Middle English for mold.

    

2. I Cor. 15:52.

    

3. Mark 8:22-26.

    

4. Rev. 22:17.

    

5. Matt. 9:16, 17.

Chapter VII‌

Methods of Transfer

Light is the alchemical key! The words “Let there be light”<1> are the first fiat of the creation and the first step in proper precipitation. When man, who himself is a manifestation of God, desires to emulate the Supreme Father and precipitate, as a true son of Light should learn to do, he ought to follow those methods used by the Supreme Intelligence if consistent and worthy results are to be anticipated.

By examining the obvious methods of the Creator and by observing nature, you can deduce much of value if you will school yourself to think independently. For it is necessary to bypass mere human syllogisms and to penetrate the limitless consciousness of God, who is the great Master Alchemist, in order to “go and do likewise,”<2> ever beholding your services as good.

When you have determined within yourself to experiment with the art of precipitation, first create a mind blueprint of the object you wish to produce. This should incorporate definite size, proportion, substance, density, color, and quality in detailed picture form. When the visualization of the blueprint within your mind is complete, it ought to be immediately sealed. This is a vital step in its speedy and effective release into the world of Matter-form.

Do not misunderstand this step and think that by sealing your plan you are closing the door to the improvement of its design. Such is not the case, for improvements can be made in subsequent models; but unless you release the blueprint to the elementals and builders of form as a finished work, they cannot properly bring it into manifestation. The words “It is finished!” are therefore the second fiat of creation following “Let there be light!”

Now that you have created a thought matrix and sealed it against the intrusion of impinging mind radiation from others, set up either consciously (in some cases through jealousy or ego) or unconsciously by the mass mind’s collective resistance to progress, you must observe the third rule to protect your creative intent and “tell no man.” This, too, is a law of precipitation–one that allows you to circumvent concentrated beams of human thought and feeling patterns which can be most disturbing to a successful alchemical experiment unless certain safeguards are activated.

Avoid, then, the dissipation of energy by the intrusion of a multiplicity of minds, except where two or more individuals are specifically cooperating in joint precipitation. Those who are of a scientific nature and are familiar with Coulomb scattering and Rutherford’s law will understand how thought-energy, as waves scattering other waves as if composed of minute particles, can set up a penetration of great enough intensity to break down the field of magnetic thought-energy focusing the specific pattern of the creative

matrix.

Each student should recognize that geometric figures such as the square, the triangle, the circle, the ellipse, and the parallelogram are employed almost universally in creating within the macrocosmic as well as the microcosmic three-dimensional world. Although higher forms of creativity are found in the mathematical world of algebra, calculus, and trigonometry, the highest symbology of all known to us at inner spiritual levels is the science of engrammic rhythms.

This study deals with the control and release of energy, with engrams (which term we use to refer to the causative key behind the effects observed by worldly scientists and called by them engrams), with the use of mantras, with the storing of fohatic energy, and with safeguards activating principles of demarcation between the evolutions of the human consciousness in the planes of Matter and the world of perfect divine order that exists in the planes of Spirit.

When contemplating this science, one should bear in mind that even the infinite, omnipresent consciousness of God, as it extends itself into the realm of the material creation, moves through the gamut of creative expression from simple patterns to those of increasing complexity.

The student of alchemy should consider the memory, when employed as the instrument of the Higher Mind, as an invaluable adjunct to his experiment; for the processes of the human memory are remarkable indeed. And when these are coordinated with the mental body, superlative action is always forthcoming. Thus there are a number of individuals who can memorize and execute an entire symphony without noticeable flaw. Mathematicians, too, demonstrate marvelous faculties of mental control in their calculations which approximate infinite precision.

Let each student of alchemy, then, recognize that he has within himself a Higher Mind that is capable of holding patterns of infinite dimensions. This Mind functions independently of the outer mind without human restriction of any kind. Hence, as the vehicle of the Higher Mind, a purified memory body, feeding as it does the impressions of that Mind to the outer mind, is indispensable to the alchemist.

Let the sincere student who would ponder and practice methods of mind and memory control, which are the methods of God himself, acquire the habit of consciously giving to this blessed Higher Mind, or Christ Self, the responsibility for designing and perfecting the embryonic ideas and patterns of his creation. For many of these patterns which at first appeared to be consciously conceived by the alchemist frequently have their origin within this higher portion of the blessed Self.

Remember, twenty-four hours of each day your Higher Mind is active in expanded dimensions. This blessed Comforter, unknown and unexperienced by you outwardly, waits to be called into action and does function free of ordinary space/time limitations. Employ your Higher Mind, then, both as your apprentice and as your teacher; for the Holy Spirit of truth moving therein can lead you into all truth!<3>

I would like to call to the attention of the students that if they so desire, they can immeasurably assist themselves in the alchemical arts through outside reading. Care must be exercised in this, however, so that the byways of technology and scientific theory do not serve to divert the mighty flow of alchemy as the greatest science into byways of materialism where the ends are said to justify the means.

I realize full well that many related subjects would not only be boring, but also beyond the comprehension of some of our students. Desiring not to limit the masses of mankind from having the blessings of alchemy, I have deliberately stated many of these points in such a way as to make them easily understood. Let no one feel, however, that all knowledge can be reached through a single approach or without effort and study.

I suggest for those wishing more technical information to augment the course that they study wave propagation, the mechanics of the quantum theory, elementary and advanced chemistry and physics, seismology, astronomy, geology, and related subjects. These studies, together with courses in the humanities, the world’s religions, and the Shakespearean plays, will be of immense value as you are guided from within and also by your personal tastes.

Let none feel that the pursuit of such extracurricular subjects is absolutely necessary or the mandate of the Masters, for the teachings of greatest importance are included herein–albeit in some cases between the lines. Let God guide; and to those who do not recognize his reins, I say, fortune is as fortune does!

I am a bit hopeful that material science will not look too much askance on the control of Matter by the power of the mind and spirit. I doubt that religion could justly deny the so-called miracles which demonstrate (if they are to be believed) that individuals who have lived upon earth have been able to practice transmutation, which is simply changing one form into another, such as water into wine;<4> amplification and multiplication of the atomic and molecular substance, such as multiplying the loaves and fishes;<5> and precipitation of the elements, such as calling down fire from heaven.<6> Equally wondrous feats performed by masters unascended and ascended indicate a most exact science of control over Matter and energy.

I myself have never questioned the truth of these matters, simply because I have always retained in humility my faith in the power of Good to endure forever. Moreover, I am active in demonstrating the laws of alchemy which make of the entire process of the control of Matter and energy an everyday affair.

I realize that the uninitiated or those who have never seen these so-called miracles for themselves may easily question their authenticity. Alchemists of God, I do not now ask you to believe alone. I ask you to begin in some measure to demonstrate these truths for yourself!

A few students of higher law have been able to externalize successfully one or more visible objects directly from the Universal such as a rose, a precious stone, or a cup of liquid essence quickening both mind and body. Naturally, we are anxious to see people achieve the power of producing anything and everything directly from the Universal.

Yet such secrets can hardly be written down or spelled out in full, for we cannot upset the present economic system until greater justice is established by mankind on earth. But neither can these secrets be justifiably concealed from the worthy. Hence we have included marvelous keys in this total course which, to the eyes of the faithful or those who would strive to become so, will open many a door of progress.

Every Ascended Master has these powers to precipitate at will, and therefore he never lacks for any good thing. Let unascended mankind ask themselves this question: How long will you spend your energy struggling to eke out a bare existence from Nature’s cupboard, which to some seems bare indeed, when all your needs can be met by mastering the cosmic laws which Christ Jesus and other great teachers have demonstrated by their own lives in the past?

The use of the term light in alchemy includes light in its known visible aspects as well as in its invisible characteristics, some of which are yet unknown to physical science. When I produced rare gems and precious stones by means of alchemy, the methods I used could not have been easily applied by the average person who had not by discipline, faith, and meditative quietude established the necessary mind control.

These methods are known to every initiate; and only an initiate could be so tempted of the dark forces as Jesus was, who, aware of his alchemical power, rebuked the temptation to use alchemy during the period of the testing of his faith. Rather than relieve physical discomfort by commanding “these stones be made bread,”<7> as he might have done, he rendered his allegiance to the supreme God Presence and the Word of God and acknowledged these as far more important than the demands of his physical body. This enabled him to pass his test and to prepare for the disciplines which gave him his victory on the cross and

in the tomb and carried him upward from Bethany’s hill into the arms of God.

However, the alchemy of spiritual progress seems less important to many who prefer the more spectacular modes of psychic phenomena to the attainment of those transmutative changes which will make them Godlike. Little do men dream that the assurance “All these things shall be added unto you”<8> includes the power of control over wind and wave, of substance and energy, once man has made the kingdom of God his first and most important objective.

Yet, balance is needed, and I am delighted once again to tell the students that the use of alchemy to work change in the physical octave is not inordinate in the least if it is properly used.

The methods of alchemy can be simply stated and easily absorbed, but its precepts require the practice of a master artist. Nevertheless, results can come forth in diverse ways if the student will at least begin and try. There are many methods of precipitation, but here I shall outline just one of them in part.

First design a mental matrix of the desired object, then determine where you wish it to manifest. If you know the material substance of which it is composed, memorize its atomic pattern; if not, call to the

Divine Intelligence within your Higher Mind to register the pattern for you from the Universal Intelligence and impress it upon your memory body and your mind.

Recognize that light is an energy substance universally manifesting on earth, thanks to the sun center of being, the focal point of the Christ in this solar system. Call for light to take on the atomic pattern you are holding, to coalesce around that pattern, and then to “densify” into form. Call for the multiplication of this atomic structure until molecules of substance begin to fill the void occupying the space in which you desire the object to appear.

When the total outline is filled with the vibratory action of the fourth-dimensional substance representing the desired manifestation, ask for the full lowering of the atomic density into three-dimensional form and substance within the pattern established by the matrix of your mind; and then await results.

Do not be tense if your manifestation is not immediate or if after a reasonable length of time it appears that results are not forthcoming. Remember, blessed ones, despair destroys the very faith upon which your experiment is built. For faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen,<9> and you must hold your faith as you hold the gossamer veil composing the mental image.

If you have spent years in the grip of human emotions absorbing the discord of the mass consciousness and the doubts and fears by humankind, these records must be consumed by alchemical fires to make way for these nobler ideas and forms which you would image forth. To your new ideas you must give your time and your energy. Thus you begin to weave a web of fruition dedicated to spirituality, to the spiritualization of the material consciousness, and to the materialization of heavenly concepts right here on earth where the kingdom of God must come into manifestation.

I would like to point out that the scanning method used in the projection of television pictures, whereby an electronic stream effect fluoresces on a screen and the electronic particles sweep in a horizontal linear pattern to create within a microsecond an eye picture, cannot be successfully used in alchemical precipitation, but is most suitable for the projection of mental pictures at a distance. In precipitation, a rapid expansion of the light rays in three dimensions must occur; and in the screen method, the optical image is on a flat, single-plane dimension.

A study of cytology and embryology will provide the student with some understanding of how a single cell multiplies and reproduces. When you are dealing with instantaneous manifestation, the velocity and intensity of light must reach startling speed and power.

It must be realized that the exercise of such control over Matter by the mind is no ordinary process. While I do not say that ordinary people cannot master the technique of executing these laws and that the most humble individual cannot be invested with or invest himself with such authority within the inalienable rights that God gives to man, I do not wish a sense of frustration to arise within those who may attempt to precipitate and then feel discouraged because they apparently fail.

I say “apparently” because the law does not fail. In most cases where direct precipitation does not occur, if the effort and the technique be pursued in full faith that the call compels the answer, an indirect precipitation will sooner or later be brought about whereby through one hand or another the desired manifestation does take place.

Remember, this is divine artistry of the highest type. It is also co-creation with God and, as such, is best used by those whose purposes parallel the divine. Thus, when the will of man is aligned with the will of God, the light of God does not fail to precipitate that will in the full-ness of time, space, and opportunity.

I have devoted six lessons to this subject, dealing with practical methods for assisting the spiritual scientist in obtaining greater personal happiness each day through the merger of the person with the patterns of Principle itself. Both inner and outer peace and a sense of personal well-being are required for the successful development of one’s spiritual powers, albeit some individuals may thrive in the midst of conflict. I admit that upon earth courageous leaders in many fields are needed to unfold and develop the type of society which could be considered to be designed by the gods.

In addition to the alchemy of instantaneous precipitation, the alchemy of preparation is needed, whereby the use of one’s energies and opportunities is planned in an intelligent manner so that Life does not receive a hit-and-miss return on its investment of energy in an individual lifestream.

I am hopeful that my readers thus far have not been disappointed in the homey use I have made of their time and attention. I humbly submit that the rereading of this material may further enlighten you, each one, in the true depth of my perceptions, which are calculated to exalt those of various social and religious strata into areas of greater usefulness to themselves, to mankind, and to God. If, when the course is complete, I have in some measure accomplished that or augmented its possibility, I shall be content.

Some of you may desire my personal guidance as you attempt your first alchemical precipitation. I shall gladly assist all who will silently request my aid, providing the motive be right and the desired change beneficial to your life plan and providing you exercise care and prayer in seeking that God’s will always be done.

Let me suggest, then, that you attempt as a first effort the precipitation of an amethyst in the form of a Maltese cross. You see, this would be most excellent, for I have personally used alchemy to make many experimental models. And I am most happy to add my momentum to your own!

From the simple to the complex, from the dawn of the beginning of the use of Light’s ray to the noontide zenith of progress, let all move in the byways of life as in a caravan of faith. Let each would-be alchemist aim at the mark of achievement. You build in the eternal day right now.

I AM dedicated to your success,

Saint Germain

Notes

1. Gen. 1:3.

    

2. Luke 10:37.

    

3. John 14:17; 15:26; 16:13.

    

4. John 2:1-11.

    

5. Matt. 14:15-21.

    

6. II Chron. 7:1-3; II Kings 1:10, 12.

    

7. Matt. 4:3, 4.

    

8. Matt. 6:33.

    

9. Heb. 11:1.

Chapter VIII‌

Commanding Consciousness

Now we approach with reverent hush, with the awe of sacred awareness, the great spiritual laws governing all outer manifestation. The purposes of God become more near to each one as they become more dear to him. Realize what folly it is to submit to the false tenets of any educational system. Yet it is equally foolish to deny the inherent truth and the tested precepts of academic knowledge.

To know nature, know thyself; but master the art of sacred synthesis. Thereby the justice of truth shall serve to integrate within the field of knowing that inner relativity and cosmic measurement between nature and the Self whose precise mathematical action indicates that as God geometrizes, so man is able systematically to perceive and demonstrate a correlated understanding of the wondrous works of God’s hands–minus the fallacious wizardry of the carnal mind.

By stripping human thought and feeling vibrations from the creative grace enfolded within each atom of the creation, the whole substance of life gleams, purified by eternal hands. Now this is as it should be! The grossest error, the most intense suffering–all are caused by an erroneous approach to pure reason.

Do you realize, blessed children of mankind, that few there be upon earth who would knowingly persist in wrongdoing were they convinced with certainty that they were so engaged? It is up to the master alchemists of the race, then, to serve God and man to the ultimate by removing every trace of malice and ignorance from the screen of the human consciousness, commencing with each one’s own personal concepts.

Knowing how tenderly the students of this course are hanging on my every word, I am also imbued with a sense of reverence for the service at hand. I cannot conceive of how we can do less than answer the calls made unto us in accordance with the Great Cosmic Law.

Even an ascended being in close contact with mankind can become almost possessed with a sense of urgency and a desire to cut the chains which hold any blessed soul in bondage! Yet it is only possible for us to point the way and give such specific guidance and service as the Karmic Board has prescribed.

The injunction “Man, know thyself” must be applied by you to the pure truth of being and not to human concepts of what that truth is. It is dangerous, however, to be critical of another or of his concepts; for only the individual can apprehend, through the screen of his own being, his world and the cosmos beyond.

When you realize the meaning of interpreting life for yourself, you will see how utterly impossible it is for you to perform this for another, inasmuch as the average person cannot successfully enter the

consciousness of another lifestream nor accurately assess his complete thought and feeling processes.

This, by the grace of God, we are able to do; and the Karmic Board, in connection with the universally Christed Selves of all mankind, is able to mediate. We often hesitate, unless mightily appealed to, to interfere in individual karma. Yet foolish unascended mankind often rush in to decide how an individual ought to live or think. I trust the students of this activity will come more and more to realize how helpful they can be to one another by holding the immaculate concept for each one’s life plan and then leaving the guidance to that one’s Higher Self.

Well have I observed over the centuries how important is the service of ordered prayer. The daily offering of petitions has saved the lives of millions, expanded the lives of other millions, and blessed all life without limit.

Prayer opens the door of God’s intervention in human affairs. It provides an avenue whereby the Ascended Masters and cosmic beings who desire to serve the planet earth and its evolutions can walk within the folds of universal justice and render special assistance because they have been called upon to do so. For the law decrees that the heavenly hosts must be petitioned by some among mankind, must be invited to intervene, before they are permitted to intercede on behalf of humanity.

After all, would men retain their free will if heaven thwarted the attainment of every inordinate desire? Yet can those guardians of the race who perceive the error of mankind’s actions fail to invoke on behalf of their misguided brethren assistance from the higher intelligence of God to cut life free from the crystallized effects of their erroneous concepts?

To the alchemist the value of prayer is manifold. In addition to the aforesaid benefits, it provides an impetus to enhance his values and further the goal of divine truth while the mental mold is in the process of coming into physical manifestation.

The call of beloved Jesus at the hour of his greatest testing, “Nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done!”<1> teaches a more advanced law of alchemy. When spoken by the alchemist at the moment of the sealing of the matrix, this call ensures that the guiding forces of power, wisdom, and love will amend the precipitated pattern where necessary in order that the more perfect designs of the Creator may come forth in the world of form.

This places the whole process of precipitation within the forcefield of eternal perceptions and provides man, as a co-creator with God, with the added benefit of the assistance of the Almighty as he forms and develops his own idea-pattern of destiny in accordance with cosmic purpose.

In my most recent offering, I hinted at the possibility of other minds interfering with the process of precipitation. And while I wish no one to become fearful of this eventuality, I do want each one to be alert to protect himself by guarded silence.

Guarded action and guarded meditation are additional guarantees that the freedom to create which God intends all to have will be the lot of everyone. Your visualization of a blue light around yourself, your matrix, and its manifestation will serve to focalize the desired protection.

When Christ Jesus made the statement “Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword,” it caused consternation to many who followed him as the Prince of Peace and it has continued to do so to the present hour. Beloved ones, that declaration, together with that which follows–“I am come to set a man at variance against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. And a man’s foes shall be they of his own household”<2>— have in common the purpose of conveying a message of protection to each lifestream.

The Saviour proclaimed to all mankind the need to protect the very God-design which belongs to them. Therefore, if some should presume to tell others how to live, they would be setting at variance family and friends. And if a man choose consciously to seek, find, and follow his own God-design, although that very pattern may not please father, mother, friends, or society, that man should accept it albeit it set him at variance with those who yet hold the world’s concepts of fulfillment.

In following Bethlehem’s Star–the inner lodestone of the Christ–one shares Gethsemane, Calvary, resurrection’s morn, and ascension’s hill. Thus no one can have true peace until the sword of divine discrimination enables him to discern Reality for himself and then to protect the inherent gifts and graces God has sealed within him in order to make of each lifestream a glorious facet in the master plan of the creation.

I do not allow that an excuse for human stubbornness should arise from my preceding statement. Surely it should be realized that many well-meaning parents and friends do give sound advice, that many religious and educational leaders do likewise, and that much can be learned from listening to the wisdom of the learned and the well informed.

I am, however, interested in each individual’s mastering for himself the process of self-discrimination whereby he develops the qualities of leadership and the ability to weigh the advices of others, obediently looking to the God above to penetrate the density of human reason with the light of his benevolence– which, I repeat, is the dawn and the substance of pure reason itself. Greater logic hath no man than the incomparable wisdom of the Logos!

There is here, nonetheless, a point of danger, a thin-ice state of consciousness where foolish aloofness is sensitized within the student; and in this state he declares, “I need only God, and he alone must tell me all I would know.” Well, dear ones, when the king bids the son to a feast, he employs servants to place the goods of his table before the son, who must then arise and partake of it for himself. So let all learn to recognize the true worth in others and in all things, but be not misled by the blindness of others.

Now I come to a place where I am anxious to convey to you a great mystery in a manner whereby the very correctness of your apprehension will enable you to reap permanent benefits in your mind and

affairs. It is this: the alchemist’s understanding of consciousness as the supreme ingredient.

Beloved ones, with God all things are possible!<3> If you possess his consciousness, then it is now so for each of you–all things are, in fact, immediately possible to you in manifestation. If this is not your instantaneous experience, then you need more of his consciousness!

“So far, so good,” you say. “But how do I go about acquiring that nebulous commodity called consciousness?”

Beloved ones, what and where is your consciousness? The minute specks of physical Matter or energy, atomic in nature, are composed of particles of light held within orbital paths, prescribed and imbued with intelligent action. This spiritual magnetism, infused with creative intelligence, power, and love, is a flux whose density permeates the entire sphere and realm of each atom, extending outward into molecular and cellular composition and thence through the elemental phases of nature, manifesting unto planetary scale. And when correctly understood, these particles shall be known to be whirling in infinitely fantastic orbital paths through solar, galactic, and universal densities.

Relative size has enabled mankind to feel that his consciousness is body-confined or cell-confined, as the case may be. This concept of the ghost chained within the human machine is a total mistake. Although the flow of interacting forces may become more complex, still the concept of an expanding consciousness, simultaneous with an expanding universe, must be reckoned with if man will correctly master his affairs.

Man is no more confined to his body than he is to an atom of substance within it or within his brain. Neither are the atoms of physical Matter composing that body confined to it and limited in expression by that body or Matter-mind density.

The power of reaching outward and becoming a part altogether conscious of a whole in a marvelously spiritual manner is the gift of God to all. No one loses any part of that which is already his own by so doing, and no one takes anything away from anyone else through this sharing of the glories of God.

The real meaning of the passage of scripture in which John the Revelator referred to the little book which would be sweet in the mouth and bitter in the belly<4> relates to his digestion of the idea of himself as containing the universe and the universe containing him. The Book of Life spoken of in Revelation<5> is the lexicon of God, and the lexicon of God embraces the entire cosmos.

Inasmuch as it spans all of the creation, let none take away another’s portion or privilege to enjoy all of its cosmic truth; nor let anyone deprive himself of this, life’s greatest privilege. To do so is to take away either one’s own or another’s portion, and surely then God, as Law, shall confine the one so doing to the same sphere of limitation to which he has confined another.

Let all in being their brother’s keeper esteem the highest and best possibilities for everyone. Therefore,

expand and contract the conscious-ness to sense not only the necessary internal realm of being, but also the externally expanding universe, and you shall find your consciousness leaping into the arms of the Eternal Alchemist himself.

Now, it is not my intention to leave the many subjects included in this course without a spiritual and physical synopsis and an appendage of daily usefulness. Therefore, the next lesson shall include the golden cord, which should perhaps be spelled chord, for it is intended to create a final harmonizing key in consciousness that will make this course of permanent and inestimable value to all.

I am hopefully including such instruction as shall serve to frame the whole in a setting rare and lovely. But the whole herein referred to is your whole life! Master your consciousness by properly directing its attention, and possess thereby the key to God’s precious storehouse of eternal substance.

Fondly, I AM

Saint Germain

Notes

1. Luke 22:42.

    

2. Matt. 10:34-36.

    

3. Matt. 19:26.

    

4. Rev. 10:9.

    

5. Rev. 22:19.

Chapter IX‌

The Crucible of Being

Breathes there the man, with soul so dead Who never to himself hath said,

This is my own, my native universe!

Part I

If I could cite one area of application which the students need to work on more than any other, it is that of the expansion of the universal consciousness within the forcefield of the individual.

The greatest need of mankind today–and I say this unequivocally–is the development and the nurturing of the sense of the universal as belonging completely to the individual. From thence is drawn the foregone conclusion that the individual must also be sensed as belonging to that universal cosmos so conceived.

As the student of alchemy approaches the temple of being, of life, of oneness, he must, if he would correctly apprehend the meaning of existence and derive happiness therefrom, see himself as a diamond of Light’s perfection set in a mounting of perpetual elegance. Acknowledging his origin in those permanent realities which the interpretative mind and heart of being are able to apprehend and hold in the proper focus of prospective progress, man shall once again renew his intelligently guided drift toward sublime Reality.

There is no greater deterrent to progress than the isolationism that evolves out of the sense of separation from Life wherein the smallness of the ego, pitted against indeterminate odds, lurks in the shadows of uncertainty. The unforeseeable events of the future, by reason of their opacity, project little comfort into the longing heart which awaits some word from the creative mind of God, some foreknowledge of the depth of that love which God feels for each part of the vast whole of the cosmos in all of its immensity and greatness.

From the least to the greatest minds of earth, all need the benefit of lasting attunement with the universal consciousness of God.

Mankind, through various religious concepts, have imagined God to be a “creature-creator” simply because they themselves are “creator-creatures.” Using the tremendous outgoing energy of being, men have diligently imagined and imaged forth the nature of God, while only the few have apprehended the truth that God is consciousness, and as consciousness he is life, intelligence, will, and love manifest in a

rich variety of dimensions and attributes.

Now I tell you, God is a benign Impersonal Personality, a Personal Impersonality, a Personal Personality, and an Impersonal Impersonality comprising the manifold consciousness of being. He gives and gives of his creative Self to the creatures he has made in the hope that they will apprehend his purposes and emulate his consciousness to the fullness with which he has endowed them.

As they mature and grow throughout life, people imitate one another, consciously and unconsciously mimicking the personalities that touch their lives. They dwell in such a sense of unreality that they persist in identifying themselves as vile sinners. They accept not only the accusations of the “accuser of our brethren” whose machinations are exposed in the twelfth chapter of the Book of Revelation, but also the burden of mounting waves of mass condemnation which, like a raging sea, threaten to drown the Real Image of the Higher Self in an ocean of emotion.

The purpose of thought and feeling is to form the mold of fruitful and progressive experience which in turn endows mankind with the highest aspects of his Divine Self. You see, blessed alchemists, your thoughts and feelings are the collimation lines that adjust and align your energies, focusing them through the lens of consciousness according to your free will for either constructive or destructive designs in the world of form.

Mankind, in the mainstream of their influence, have misused the energies of their thoughts and feelings; and, unaware of the consequences of their mental and emotional inconsistencies, irregularities, and incongruities, they have molded Light’s energies descending into their world into asymmetrical forms which, by reason of their nature, could never produce happiness for themselves or any other part of life.

The idea of a temperamental, vengeful, or unjust God is abhorrent from the outset. The concept of an arbitrary Deity who would show favoritism is likewise distressing. Hence, according to his awareness of the Deity, man himself becomes the arbiter of his destiny, and, according to his uses of energy, the harbinger of truth or error in his life.

The stratification of human consciousness from the aboriginal types unto the erudite twentieth-century man, skilled in philosophy, science, religion, and the higher mechanics of living, persists in its full range to the present day in various parts of the world. Honest individuals will even recognize in themselves these progressive steps of consciousness which, if progress is being made, are constantly in a state of flux.

Now, it is true that it may be more comfortable, at least temporarily, for mankind to vegetate neath the sun and the moon in an isolated reverie, remote from the challenges of life, without benefit of the sometimes violent but always disturbing alchemical heat which, as Christic fires, acts to purge mankind of his dross. But I am certain that the soul which desires to climb the hill of attainment to reach the summit peaks will neither find fault with nor reject the necessary chain of experiences that are intended to broaden the mind, sharpen the intellect, exalt the spirit, and test the mettle of a man.

While on the subject of the gradations of consciousness, remember that each level represents a phase of the alchemy of transition from the human to the divine. A just sense of the equal opportunity of all to apprentice themselves to the Master Alchemist is a prerequisite to personal freedom.

To recognize the potential of a mobile and malleable consciousness is to recognize the soaring of the spirit. To be willing to accept personal responsibility for changing unwanted conditions within the domain of the self is to accept the responsibility of being a son of God. Those who cater to their egos and allow the energy patterns (i.e., vibrations) of personal jealousy to block the doorway to self-mastery as they court the attainment of another lifestream will be hindered in their progress on the Path until they have transmuted this propensity.

Jealousy is in fact rooted in the doubt and the fear that Almighty God himself is unable to bestow upon each one every good and necessary talent contributing to the fulfillment of his divine plan. Inasmuch as jealousy and competition between individual expressions of God are among the basic causes of all unhappiness upon earth, I would definitely underscore the students’ need to put them to the flame.

The threats to the alchemist’s self-mastery posed by jealousy manifest in many subtle modes–so much so that many honest-hearted people are unaware of the fact that such tainted vibrations do from time to time play upon their feelings. Application made in prayer and supplication or as invocations and affirmations (called decrees) made in the name of God for the freeing of oneself from all conditions of struggle and strife will bear the fruit of an active yet peaceful progress.

You see, false identification with family and friends, the acceptance of limitations through heredity and environment, attachment to persons and places, to one’s race, religion, nationality, or ethnic group must also be submitted to the flames of the Refiner’s fire for transmutation. Personal attitudes must be adjusted to impersonal laws, and thought and feeling patterns must be molded after more noble designs if the individual is to make true spiritual progress.

I do not say that individuals should not be loyal to those whom they love and in whom they believe. But I do declare that man’s first loyalty should be to his True Self, his own God-identity, and to his Christed being, and then to those of like mind. Above all, the purposes and uses of life must be rightly understood and practiced.

To awaken each day to another round of pursuing vain pleasures and the questionable hope of mortal expectation–herein lies a state of flaccid misery in which the soul is scarcely exercised. When the purposes of heaven are truly understood, man will welcome the dawn and receive each new day with joy.

In the fullness of life man can hardly fear death. As I wrote in my essay “Of Death” (under the name of Francis Bacon): “It is as natural to die as to be born; and to a little infant, perhaps, the one is as painful as the other!”<1> Thus we now stand at a point in our alchemical studies where we must understand the meaning of the mortification of the body of untransmuted substance.

Through the centuries men have taken great pride in the body: they have glorified it and deified it. Artists have painted it, sculptors have created beautiful statues exhibiting it, and in the end it has fallen into dust and decay.

All the while this process of decay has been going on, the spirit of man has supposedly been creating houses of perfection eternal in the heavens.<2> And this is true in part, for every good deed which man does while in the body is recorded to his credit in the great concentric rings of light and electronic substance which comprise his causal body–the body of First Cause which is the dwelling place of the Presence of the Most High God.

As each individual man who is a manifestation of God has a causal body, so each individual has an I AM Presence pulsating as the sacred fire in the center of that body. And in the auric forcefield surrounding that Presence are the markings of his achievements for good upon his planetary home.

One law, then, would I instill in the hearts of the students of alchemy: God is absolutely just–the universe is absolutely just. All injustice arises either in man’s misinterpretation and misunderstanding of the flow of events or in man’s mishandling of justice. Those who have not apprehended life correctly, those who remain ignorant of the laws of divine as well as human justice, cannot be relied upon to preserve the flame of justice.

As I have stated before, every student must be willing to throw off the shackles of the false teachers and their false teachings. Every student must determine to break the chains of error even while he rejects the image of the world as a place where integrity is lacking and the suggestion that individuals are here to take advantage of one another.

The well-known and often-quoted entrepreneur P. T. Barnum said, “There’s a sucker born every minute.” Of course, people do not like to think that they are being taken advantage of. Therefore, they often try to outdo the other fellow before he outdoes them. This attitude is responsible for a most unhealthy climate in both commerce and society.

While it is true that the responsibility rests with the world’s leaders in every field to set an example of integrity, nothing should prevent the world’s followers from manifesting that integrity which their leaders ought to manifest or from exalting virtue as an example before them. There is much in the world’s thought about itself that is accurate, but its inaccuracies have come to be accepted by individuals without question. Such tacit acceptance makes for both a weak civilization and a weak individuality.

Therefore, in strengthening the bonds of freedom throughout the world, a new man must emerge from the social milieu: a New Atlantean must step forth clothed with the righteousness of the Sun! A golden man for the golden age! This is the Master Alchemist!

If this spiritual man–clothed with the power of the Sun, clothed with the power of spiritual alchemy, clothed with the virtue that he already possesses but of which he is far too often unaware–is to stand forth

today, it must be because he has offered the “body” of his corrupt substances to be thrown into the crucible of the alchemical furnace!

The early Christian mystics and writers referred to this experience when they said that a man ought to die with Christ if he expected to live with him.<3> This death of the old man with his deeds<4> is confined to the crucible of the spiritual-alchemical experience; thus it is possible for all unwanted conditions in a man’s life to be changed, that he may pass through a glorious transmutative epic culminating in the putting on of the new man. Free at last of the dross of the human experience, man stands forth in all of the shining glory of the divine experience that is the wholeness of the resurrection.

The agonies of Gethsemane may be compared to the spiritual preparation that the individual alchemist must make before knowingly and consciously committing himself to the crucible of life in order that he may emerge in the true glory of his being. This is dying with Christ in the certain hope that he will live again.

Beloved ones, bear in mind that those who do not do so willingly and knowingly will still pass through the change called death, even if they persist in following the ways that lead to destruction. But this change, without the prior putting off of the old man, will not lead to the indestructible Christhood that God intends every son to manifest. It is a supreme demonstration of faith when a living soul, forsaking even self-love, offers himself as a living sacrifice in order that Christ-victory be glorified through him. Such is a career son of God!

In closing Part I, I advocate that the seeker make any sacrifice necessary to the seeking out of the golden possibilities that gleam through the mists of time and space as spiritual reality–the hope of every man upon earth!

Part II

Beloved ones, just as heaven is not lost by a single thought or deed of a lifestream, so heaven is not gained by a single thought or deed. Nevertheless, your life can become a daily round of victories whereby each step taken aright propels you into an expanding awareness of the beauty and glory of the newness of life. This is the resurrection from dead works of carnality into the living exaltation of the Christ consciousness of spirituality, vesting each one so dedicated with the mission of Jesus the Christ– one of the greatest alchemists of all time.

Speaking of resurrection, I am reminded of the words “In the beauty of the lilies Christ was born across the sea,/With a glory in His bosom that transfigures you and me:/As He died to make men holy, let us live to make men free,/While God is marching on.”<5>

The newly resurrected man–in whom Christ is born, in whom there is a transfiguring glory–is resurrected by the power of change, by the science of divine alchemy. In him the dawn of each new day takes on a spiritual significance never before experienced. He holds each day as a chalice of opportunity to live free and to make all men free.

Then all of nature, in sweet communion with the yearning of his lifestream to fan the fires of freedom, extends immortal hands of felicity. The trees, the flowers, the rocks, the earth–all of the variegated expressions of nature–bow to that man who has made himself the instrument of freedom and extend to him the care and consideration of the Master Gardener himself.

The Father who created the paradise of God referred to in Genesis is now perceived to be in fact the Creator of all loveliness. The sylphs of the air, the undines of the sea, the fiery salamanders of the flame, and the gnomes of the earth are recognized as elemental spirits created to assist that one Father in bringing forth a kingdom of supreme loveliness and beauty.

It is recognized by the perceptive alchemist that the carnal nature of man has been outpictured in part by the nature kingdom; for the elementals, from the smallest to the greatest, are great mimics of the human scene. As they have taken on human concepts of duality, thorns and thistles, pain and parting have been brought forth upon the screen of life. Yet with all of the despoiling of the virgin beauty of the earth by mankind’s discord and inharmony, much that is lovely has remained, showing that the power of God is greater than the power of the deification of evil.

Through friendship with the servants of God and man in nature, the compassionate alchemist learns to utilize the great spiritual flow of elemental life and finds in the presence of the Holy Spirit a cooperation with nature which formerly he did not even dream existed. Looking upon the blessed earth with the grandeur of its rolling plains, its fertile valleys, and its mountain ranges, gazing upon the crystalline mirrors of its lakes and flowing streams interlacing the terrain and conveying the water element in channels of varying depth, mankind become filled with reverent wonder.

The planetary veins and arteries conveying the tireless energy of the Eternal One from place to place upon the spinning globe of the world, the blue dome of the sky with the golden sun disk to warm and revivify mankind, the silent night with the crystal moon and diadems of stars like unto the Pleiades–all of these are flooded with a sense of unity which pervades all things. Nowhere is unity felt with greater meaning than in the depths of the heart of the individual who is in complete attunement with God and his own I AM Presence, the individualized identity of the perfection of the Creator himself.

That body of historical error composed of myriad carnal events and human misqualifications is changed now by the alchemical fires of spiritual regeneration, and in its place the wholeness of the Real Being of man stands forth. He is no longer a part: he is the all of creation!

These valleys and hills, these diadems of stars and far reaches of space are a part of himself. He is all of them and in them all! With this supernal sense of ever-present wonder, man is able, as an integral

manifestation of God, to perform the miracles of the Great Alchemist and make his world the wondrous glory of the resurrection! Old senses are passed away; all things are become new.<6>

With that I wish to give the students a coup d’oeil into advancements which shall be forthcoming in the world of science. I am interested in offering a preview of man’s greater control of the elements in this Studies in Alchemy, because some of our would-be alchemists can be instrumental in the production of these new techniques or in calling them forth from the Universal.

Let us consider for a moment the development of the mind-switch. At present, lights, elevators, doors, and many devices are activated by switches or electronically; and engineers are at work upon a typewriter which will type phonetically sentences spoken directly into it. The mind-switch is even more revolutionary, for it will enable men to direct mechanical apparatus and electrical functions through brain waves by the mastery of the energy currents flowing through the mind.

Of course, many amusing situations could be construed in which two individuals might transmit divergent impulses simultaneously. This should pose no problem, for they would but cancel each other out or the stronger would overcome the weaker of the transmitted thought waves.

Another development of the coming age will be a camera so sensitized that it will make possible the photographing of the human aura. This will enable physicians to discover the fundamental causes of many physical diseases as well as the solution to psychiatric problems related to the emotions and subconscious records of past experiences, even in previous lives unknown to the patients themselves.

The wave patterns caused by criminal tendencies and crimes recorded in the etheric body will also be “photographed,” or recorded by sensitive instruments in graphic form similar to the process now used to record brain waves and impulses of the nervous system. Evidence of guilt or innocence will thereby be afforded those administrators of justice who formerly relied on incomplete knowledge of events in the penalizing of delinquent individuals.

With the advent of greater understanding of magnetism, it will be possible to so amplify the power of magnetism as to suspend furniture in midair without any form of visible support. A new optical development is forthcoming which will increase mankind’s exploration of the submicroscopic and atomic worlds.

In this field the magnification of images with great clarity will become possible by methods not previously encountered. With this advancement certain methods of transmutation will be made known to the chemists of the world whereby the synthesis of new elements will be achieved as simply as a child plays with blocks.

A new form of aeronavigation and transportation will be made possible by utilizing an electronic ray played upon the metal of which the airship itself is composed, negating the gravitational influences upon it and giving it a quality of lightness similar to helium. This will enable it to rise in complete resistance to

the power of gravity. The ship can then be directed by atomic jets in such a manner that a safer form of locomotion will be made available to all. A breakthrough in color television enabling increased clarity in the ranges of color tones and values should come forth before too long.

Through the means of orbiting satellites such as those that are currently circling the earth, a new method of studying the weather and of mapping it will cause mankind to realize the need for a central control station for the weather in order to direct its conditions over most of the landed areas of the world. I feel, however, that this could be the subject of much controversy and may eventually be dropped until the time when greater unity and amicability exist between various interest groups and among the family of nations.

The work begun many years ago by Luther Burbank–who acted under the direction of the hierarchy in his experiments with nature and the grafting of plants–will be brought to a new degree of perfection as certain influences within the hearts of the seeds themselves are revealed through advanced studies in cytology. Within the heart of the desert cactus is locked a secret whereby the arid areas of the world can indeed be made to blossom as the rose<7> and produce all manner of fruits and vegetables with far less moisture than is presently required. Water shortages may thus be alleviated.

The present surge in world population, which seems to have caused many demographers to review and revise the doctrines of Malthus with the aim of extinguishing or limiting human life in complete contradiction to God’s laws, will prove of less concern to future societies as they become aware of marvelous methods of increasing agricultural production, of harvesting the wealth of the sea, and of the unlimited use of atomic energy in advanced city planning as well as in interplanetary colonization.

There is a purpose in the plans of God which far transcends the understanding of the human intellect and the memory of history upon earth. The wonders that are to come will soon be dwarfed by still greater wonders, and therefore all life should live in a state of constant expectancy.

It is the joy of the mind of God to give richly of his blessing. But above all, may I counsel you now, students of the Light and all mankind: Obtain first from God the Father the wisdom to live peaceably, to deal gently and courteously with one another, to promote the education of mankind the world around, and especially by honest efforts to prevent the increase in number of those indigent individuals who are prone to commit crimes against society.

The value of training the young in a proper manner and encouraging them to live lives of useful service and good character cannot be overestimated. Political scandals within the nations of the world and the harshness of police-state methods (as enforced in Communist-dominated countries) must be overridden by the sword of the Prince of Peace.

The Prince of Peace is imaged in the compassionate Christ going forth to teach all nations that the way of God is good, that his wonders are intended to be used and possessed by all and exclusively by none. A higher way of life than vain competition must be pursued. Men must become God-spurred and less motivated by status seeking.

Teach this truth! The sharing of the grace of heaven is a message of eternal watchfulness from the Great White Brotherhood to all upon earth.

Abundance and peace go hand in hand, and this state of felicity is the will of God. Let this planet, by the power of spiritual and natural alchemy, arise to build new homes, new churches, new schools, a new civilization, new concepts, new virtue, new greatness–all in the bonds of eternal confidence which blazes forth from the very heart of God and is anchored within your own physical heart as the expanding flame spark of the Immortal Alchemist himself!

Part III

The feeling of aloneness should be transmuted and superseded by the certainty of all-oneness. Man came forth from God as good, and he shall return to that goodness by becoming like it through the dignity of freedom and choice.

The power, love, and wisdom of God are never tyrannical but gently bestow upon each individual creature of the creation the blessedness of opportunity to know God without limit. Forgiveness, mercy, justice, peace, achievement, and progress toward ultimate supremacy are the gifts which Life holds for all.

Through the process of descent into Matter and form, man, as a part of God destined to become ultimately victorious, is made the conscious master of all he surveys, so long as he is not forgetful of his Source. By identifying with the gross, man becomes almost at once entangled in a web of human creation whose snarls, like the thread of Ariadne weaving through the labyrinthian cave of subterranean Matter, bring him face to face with the Minotaur who dwells in the lower octaves of consciousness waiting to devour the Christ.

Escape is freedom. That which descends and is committed to form and density must, in obtaining its freedom, ascend back to that Source from whence it came.

To do this prematurely is in error; and therefore the Father, or I AM Presence, knows of each lifestream the day and hour when he is truly ready! Until the fullness of outer circumstance is transcended and transmuted in a manner whereby the lifestream has fulfilled his original purposes for entering the orbit of Earth, he should continue his training and preparation in accordance with the universal plan.

Surely thoughtful individuals will quickly recognize that marrying and the giving in marriage, procreation and the perpetuation of present modes of civilization are not of themselves the ultimate purposes of life.

All the world as a stage is not the cosmic coliseum; and ere the curtain is drawn on the final act, the drama of man’s existence shall be played out in many corners of the universe undreamed of by either

early or modern man.

Men’s dreams of heaven are but fond glimpses into the imagery of Elysium graciously afforded mankind as encouragement until the time when they are able to expand their own spiritual vision and behold reality in the wonders of the Father in his many cosmic mansions.<8>

The supreme purpose of God for every lifestream upon earth is the selfsame victory which beloved Jesus manifested from the hill of Bethany. The accent of Christendom upon the agony of Gethsemane, the crucifixion, and the vigil in the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea has often eclipsed the great significance for every man, woman, and child of the glories of the resurrection and mysteries of the ascension.

Misunderstanding of the law of cause and effect and failure to apprehend the at-one-ment of the Universal Christ originated in the human concepts that were introduced in the parable of Eden and continue to the present day, perpetuated by the hoary mists of time and dogma. Unfortunately, the vicarious atonement has been ignorantly accepted and is widely used as an excuse for wrongdoings and their continuation.

Thus, surrounded by an aura of godly but needless fear, men have persisted in passing on fallacies from generation to generation in the name of God and Holy Writ.

The registering of discord and wrongdoing upon man’s four lower bodies (i.e., the physical, mental, memory, and emotional bodies) is effected by scientific law, cosmically ordained and itself the very instrument of creation. As creators, men have sown the wind and reaped a karmic whirlwind.<9>

The victory of the Universal Christ, which beloved Jesus demonstrated, was intended to show to man the way that would conduct him safely back to God’s image. That way was revealed as the Christ, or Divine Light within every man that cometh into the world.<10> It is this wondrous light, then, which is the light and life of the world<11>–of every man’s individual world. Only by walking in the light as he, the Universal Christ, is in the light<12> can men return to the Father’s house.

The forgiveness of sins is a merciful instrument of the Great Law whereby retribution, or the penalty for wrongdoing, is held in abeyance in order that a lifestream may have the freedom to “go and sin no more”<13> and then be given the opportunity for greater spiritual progress. However, forgiveness does not absolve the soul of the requirement to balance the energies misused by the alchemical fires of transmutation. The balancing of wrongs done to every part of life, including the self, must be accomplished in full with cosmic precision; hence every jot and tittle of the law must be fulfilled<14> either here or hereafter.

This process need not be a fearful looking for of judgment,<15> but it should preferably be a happy expectation of opportunity for service to life and the freeing of Life’s imprisoned splendor. For by ministering unto life individually and universally and by calling forth the alchemical fires on the altar of being, the individual can undo all of the inharmonies which he has thoughtlessly cast upon its beauteous presence. Truly, those who have been forgiven much can love much;<16> for they perceive the need to

be everlastingly grateful for the goodness and mercy of God which endure forever!<17>

One of the major causes of recalcitrance, arrogance, willful wrongdoing, disobedience, rebellion, and stubbornness is the vain hope of individual attainment without individual effort or of personal salvation without personal sacrifice. Mankind do not relish the idea of painstakingly withdrawing every thread and snarl they have placed in the garment of life or of attaining heaven by honest application.

Yet they must one day face this truth of themselves. Therefore, the present, when truth and justice of opportunity are at hand, is the right and accepted time. “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation.”<18>

The desire to find a scapegoat for one’s sins in a world teacher or saviour is not in keeping with the cosmic principles undergirding the law of the atonement. A master of great light such as Jesus the Christ or Gautama Buddha may hold the balance for millions of souls who are not able to carry the weight of their own sinful sense. This holding action is a staying of the law whereby, through mercy and through the personal sacrifice of one who keeps the flame for all, mankind might find their way back to God and then, in the power of the rebirth and in the presence of the Holy Spirit, return to take up the unfinished business of balancing their debts to life.

Christ is the saviour of the world because by his immaculate heart he postpones the day of judgment, affording humanity additional opportunity in time and space to fulfill the requirements of immortality.

I cannot, in the holy name of freedom, resist speaking out on these matters. For many have suffered in the astral world after the change called death, and when they came before the Lords of Karma to give an accounting for their lives, they were found wanting. Unfortunately, this may have been only because while on earth they accepted false religious doctrine and, in their misguided state, failed to do well in the

time allotted to them. Then came to pass the words God spake to Adam’s son, “Sin lieth at the door”<19>–

-that is to say, the record of the misuse of God’s energy is at hand: render an accounting.

In God’s scheme of world order, the propitiation for sin is permanent and effective; for the violet fire will transmute every unwanted condition and balance all by Light. This Light is the Universal Christ.

The precious violet flame, an aspect of the Comforter’s<20> consciousness, is the friend of every alchemist. It is both the cup and the elixir of Life that cannot fail to produce perfection everywhere when it is called into action. After the violet flame has performed its perfect work, then let all rest in their labors that God may move upon the waters (waves of light) of the creation to produce and sustain the righteousness of his eternal law.

The climax or initiation of the ascension can and will come to all, even to little children, when they are ready for it–when at least 51 percent of their karma has been balanced (this means that 51 percent of all the energy ever given to their use has been transmuted and put to constructive purpose) and their hearts are just toward God and man, aspiring to rise into the never-failing light of God’s eternally ascending

Presence.

When this gift is given to anyone by his own I AM Presence and the Karmic Board, the appearance of age drops from him as swiftly as a smile can raise the lips, and the magnetism and energy of that one becomes the unlimited power of God surging through his being. The dross of the physical, the weariness of the emotional body, tired of hatred and its monstrous creations, the ceaseless rote of the mental body–all drop away and are replaced in perfect ease by their divine counterparts.

The feelings become charged by the love of God and the angels. The mind is the diamond-shining mind of God–omnipresent, omniscient, omnipotent. The total being is inspired and aspiring!

Thus that which once hopefully descended now ascends back into the Light from whence it came. One with the company of angels and the nature and friendship of the Ascended Masters and in fellowship with the august fraternity of the Great White Brotherhood, each such one, by the divine merit within, attains the fullness of all that God would ever bestow upon each son without respect of any man’s person, but in joyful acknowledgment of man’s victory: Thou art my beloved Son; this day have I begotten thee!<21>

Epilogue

Religion and spirituality are no shame. These are the implements of the eternally creative arts. These are the friends of the alchemist who would change every base element of human nature and all life into the gold of Christed accomplishment.

In this teaching are keys to the highest portal. They must be fitted in the lock to gain entrance to the highest initiation. I AM the door to the progressive unfoldment of ever-ascending planes of consciousness–all within your lovely God Presence, I AM.

Blessed ones, you are not limited in alchemy merely to the drawing forth from the universal light of three- dimensional objects. Alchemy can be mastered in order to illumine the mind, to heal any unwanted condition, and to spiritually exalt man’s total nature from its base state to the golden standard where the golden rule is law.

With you–as with God–all things are possible. There is no other or higher way. For example, the brilliance of present Soviet science cannot win the universe for the blessed children of Mother Russia. Only God can bring eternal satisfaction to the whole earth. Let the ungodly tremble, for they shall be cut down as grass;<22> but the righteous shall shine as the sons of the Great Alchemist, Almighty God!

Further studies in alchemy are available to all who would progressively advance in this science of self- dominion. Some of this material I am releasing in the lessons of the Keepers of the Flame Fraternity,

some in the weekly Pearls of Wisdom written by the Masters of our Brotherhood, and some I shall bring to you individually in answer to your heart’s calls. But call you must if this cause which is just shall be fulfilled in you!

“Call unto me, and I will answer thee,”<23> declares the Most High God. The Father shall reward you openly for each prayerful call you make in secret.<24> Within the inner recesses of your heart, unknown by any man, you may ever silently call. There in your heart is the crucible of the eternal essence, the white stone, the elixir and full potency of Life.

Alchemists of the sacred fire, here is the sacred cosmic formula: Theos = God; Rule = Law; You=Being;

Theos+Rule+You=God’s law active as Principle within your being (TRY).

I AM in constant attunement with your true being,

Pax vobiscum

Saint Germain

Notes

1. Francis Bacon, Essays or Counsels, Civil and Moral (1625).

    

2. II Cor. 5:1.

    

3. I Cor. 15:31.

    

4. Eph. 4:22-24; Col. 3:9, 10.

    

5. Julia Ward Howe, “Battle Hymn of the Republic,” st. 5.

    

6. II Cor. 5:17.

    

7. Isa. 35:1.

    

8. John 14:2.

    

9. Hosea 8:7.

10. John 1:9.

     

11. Matt. 5:14; John 8:12; 9:5.

     

12. I John 1:7.

     

13. John 8:11.

     

14. Matt. 5:18.

     

15. Heb. 10:27.

     

16. Luke 7:47.

     

17. Ps. 136.

     

18. II Cor. 6:2.

     

19. Gen. 4:7.

     

20. John 14:16, 26; 15:26.

     

21. Ps. 2:7.

     

22. Ps. 37:1, 2.

     

23. Jer. 33:3.

     

24. Matt. 6:6.

That which is below is like that which is above and that which is above is like that which is below to do the miracle of one only thing

And as all things have been and arose from one by the mediation of one: so all things have their birth from this one thing by adaptation.

The Sun is its father, the moon its mother, the wind hath carried it in its belly, the earth is its nurse.

The father of all perfection in the whole world is here.

Its force or power is entire if it be converted into earth.

Separate thou the earth from the fire, the subtle from the gross sweetly with great industry.

It ascends from the earth to the heaven and again it descends to the earth and receives the force of things superior and inferior.

By this means you shall have the glory of the whole world and thereby all obscurity shall fly from you.

Its force is above all force, for it vanquishes every subtle thing and penetrates every solid thing.

So was the world created.

From this are and do come admirable adaptations where of the means is here in this.

Hence I am called Hermes Trismegist, having the three parts of the philosophy of the whole world.

That which I have said of the operation of the Sun is accomplished and ended.

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Title: Alchemy: Ancient and Modern
       Being a Brief Account of the Alchemistic Doctrines, and
              Their Relations, to Mysticism on the One Hand, and ...

Author: H. Stanley Redgrove

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ALCHEMY: ANCIENT AND MODERN

PLATE 1.

PORTRAIT OF PARACELSUS

[Frontispiece

ALCHEMY:
ANCIENT AND MODERN

BEING A BRIEF ACCOUNT OF THE ALCHEMISTIC DOC- TRINES, AND THEIR RELATIONS, TO MYSTICISM ON THE ONE HAND, AND TO RECENT DISCOVERIES IN PHYSICAL SCIENCE ON THE OTHER HAND; TOGETHER WITH SOME PARTICULARS REGARDING THE LIVES AND TEACHINGS OF THE MOST NOTED ALCHEMISTS

BY
H. STANLEY REDGROVE, B.Sc. (Lond.), F.C.S.
AUTHOR OF “ON THE CALCULATION OF THERMO-CHEMICAL CONSTANTS,”
“MATTER, SPIRIT AND THE COSMOS,” ETC.

WITH 16 FULL-PAGE ILLUSTRATIONS

SECOND AND REVISED EDITION

LONDON
WILLIAM RIDER & SON, LTD.
8 PATERNOSTER ROW, E.C. 4
1922

[v]

PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION

It is exceedingly gratifying to me that a second edition of this book should be called for. But still more welcome is the change in the attitude of the educated world towards the old-time alchemists and their theories which has taken place during the past few years.

The theory of the origin of Alchemy put forward in Chapter I has led to considerable discussion; but whilst this theory has met with general acceptance, some of its earlier critics took it as implying far more than is actually the case. As a result of further research my conviction of its truth has become more fully confirmed, and in my recent work entitled Bygone Beliefs (Rider, 1920), under the title of “The Quest of the Philosopher’s Stone,” I have found it possible to adduce further evidence in this connection. At the same time, whilst I became increasingly convinced that the main alchemistic hypotheses were drawn from the domain of mystical theology and applied to physics and chemistry by way of analogy, it also became evident to me that the crude physiology of bygone ages and remnants of the old phallic faith formed a further and subsidiary source of alchemistic theory. I have barely, if at all, touched on this[vi] matter in the present work; the reader who is interested will find it dealt with in some detail in “The Phallic Element in Alchemical Doctrine” in my Bygone Beliefs.

In view of recent research in the domain of Radioactivity and the consequent advance in knowledge that has resulted since this book was first published, I have carefully considered the advisability of rewriting the whole of the last chapter, but came to the conclusion that the time for this was not yet ripe, and that, apart from a few minor emendations, the chapter had better remain very much as it originally stood. My reason for this course was that, whilst considerably more is known to-day, than was the case in 1911, concerning the very complex transmutations undergone spontaneously by the radioactive elements—knowledge helping further to elucidate the problem of the constitution of the so-called “elements” of the chemist—the problem really cognate to my subject, namely that of effecting a transmutation of one element into another at will, remains in almost the same state of indeterminateness as in 1911. In 1913, Sir William Ramsay[1] thought he had obtained evidence for the transmutation of hydrogen into helium by the action of the electric discharge, and Professors Collie and Patterson[2] thought they had obtained evidence of the[vii] transmutation of hydrogen into neon by similar means. But these observations (as well as Sir William Ramsay’s earlier transmutational experiments) failed to be satisfactorily confirmed;[3] and since the death of the latter, little, if anything, appears to have been done to settle the questions raised by his experiments. Reference must, however, be made to a very interesting investigation by Sir Ernest Rutherford on the “Collision of α-Particles with Light Atoms,”[4] from which it appears certain that when bombarded with the swiftly-moving α-particles given off by radium-C, the atoms of nitrogen may be disintegrated, one of the products being hydrogen. The other product is possibly helium,[5] though this has not been proved. In view of Rutherford’s results a further repetition of Ramsay’s experiments would certainly appear to be advisable.

As concerns the spontaneous transmutations undergone by the radioactive elements, the facts appear to indicate (or, at least, can be brought into some sort of order by supposing) the atom to consist of a central nucleus and an outer shell, as suggested by Sir Ernest Rutherford. The nucleus may be compared to the sun of a solar system. It is excessively small, but in it the mass of the atom is almost entirely concentrated. It is positively charged, the charge being neutralised by that of the free electrons which revolve like planets about it, and which by their orbits account for the[viii] volume of the atom. The atomic weight of the element depends upon the central sun; but the chemical properties of the element are determined by the number of electrons in the shell; this number is the same as that representing the position of the element in the periodic system. Radioactive change originates in the atomic nucleus. The expulsion of an α-particle therefrom decreases the atomic weight by 4 units, necessitates (since the α-particle carries two positive charges) the removal of two electrons from the shell in order to maintain electrical neutrality, and hence changes the chemical nature of the body, transmuting the element into one occupying a position two places to the left in the periodic system (for example, the change of radium into niton). But radioactivity sometimes results in the expulsion of a β-particle from the nucleus. This results in the addition of an electron to the shell, and hence changes the chemical character of the element, transmuting it into one occupying a position one place to the right in the periodic system, but without altering its atomic weight. Consequently, the expulsion of one α- and two β-particles from the nucleus, whilst decreasing the atomic weight of the element by 4, leaves the number of electrons in the shell, and thus the chemical properties of the element, unaltered. These remarkable conclusions are amply borne out by the facts, and the discovery of elements (called “isobares”) having the same atomic weight but different chemical properties, and of those (called “isotopes”) having identical chemical characters but different atomic weights, must be regarded as one of the most significant and important discoveries of recent years. Some further reference[ix] to this theory will be found in §§ 77 and 81: the reader who wishes to follow the matter further should consult the fourth edition of Professor Frederick Soddy’s The Interpretation of Radium (1920), and the two chapters on the subject in his Science and Life (1920), one of which is a popular exposition and the other a more technical one.

These advances in knowledge all point to the possibility of effecting transmutations at will, but so far attempts to achieve this, as I have already indicated, cannot be regarded as altogether satisfactory. Several methods of making gold, or rather elements chemically identical with gold, once the method of controlling radioactive change is discovered (as assuredly it will be) are suggested by Sir Ernest Rutherford’s theory of the nuclear atom. Thus, the expulsion of two α-particles from bismuth or one from thallium would yield the required result. Or lead could be converted into mercury by the expulsion of one α-particle, and this into thallium by the expulsion of one β-particle, yielding gold by the further expulsion of an α-particle. But, as Professor Soddy remarks in his Science and Life just referred to, “if man ever achieves this further control over Nature, it is quite certain that the last thing he would want to do would be to turn lead or mercury into gold—for the sake of gold. The energy that would be liberated, if the control of these sub-atomic processes were as possible as is the control of ordinary chemical changes, such as combustion, would far exceed in importance and value the gold. Rather it would pay to transmute gold into silver or some base metal.”

[x]

In § 101 of the book I suggest that the question of the effect on the world of finance of the discovery of an inexpensive method of transmuting base metal into gold on a large scale is one that should appeal to a novelist specially gifted with imagination. Since the words were first written a work has appeared in which something approximating to what was suggested has been attempted and very admirably achieved. My reference is to Mr. H. G. Wells’s novel, The World Set Free, published in 1914.

In conclusion I should like to thank the very many reviewers who found so many good things to say concerning the first edition of this book. For kind assistance in reading the proofs of this edition my best thanks are due also and are hereby tendered to my wife, and my good friend Gerald Druce, Esq., M.Sc.

H. S. R.

191, Camden Road, London, N.W. 1.
October, 1921.

[xi]

PREFACE

The number of books in the English language dealing with the interesting subject of Alchemy is not sufficiently great to render an apology necessary for adding thereto. Indeed, at the present time there is an actual need for a further contribution on this subject. The time is gone when it was regarded as perfectly legitimate to point to Alchemy as an instance of the aberrations of the human mind. Recent experimental research has brought about profound modifications in the scientific notions regarding the chemical elements, and, indeed, in the scientific concept of the physical universe itself; and a certain resemblance can be traced between these later views and the theories of bygone Alchemy. The spontaneous change of one “element” into another has been witnessed, and the recent work of Sir William Ramsay suggests the possibility of realising the old alchemistic dream—the transmutation of the “base” metals into gold.

The basic idea permeating all the alchemistic theories appears to have been this: All the metals (and, indeed, all forms of matter) are one in origin, and are produced by an evolutionary process. The Soul of them all is one and the same; it is only the[xii] Soul that is permanent; the body or outward form, i.e., the mode of manifestation of the Soul, is transitory, and one form may be transmuted into another. The similarity, indeed it might be said, the identity, between this view and the modern etheric theory of matter is at once apparent.

The old alchemists reached the above conclusion by a theoretical method, and attempted to demonstrate the validity of their theory by means of experiment; in which, it appears, they failed. Modern science, adopting the reverse process, for a time lost hold of the idea of the unity of the physical universe, to gain it once again by the experimental method. It was in the elaboration of this grand fundamental idea that Alchemy failed. If I were asked to contrast Alchemy with the chemical and physical science of the nineteenth century I would say that, whereas the latter abounded in a wealth of much accurate detail and much relative truth, it lacked philosophical depth and insight; whilst Alchemy, deficient in such accurate detail, was characterised by a greater degree of philosophical depth and insight; for the alchemists did grasp the fundamental truth of the Cosmos, although they distorted it and made it appear grotesque. The alchemists cast their theories in a mould entirely fantastic, even ridiculous—they drew unwarrantable analogies—and hence their views cannot be accepted in these days of modern science. But if we cannot approve of their theories in toto, we can nevertheless appreciate the fundamental ideas at the root of them. And it is primarily with the object of pointing out this similarity between these ancient ideas regarding the physical[xiii] universe and the latest products of scientific thought, that this book has been written.

It is a regrettable fact that the majority of works dealing with the subject of Alchemy take a one-sided point of view. The chemists generally take a purely physical view of the subject, and instead of trying to understand its mystical language, often (I do not say always) prefer to label it nonsense and the alchemist a fool. On the other hand, the mystics, in many cases, take a purely transcendental view of the subject, forgetting the fact that the alchemists were, for the most part, concerned with operations of a physical nature. For a proper understanding of Alchemy, as I hope to make plain in the first chapter of this work, a synthesis of both points of view is essential; and, since these two aspects are so intimately and essentially connected with one another, this is necessary even when, as in the following work, one is concerned primarily with the physical, rather than the purely mystical, aspect of the subject.

Now, the author of this book may lay claim to being a humble student of both Chemistry and what may be generalised under the terms Mysticism and Transcendentalism; and he hopes that this perhaps rather unusual combination of studies has enabled him to take a broad-minded view of the theories of the alchemists, and to adopt a sympathetic attitude towards them.

With regard to the illustrations, the author must express his thanks to the authorities of the British Museum for permission to photograph engraved portraits and illustrations from old works in the[xiv] British Museum Collections, and to G. H. Gabb, Esq., F.C.S., for permission to photograph engraved portraits in his possession.

The author’s heartiest thanks are also due to Frank E. Weston, Esq., B.Sc., F.C.S., and W. G. Llewellyn, Esq., for their kind help in reading the proofs, &c.

H. S. R.

The Polytechnic, London, W.
October, 1910.

[xv]

CONTENTS

[xviii]
[xix]

LIST OF PLATES

[1]

ALCHEMY:
ANCIENT AND MODERN

CHAPTER I
THE MEANING OF ALCHEMY

The Aim of Alchemy.

§ 1. Alchemy is generally understood to have been that art whose end was the transmutation of the so-called base metals into gold by means of an ill-defined something called the Philosopher’s Stone; but even from a purely physical standpoint, this is a somewhat superficial view. Alchemy was both a philosophy and an experimental science, and the transmutation of the metals was its end only in that this would give the final proof of the alchemistic hypotheses; in other words, Alchemy, considered from the physical standpoint, was the attempt to demonstrate experimentally on the material plane the validity of a certain philosophical view of the Cosmos. We see the genuine scientific spirit in the saying of one of the alchemists: “Would to God . . . all men might become adepts in our Art—for then gold, the great idol of mankind, would lose its value, and we should prize it only[2] for its scientific teaching.”[6] Unfortunately, however, not many alchemists came up to this ideal; and for the majority of them, Alchemy did mean merely the possibility of making gold cheaply and gaining untold wealth.

The Transcendental Theory of Alchemy.

§ 2. By some mystics, however, the opinion has been expressed that Alchemy was not a physical art or science at all, that in no sense was its object the manufacture of material gold, and that its processes were not carried out on the physical plane. According to this transcendental theory, Alchemy was concerned with man’s soul, its object was the perfection, not of material substances, but of man in a spiritual sense. Those who hold this view identify Alchemy with, or at least regard it as a branch of, Mysticism, from which it is supposed to differ merely by the employment of a special language; and they hold that the writings of the alchemists must not be understood literally as dealing with chemical operations, with furnaces, retorts, alembics, pelicans and the like, with salt, sulphur, mercury, gold and other material substances, but must be understood as grand allegories dealing with spiritual truths. According to this view, the figure of the transmutation of the “base” metals into gold symbolised the salvation of man—the transmutation of his soul into spiritual gold—which was to be obtained by the elimination of evil and the development of good by the grace of God; and the realisation of which salvation or spiritual transmutation[3] may be described as the New Birth, or that condition of being known as union with the Divine. It would follow, of course, if this theory were true, that the genuine alchemists were pure mystics, and hence, that the development of chemical science was not due to their labours, but to pseudo-alchemists who so far misunderstood their writings as to have interpreted them in a literal sense.

Failure of the Transcendental Theory.

§ 3. This theory, however, has been effectively disposed of by Mr. Arthur Edward Waite, who points to the lives of the alchemists themselves in refutation of it. For their lives indisputably prove that the alchemists were occupied with chemical operations on the physical plane, and that for whatever motive, they toiled to discover a method for transmuting the commoner metals into actual, material gold. As Paracelsus himself says of the true “spagyric physicians,” who were the alchemists of his period: “These do not give themselves up to ease and idleness . . . But they devote themselves diligently to their labours, sweating whole nights over fiery furnaces. These do not kill the time with empty talk, but find their delight in their laboratory.”[7] The writings of the alchemists contain (mixed, however, with much that from the physical standpoint appears merely fantastic) accurate accounts of many chemical processes and discoveries, which cannot be explained away by any method of transcendental interpretation. There is not the slightest doubt that chemistry owes its origin[4] to the direct labours of the alchemists themselves, and not to any who misread their writings.

The Qualifications of the Adept.

§ 4. At the same time, it is quite evident that there is a considerable element of Mysticism in the alchemistic doctrines; this has always been recognised; but, as a general rule, those who have approached the subject from the scientific point of view have considered this mystical element as of little or no importance. However, there are certain curious facts which are not satisfactorily explained by a purely physical theory of Alchemy, and, in our opinion, the recognition of the importance of this mystical element and of the true relation which existed between Alchemy and Mysticism is essential for the right understanding of the subject. We may notice, in the first place, that the alchemists always speak of their Art as a Divine Gift, the highest secrets of which are not to be learnt from any books on the subject; and they invariably teach that the right mental attitude with regard to God is the first step necessary for the achievement of the magnum opus. As says one alchemist: “In the first place, let every devout and God-fearing chemist and student of this Art consider that this arcanum should be regarded, not only as a truly great, but as a most holy Art (seeing that it typifies and shadows out the highest heavenly good). Therefore, if any man desire to reach this great and unspeakable Mystery, he must remember that it is obtained not by the might of man, but by the grace of God, and that not our will or desire, but only the mercy of the Most High, can bestow it upon us. For this reason you must first of all cleanse your[5] heart, lift it up to Him alone, and ask of Him this gift in true, earnest, and undoubting prayer. He alone can give and bestow it.”[8] And “Basil Valentine”: “First, there should be the invocation of God, flowing from the depth of a pure and sincere heart, and a conscience which should be free from all ambition, hypocrisy, and vice, as also from all cognate faults, such as arrogance, boldness, pride, luxury, worldly vanity, oppression of the poor, and similar iniquities, which should all be rooted up out of the heart—that when a man appears before the Throne of Grace, to regain the health of his body, he may come with a conscience weeded of all tares, and be changed into a pure temple of God cleansed of all that defiles.”[9]

Alchemistic Language.

§ 5. In the second place, we must notice the nature of alchemistic language. As we have hinted above, and as is at once apparent on opening any alchemistic book, the language of Alchemy is very highly mystical, and there is much that is perfectly unintelligible in a physical sense. Indeed, the alchemists habitually apologise for their vagueness on the plea that such mighty secrets may not be made more fully manifest. It is true, of course, that in the days of Alchemy’s degeneracy a good deal of pseudo-mystical nonsense was written by the many impostors then abounding, but the mystical style of language is by no means confined to the later alchemistic writings. It is also[6] true that the alchemists, no doubt, desired to shield their secrets from vulgar and profane eyes, and hence would necessarily adopt a symbolic language. But it is past belief that the language of the alchemist was due to some arbitrary plan; whatever it is to us, it was very real to him. Moreover, this argument cuts both ways, for those, also, who take a transcendental view of Alchemy regard its language as symbolical, although after a different manner. It is also, to say the least, curious, as Mr. A. E. Waite points out, that this mystical element should be found in the writings of the earlier alchemists, whose manuscripts were not written for publication, and therefore ran no risk of informing the vulgar of the precious secrets of Alchemy. On the other hand, the transcendental method of translation does often succeed in making sense out of what is otherwise unintelligible in the writings of the alchemists. The above-mentioned writer remarks on this point: “Without in any way pretending to assert that this hypothesis reduces the literary chaos of the philosophers into a regular order, it may be affirmed that it materially elucidates their writings, and that it is wonderful how contradictions, absurdities, and difficulties seem to dissolve wherever it is applied.”[10]

The alchemists’ love of symbolism is also conspicuously displayed in the curious designs with which certain of their books are embellished. We are not here referring to the illustrations of actual apparatus employed in carrying out the various operations of physical Alchemy, which are not infrequently found in the works of those alchemists who at the same time[7] were practical chemists (Glauber, for example), but to pictures whose meaning plainly lies not upon the surface and whose import is clearly symbolical, whether their symbolism has reference to physical or to spiritual processes. Examples of such symbolic illustrations, many of which are highly fantastic, will be found in plates 2, 3, and 4. We shall refer to them again in the course of the present and following chapters.

Alchemists of a Mystical Type.

§ 6. We must also notice that, although there cannot be the slightest doubt that the great majority of alchemists were engaged in problems and experiments of a physical nature, yet there were a few men included within the alchemistic ranks who were entirely, or almost entirely, concerned with problems of a spiritual nature; Thomas Vaughan, for example, and Jacob Boehme, who boldly employed the language of Alchemy in the elaboration of his system of mystical philosophy. And particularly must we notice, as Mr. A. E. Waite has also indicated, the significant fact that the Western alchemists make unanimous appeal to Hermes Trismegistos as the greatest authority on the art of Alchemy, whose alleged writings are of an undoubtedly mystical character (see § 29). It is clear, that in spite of its apparently physical nature, Alchemy must have been in some way closely connected with Mysticism.

The Meaning of Alchemy.

§ 7. If we are ever to understand the meaning of Alchemy aright we must look at the subject from the alchemistic point of view. In modern times there has come about a divorce between Religion and Science in men’s minds (though more recently a unifying[8] tendency has set in); but it was otherwise with the alchemists, their religion and their science were closely united. We have said that “Alchemy was the attempt to demonstrate experimentally on the material plane the validity of a certain philosophical view of the Cosmos”; now, this “philosophical view of the Cosmos” was Mysticism. Alchemy had its origin in the attempt to apply, in a certain manner, the principles of Mysticism to the things of the physical plane, and was, therefore, of a dual nature, on the one hand spiritual and religious, on the other, physical and material. As the anonymous author of Lives of Alchemystical Philosophers (1815) remarks, “The universal chemistry, by which the science of alchemy opens the knowledge of all nature, being founded on first principles forms analogy with whatever knowledge is founded on the same first principles. . . . Saint John describes the redemption, or the new creation of the fallen soul, on the same first principles, until the consummation of the work, in which the Divine tincture transmutes the base metal of the soul into a perfection, that will pass the fire of eternity;”[11] that is to say, Alchemy and the mystical regeneration of man (in this writer’s opinion) are analogous processes on different planes of being, because they are founded on the same first principles.

Opinions of other Writers.

§ 8. We shall here quote the opinions of two modern writers, as to the significance of Alchemy; one a mystic, the other a man of science. Says Mr. A. E. Waite, “If the authors of the ‘Suggestive Inquiry’ and of ‘Remarks on Alchemy and the[9] Alchemists’ [two books putting forward the transcendental theory] had considered the lives of the symbolists, as well as the nature of the symbols, their views would have been very much modified; they would have found that the true method of Hermetic interpretation lies in a middle course; but the errors which originated with merely typographical investigations were intensified by a consideration of the great alchemical theorem, which, par excellence, is one of universal development, which acknowledges that every substance contains undeveloped resources and potentialities, and can be brought outward and forward into perfection. They [the generality of alchemists] applied their theory only to the development of metallic substances from a lower to a higher order, but we see by their writings that the grand hierophants of Oriental and Western alchemy alike were continually haunted by brief and imperfect glimpses of glorious possibilities for man, if the evolution of his nature were accomplished along the lines of their theory.”[12] Mr. M. M. Pattison Muir, M.A.,[10] says: “. . . alchemy aimed at giving experimental proof of a certain theory of the whole system of nature, including humanity. The practical culmination of the alchemical quest presented a threefold aspect; the alchemists sought the stone of wisdom, for by gaining that they gained the control of wealth; they sought the universal panacea, for that would give them the power of enjoying wealth and life; they sought the soul of the world, for thereby they could hold communion with spiritual existences, and enjoy the fruition of spiritual life. The object of their search was to satisfy their material needs, their intellectual capacities, and their spiritual yearnings. The alchemists of the nobler sort always made the first of these objects subsidiary to the other two. . . .”[13]

The Basic Idea of Alchemy.

§ 9. The famous axiom beloved by every alchemist—“What is above is as that which is below, and what is below is as that which is above”—although of questionable origin, tersely expresses the basic idea of Alchemy. The alchemists postulated and believed in a very real sense in the essential unity of the Cosmos. Hence, they held that there is a correspondence or analogy existing between things spiritual and things physical, the same laws operating in each realm. As writes Sendivogius “. . . the Sages have been taught of God that this natural world is only an image and material copy of a heavenly and spiritual pattern; that the very existence of this world is based upon the reality of its celestial archetype; and that God has created it in imitation of the spiritual and invisible universe, in order that men[11] might be the better enabled to comprehend His heavenly teaching, and the wonders of His absolute and ineffable power and wisdom. Thus the Sage sees heaven reflected in Nature as in a mirror; and he pursues this Art, not for the sake of gold or silver, but for the love of the knowledge which it reveals; he jealously conceals it from the sinner and the scornful, lest the mysteries of heaven should be laid bare to the vulgar gaze.”[14]

The alchemists held that the metals are one in essence, and spring from the same seed in the womb of nature, but are not all equally matured and perfect, gold being the highest product of Nature’s powers. In gold, the alchemist saw a picture of the regenerate man, resplendent with spiritual beauty, overcoming all temptations and proof against evil; whilst he regarded lead—the basest of the metals—as typical of the sinful and unregenerate man, stamped with the hideousness of sin and easily overcome by temptation and evil; for whilst gold withstood the action of fire and all known corrosive liquids (save aqua regia alone), lead was most easily acted upon. We are told that the Philosopher’s Stone, which would bring about the desired grand transmutation, is of a species with gold itself and purer than the purest; understood in the mystical sense this means that the regeneration of man can be effected only by Goodness itself—in terms of Christian theology, by the Power of the Spirit of Christ. The Philosopher’s Stone was regarded as symbolical of Christ Jesus, and in this sense we can understand the otherwise incredible powers attributed to it.

[12]

The Law of Analogy.

§ 10. With the theories of physical Alchemy we shall deal at length in the following chapter, but enough has been said to indicate the analogy existing, according to the alchemistic view, between the problem of the perfection of the metals, i.e., the transmutation of the “base” metals into gold, and the perfection or transfiguration of spiritual man; and it might also be added, between these problems and that of the perfection of man considered physiologically. To the alchemistic philosopher these three problems were one: the same problem on different planes of being; and the solution was likewise one. He who held the key to one problem held the key to all three, provided he understood the analogy between matter and spirit. The point is not, be it noted, whether these problems are in reality one and the same; the main doctrine of analogy, which is, indeed, an essential element in all true mystical philosophy, will, we suppose, meet with general consent; but it will be contended (and rightly, we think) that the analogies drawn by the alchemists are fantastic and by no means always correct, though possibly there may be more truth in them than appears at first sight. The point is not that these analogies are correct, but that they were regarded as such by all true alchemists. Says the author of The Sophic Hydrolith: “. . . the practice of this Art enables us to understand, not merely the marvels of Nature, but the nature of God Himself, in all its unspeakable glory. It shadows forth, in a wonderful manner . . . all the articles of the Christian faith, and the reason why man must pass through much tribulation and anguish, and fall[13] a prey to death, before he can rise again to a new life.”[15] A considerable portion of this curious alchemistic work is taken up in expounding the analogy believed to exist between the Philosopher’s Stone and “the Stone which the builders rejected,” Christ Jesus; and the writer concludes: “Thus . . . I have briefly and simply set forth to you the perfect analogy which exists between our earthly and chemical and the true and heavenly Stone, Jesus Christ, whereby we may attain unto certain beatitude and perfection, not only in earthly but also in eternal life.”[16] And likewise says Peter Bonus: “I am firmly persuaded that any unbeliever who got truly to know this Art, would straightway confess the truth of our Blessed Religion, and believe in the Trinity and in our Lord Jesus Christ.”[17]

The Dual Nature of Alchemy.

§ 11. For the most part, the alchemists were chiefly engaged with the carrying out of the alchemistic theory on the physical plane, i.e., with the attempt to transmute the “base” metals into the “noble” ones; some for the love of knowledge, but alas! the vast majority for the love of mere wealth. But all who were worthy of the title of “alchemist” realised at times, more or less dimly, the possibility of the application of the same methods to man and the glorious result of the transmutation of man’s soul into spiritual gold. There were a few who had a[14] clearer vision of this ideal, those who devoted their activities entirely, or almost so, to the attainment of this highest goal of alchemistic philosophy, and concerned themselves little if at all with the analogous problem on the physical plane. The theory that Alchemy originated in the attempt to demonstrate the applicability of the principles of Mysticism to the things of the physical realm brings into harmony the physical and transcendental theories of Alchemy and the various conflicting facts advanced in favour of each. It explains the existence of the above-mentioned, two very different types of alchemists. It explains the appeal to the works attributed to Hermes, and the presence in the writings of the alchemists of much that is clearly mystical. And finally, it is in agreement with such statements as we have quoted above from The Sophic Hydrolith and elsewhere, and the general religious tone of the alchemistic writings.

PLATE 2.

SYMBOLICAL ILLUSTRATION
Representing the Trinity of Body, Soul and Spirit.

[To face page 15

“Body, Soul and Spirit.”

§ 12. In accordance with our primary object as stated in the preface, we shall confine our attention mainly to the physical aspect of Alchemy; but in order to understand its theories, it appears to us to be essential to realise the fact that Alchemy was an attempted application of the principles of Mysticism to the things of the physical world. The supposed analogy between man and the metals sheds light on what otherwise would be very difficult to understand. It helps to make plain why the alchemists attributed moral qualities to the metals—some are called “imperfect,” “base”; others are said to be “perfect,” “noble.” And especially does it help to explain the alchemistic[15] notions regarding the nature of the metals. The alchemists believed that the metals were constructed after the manner of man, into whose constitution three factors were regarded as entering: body, soul, and spirit. As regards man, mystical philosophers generally use these terms as follows: “body” is the outward manifestation and form; “soul” is the inward individual spirit[18]; and “spirit” is the universal Soul in all men. And likewise, according to the alchemists, in the metals, there is the “body” or outward form and properties, “metalline soul” or spirit,[19] and finally, the all-pervading essence of all metals. As writes the author of the exceedingly curious tract entitled The Book of Lambspring: “Be warned and understand truly that two fishes are swimming in our sea,” illustrating his remark by the symbolical picture reproduced in plate 2, and adding in elucidation thereof, “The Sea is the Body, the two Fishes are Soul and Spirit.”[20] The alchemists, however, were not always consistent in their use of the term “spirit.” Sometimes (indeed frequently) they employed it to denote merely the more volatile portions of a chemical substance; at other times it had a more interior significance.

Alchemy, Mysticism and Modern Science.

§ 13. We notice the great difference between the[16] alchemistic theory and the views regarding the constitution of matter which have dominated Chemistry since the time of Dalton. But at the present time Dalton’s theory of the chemical elements is undergoing a profound modification. We do not imply that Modern Science is going back to any such fantastic ideas as were held by the alchemists, but we are struck with the remarkable similarity between this alchemistic theory of a soul of all metals, a one primal element, and modern views regarding the ether of space. In its attempt to demonstrate the applicability of the fundamental principles of Mysticism to the things of the physical realm Alchemy apparently failed and ended its days in fraud. It appears, however, that this true aim of alchemistic art—particularly the demonstration of the validity of the theory that all the various forms of matter are produced by an evolutionary process from some one primal element or quintessence—is being realised by recent researches in the domain of physical and chemical science.

[17]

CHAPTER II
THE THEORY OF PHYSICAL ALCHEMY

Supposed Proofs of Transmutation.

§ 14. It must be borne in mind when reviewing the theories of the alchemists, that there were a number of phenomena known at the time, the superficial examination of which would naturally engender a belief that the transmutation of the metals was a common occurrence. For example, the deposition of copper on iron when immersed in a solution of a copper salt (e.g., blue vitriol) was naturally concluded to be a transmutation of iron into copper,[21] although, had the alchemists examined the residual liquid, they would have found that the two metals had merely exchanged places; and the fact that white and yellow alloys of copper with arsenic and other substances could be produced, pointed to the possibility of transmuting copper into silver and gold. It was also known that if water (and this is true of distilled water which does not contain solid matter in solution) was boiled for some time in a glass flask, some solid, earthy matter was produced; and if water could be transmuted into earth, surely one metal could be[18] converted into another.[22] On account of these and like phenomena the alchemists regarded the transmutation of the metals as an experimentally proved fact. Even if they are to be blamed for their superficial observation of such phenomena, yet, nevertheless, their labours marked a distinct advance upon the purely speculative and theoretical methods of the philosophers preceding them. Whatever their faults, the alchemists were the forerunners of modern experimental science.

The Alchemistic Elements.

§ 15. The alchemists regarded the metals as composite, and granting this, then the possibility of transmutation is only a logical conclusion. In order to understand the theory of the elements held by them we must rid ourselves of any idea that it bears any close resemblance to Dalton’s theory of the chemical elements; this is clear from what has been said in the preceding chapter. Now, it is a fact of simple observation that many otherwise different bodies manifest some property in common, as, for instance, combustibility. Properties such as these were regarded as being due to some principle or element common to all bodies exhibiting such properties; thus, combustibility was thought to be due to some elementary principle of combustion—the “sulphur” of the alchemists and the “phlogiston” of a later period. This is a view which à priori appears to be not unlikely; but it is now known that, although there are relations existing between the properties of bodies[19] and their constituent chemical elements (and also, it should be noted, the relative arrangement of the particles of these elements), it is the less obvious properties which enable chemists to determine the constitution of bodies, and the connection is very far from being of the simple nature imagined by the alchemists.

Aristotle’s Views regarding the Elements.

§ 16. For the origin of the alchemistic theory of the elements it is necessary to go back to the philosophers preceding the alchemists, and it is not improbable that they derived it from some still older source. It was taught by Empedocles of Agrigent (440 B.C. circa), who considered that there were four elements—earth, water, air, and fire. Aristotle added a fifth, “the ether.” These elements were regarded, not as different kinds of matter, but rather as different forms of the one original matter, whereby it manifested different properties. It was thought that to these elements were due the four primary properties of dryness, moistness, warmth, and coldness, each element being supposed to give rise to two of these properties, dryness and warmth being thought to be due to fire, moistness and warmth to air, moistness and coldness to water, and dryness and coldness to earth. Thus, moist and cold bodies (liquids in general) were said to possess these properties in consequence of the aqueous element, and were termed “waters,” &c. Also, since these elements were not regarded as different kinds of matter, transmutation was thought to be possible, one being convertible into another, as in the example given above (§ 14).

[20]

The Sulphur-Mercury Theory.

§ 17. Coming to the alchemists, we find the view that the metals are all composed of two elementary principles—sulphur and mercury—in different proportions and degrees of purity, well-nigh universally accepted in the earlier days of Alchemy. By these terms “sulphur” and “mercury,” however, must not be understood the common bodies ordinarily designated by these names; like the elements of Aristotle, the alchemistic principles were regarded as properties rather than as substances, though it must be confessed that the alchemists were by no means always clear on this point themselves. Indeed, it is not altogether easy to say exactly what the alchemists did mean by these terms, and the question is complicated by the fact that very frequently they make mention of different sorts of “sulphur” and “mercury.” Probably, however, we shall not be far wrong in saying that “sulphur” was generally regarded as the principle of combustion and also of colour, and was said to be present on account of the fact that most metals are changed into earthy substances by the aid of fire; and to the “mercury,” the metallic principle par excellence, was attributed such properties as fusibility, malleability and lustre, which were regarded as characteristic of the metals in general. The pseudo-Geber (see § 32) says that “Sulphur is a fatness of the Earth, by temperate Decoction in the Mine of the Earth thickened, until it be hardned and made dry.”[23] He considered an excess of sulphur to be a cause of imperfection in the metals, and he writes[21] that one of the causes of the corruption of the metals by fire “is the Inclusion of a burning Sulphuriety in the profundity of their Substance, diminishing them by Inflamation, and exterminating also into Fume, with extream Consumption, whatsoever Argentvive in them is of good Fixation.”[24] He assumed, further, that the metals contained an incombustible as well as a combustible sulphur, the latter sulphur being apparently regarded as an impurity.[25] A later alchemist says that sulphur is “most easily recognised by the vital spirit in animals, the colour in metals, the odour in plants.”[26] Mercury, on the other hand, according to the pseudo-Geber, is the cause of perfection in the metals, and endows gold with its lustre. Another alchemist, quoting Arnold de Villanova, writes: “Quicksilver is the elementary form of all things fusible; for all things fusible, when melted, are changed into it, and it mingles with them because it is of the same substance with them. Such bodies differ from quicksilver in their composition only so far as itself is or is not free from the foreign matter of impure sulphur.”[27] The obtaining of “philosophical mercury,” the imaginary virtues of which the alchemists never tired of relating, was generally held to be essential for the attainment of the magnum opus. It was commonly thought that it could be prepared from ordinary quicksilver by[22] purificatory processes, whereby the impure sulphur supposed to be present in this sort of mercury might be purged away.

The sulphur-mercury theory of the metals was held by such famous alchemists as Roger Bacon, Arnold de Villanova and Raymond Lully. Until recently it was thought to have originated to a great extent with the Arabian alchemist, Geber; but the late Professor Berthelot showed that the works ascribed to Geber, in which the theory is put forward, are forgeries of a date by which it was already centuries old (see § 32). Occasionally, arsenic was regarded as an elementary principle (this view is to be found, for example, in the work Of the Sum of Perfection, by the pseudo-Geber), but the idea was not general.

The Sulphur-Mercury-Salt Theory.

§ 18. Later in the history of Alchemy, the mercury-sulphur theory was extended by the addition of a third elementary principle, salt. As in the case of philosophical sulphur and mercury, by this term was not meant common salt (sodium chloride) or any of those substances commonly known as salts. “Salt” was the name given to a supposed basic principle in the metals, a principle of fixity and solidification, conferring the property of resistance to fire. In this extended form, the theory is found in the works of Isaac of Holland and in those attributed to “Basil Valentine,” who (see the work Of Natural and Supernatural Things) attempts to explain the differences in the properties of the metals as the result of the differences in the proportion of sulphur, salt, and mercury they contain. Thus, copper, which is highly coloured, is said to contain much sulphur, whilst iron[23] is supposed to contain an excess of salt, &c. The sulphur-mercury-salt theory was vigorously championed by Paracelsus, and the doctrine gained very general acceptance amongst the alchemists. Salt, however, seems generally to have been considered a less important principle than either mercury or sulphur.

The same germ-idea underlying these doctrines is to be found much later in Stahl’s phlogistic theory (eighteenth century), which attempted to account for the combustibility of bodies by the assumption that such bodies all contain “phlogiston”—the hypothetical principle of combustion (see § 72)—though the concept of “phlogiston” approaches more nearly to the modern idea of an element than do the alchemistic elements or principles. It was not until still later in the history of Chemistry that it became quite evident that the more obvious properties of chemical substances are not specially conferred on them in virtue of certain elements entering into their constitution.

Alchemistic Elements and Principles.

§ 19. The alchemists combined the above theories with Aristotle’s theory of the elements. The latter, namely, earth, air, fire and water, were regarded as more interior, more primary, than the principles, whose source was said to be these same elements. As writes Sendivogius in Part II. of The New Chemical Light: “The three Principles of things are produced out of the four elements in the following manner: Nature, whose power is in her obedience to the Will of God, ordained from the very beginning, that the four elements should incessantly act on one another[24] so, in obedience to her behest, fire began to act on air, and produced Sulphur; air acted on water, and produced Mercury; water, by its action on the earth, produced Salt. Earth, alone, having nothing to act upon, did not produce anything, but became the nurse, or womb, of these three Principles. We designedly speak of three Principles; for though the Ancients mention only two, it is clear that they omitted the third (Salt) not from ignorance, but from a desire to lead the uninitiated astray.”[28]

Beneath and within all these coverings of outward properties, taught the alchemists, is hidden the secret essence of all material things. “. . . the elements and compounds,” writes one alchemist, “in addition to crass matter, are composed of a subtle substance, or intrinsic radical humidity, diffused through the elemental parts, simple and wholly incorruptible, long preserving the things themselves in vigour, and called the Spirit of the World, proceeding from the Soul of the World, the one certain life, filling and fathoming all things, gathering together and connecting all things, so that from the three genera of creatures, Intellectual, Celestial, and Corruptible, there is formed the One Machine of the whole world.”[29] It is hardly necessary to point out how nearly this approaches modern views regarding the Ether of Space.

[25]

The Growth of the Metals.

§ 20. The alchemists regarded the metals as growing in the womb of the earth, and a knowledge of this growth as being of very great importance. Thomas Norton (who, however, contrary to the generality of alchemists, denied that metals have seed and that they grow in the sense of multiply) says:—

Norton here expresses the opinion, current among the alchemists, that each and every thing has its own peculiar environment natural to it; a view controverted by Robert Boyle (§ 71). So firm was the belief in the growth of metals, that mines were frequently closed for a while in order that the supply of metal might be renewed. The fertility of Mother Earth forms the subject of one of the illustrations in The Twelve Keys of “Basil Valentine” (see § 41). We reproduce it in plate 3, fig. A. Regarding this subject, the author writes: “The quickening power of the earth produces all things that grow forth from it, and he who says that the earth has no life makes[26] a statement which is flatly contradicted by the most ordinary facts. For what is dead cannot produce life and growth, seeing that it is devoid of the quickening spirit. This spirit is the life and soul that dwell in the earth, and are nourished by heavenly and sidereal influences. For all herbs, trees, and roots, and all metals and minerals, receive their growth and nutriment from the spirit of the earth, which is the spirit of life. This spirit is itself fed by the stars, and is thereby rendered capable of imparting nutriment to all things that grow, and of nursing them as a mother does her child while it is yet in the womb. The minerals are hidden in the womb of the earth, and nourished by her with the spirit which she receives from above.

“Thus the power of growth that I speak of is imparted not by the earth, but by the life-giving spirit that is in it. If the earth were deserted by this spirit, it would be dead, and no longer able to afford nourishment to anything. For its sulphur or richness would lack the quickening spirit without which there can be neither life nor growth.”[31]

PLATE 3.

A.

SYMBOLICAL ILLUSTRATION

Representing the
Fertility of the Earth.

B.

SYMBOLICAL ILLUSTRATION

Representing the
Amalgamation of Gold with Mercury.

(See page 33.)

To face page 26]

Alchemy and Astrology.

§ 21. The idea that the growth of each metal was under the influence of one of the heavenly bodies (a theory in harmony with the alchemistic view of the unity of the Cosmos), was very generally held by the alchemists; and in consequence thereof, the metals were often referred to by the names or astrological symbols of their peculiar planets. These particulars are shown in the following table:—

[27]

Moreover, it was thought by some alchemists that a due observance of astrological conditions was necessary for successfully carrying out important alchemistic experiments.

Alchemistic View of the Nature of Gold.

§ 22. The alchemists regarded gold as the most perfect metal, silver being considered more perfect than the rest. The reason of this view is not difficult to understand: gold is the most beautiful of all the metals, and it retains its beauty without tarnishing; it resists the action of fire and most corrosive liquids, and is unaffected by sulphur; it was regarded, as we have pointed out above (see § 9), as symbolical of the regenerate man. Silver, on the other hand, is, indeed, a beautiful metal which wears well in a pure atmosphere and resists the action of fire; but it is attacked by certain corrosives (e.g., aqua fortis or nitric acid) and also by sulphur. Through all the metals, from the one seed, Nature, according to the[28] alchemists, works continuously up to gold; so that, in a sense, all other metals are gold in the making; their existence marks the staying of Nature’s powers; as “Eirenæus Philalethes” says: “All metallic seed is the seed of gold; for gold is the intention of Nature in regard to all metals. If the base metals are not gold, it is only through some accidental hindrance; they are all potentially gold.”[33] Or, as another alchemist puts it: “Since . . . the substance of the metals is one, and common to all, and since this substance is (either at once, or after laying aside in course of time the foreign and evil sulphur of the baser metals by a process of gradual digestion) changed by the virtue of its own indwelling sulphur into GOLD, which is the goal of all the metals, and the true intention of Nature—we are obliged to admit, and freely confess that in the mineral kingdom, as well as in the vegetable and animal kingdoms, Nature seeks and demands a gradual attainment of perfection, and a gradual approximation to the highest standard of purity and excellence.”[34] Such was the alchemistic view of the generation of the metals; a theory which is admittedly crude, but which, nevertheless, contains the germ of a great principle of the utmost importance, namely, the idea that all the varying forms of matter are evolved from some one primordial stuff—a principle of which chemical science lost sight for awhile, for its validity was unrecognised by Dalton’s Atomic Theory (at least, as enunciated by him),[29] but which is being demonstrated, as we hope to show hereinafter, by recent scientific research. The alchemist was certainly a fantastic evolutionist, but he was an evolutionist, and, moreover, he did not make the curious and paradoxical mistake of regarding the fact of evolution as explaining away the existence of God—the alchemist recognised the hand of the Divine in nature—and, although, in these days of modern science, we cannot accept his theory of the growth of metals, we can, nevertheless, appreciate and accept the fundamental germ-idea underlying it.

The Philosopher’s Stone.

§ 23. The alchemist strove to assist Nature in her gold-making, or, at least, to carry out her methods. The pseudo-Geber taught that the imperfect metals were to be perfected or cured by the application of “medicines.” Three forms of medicines were distinguished; the first bring about merely a temporary change, and the changes wrought by the second class, although permanent, are not complete. “A Medicine of the third Order,” he writes, “I call every Preparation, which, when it comes to Bodies, with its projection, takes away all Corruption, and perfects them with the Difference of all Compleatment. But this is one only.”[35] This, the true medicine that would produce a real and permanent transmutation, is the Philosopher’s Stone, the Masterpiece of alchemistic art. Similar views were held by all the alchemists, though some of them taught that it was necessary first of all to reduce the metals to their first[30] substance. Often, two forms of the Philosopher’s Stone were distinguished, or perhaps we should say, two degrees of perfection in the one Stone; that for transmuting the “imperfect” metals into silver being said to be white, the stone or “powder of projection” for gold being said to be of a red colour. In other accounts (see Chapter V.) the medicine is described as of a pale brimstone hue.

Most of the alchemists who claimed knowledge of the Philosopher’s Stone or the materia prima necessary for its preparation, generally kept its nature most secret, and spoke only in the most enigmatical and allegorical language, the majority of their recipes containing words of unknown meaning. In some cases gold or silver, as the case may be, was employed in preparing the “medicine”; and, after projection had been made, this was, of course, obtained again in the metallic form, the alchemist imagining that a transmutation had been effected. In the case of the few other recipes that are intelligible, the most that could be obtained by following out their instructions is a white or yellow metallic alloy superficially resembling silver or gold.

The Nature of the Philosopher’s Stone.

§ 24. The mystical as distinguished from the pseudo-practical descriptions of the Stone and its preparation are by far the more interesting of the two. Paracelsus, in his work on The Tincture of the Philosophers, tells us that all that is necessary for us to do is to mix and coagulate the “rose-coloured blood from the Lion” and “the gluten from the Eagle,” by which he probably meant that we must combine “philosophical sulphur” with “philosophical mercury.[31]” This opinion, that the Philosopher’s Stone consists of “philosophical sulphur and mercury” combined so as to constitute a perfect unity, was commonly held by the alchemists, and they frequently likened this union to the conjunction of the sexes in marriage. “Eirenæus Philalethes” tells us that for the preparation of the Stone it is necessary to extract the seed of gold, though this cannot be accomplished by subjecting gold to corrosive liquids, but only by a homogeneous water (or liquid)—the Mercury of the Sages. In the Book of the Revelation of Hermes, interpreted by Theophrastus Paracelsus, concerning the Supreme Secret of the World, the Medicine, which is here, as not infrequently, identified with the alchemistic essence of all things or Soul of the World, is described in the following suggestive language: “This is the Spirit of Truth, which the world cannot comprehend without the interposition of the Holy Ghost, or without the instruction of those who know it. The same is of a mysterious nature, wondrous strength, boundless power. . . . By Avicenna this Spirit is named the Soul of the World. For, as the Soul moves all the limbs of the Body, so also does this Spirit move all bodies. And as the Soul is in all the limbs of the Body, so also is this Spirit in all elementary created things. It is sought by many and found by few. It is beheld from afar and found near; for it exists in every thing, in every place, and at all times. It has the powers of all creatures; its action is found in all elements, and the qualities of all things are therein, even in the highest perfection . . . it heals all dead and living bodies without other medicine, . . . converts all metallic[32] bodies into gold, and there is nothing like unto it under Heaven.”[36]

The Theory of Development.

§ 25. From the ascetic standpoint (and unfortunately, most mystics have been somewhat overfond of ascetic ideas), the development of the soul is only fully possible with the mortification of the body; and all true Mysticism teaches that if we would reach the highest goal possible for man—union with the Divine—there must be a giving up of our own individual wills, an abasement of the soul before the Spirit. And so the alchemists taught that for the achievement of the magnum opus on the physical plane, we must strip the metals of their outward properties in order to develop the essence within. As says Helvetius: “. . . the essences of metals are hidden in their outward bodies, as the kernel is hidden in the nut. Every earthly body, whether animal, vegetable, or mineral, is the habitation and terrestrial abode of that celestial spirit, or influence, which is its principle of life or growth. The secret of Alchemy is the destruction of the body, which enables the Artist to get at, and utilise for his own purposes, the living soul.”[37] This killing of the outward nature of material things was to be brought about by the processes of putrefaction and decay; hence the reason why such processes figure so largely in alchemistic recipes for the preparation of the “Divine Magistery.[33]” It must be borne in mind, however, that the alchemists used the terms “putrefaction” and “decay” rather indiscriminately, applying them to chemical processes which are no longer regarded as such. Pictorial symbols of death and decay representative of such processes are to be found in several alchemistic books. There is a curious series of pictures in A Form and Method of Perfecting Base Metals, by Janus Lacinus, the Calabrian (a short tract prefixed to The New Pearl of Great Price by Peter Bonus—see § 39), of which we show three examples in plates 3 and 4. In the first picture of the series (not shown here) we enter the palace of the king (gold) and observe him sitting crowned upon his throne, surrounded by his son (mercury) and five servants (silver, copper, tin, iron and lead). In the next picture (plate 3, fig. B), the son, incited by the servants, kills his father; and, in the third, he catches the blood of his murdered parent in his robes; whereby we understand that an amalgam of gold and mercury is to be prepared, the gold apparently disappearing or dying, whilst the mercury is coloured thereby. The next picture shows us a grave being dug, i.e., a furnace is to be made ready. In the fifth picture in the series, the son “thought to throw his father into the grave, and to leave him there; but . . . both fell in together”; and in the sixth picture (plate 4, fig. A), we see the son being prevented from escaping, both son and father being left in the grave to decay. Here we have instructions in symbolical form to place the amalgam in a sealed vessel in the furnace and to allow it to remain there until some change is observed. So the allegory[34] proceeds. Ultimately the father is restored to life, the symbol of resurrection being (as might be expected) of frequent occurrence in alchemistic literature. By this resurrection we understand that the gold will finally be obtained in a pure form. Indeed, it is now the “great medicine” and, in the last picture of the series (plate 4, fig. B), the king’s son and his five servants are all made kings in virtue of its powers.

PLATE 4.

A.

SYMBOLICAL ILLUSTRATION

Representing the
Coction of Gold Amalgam in a Closed Vessel.

B.

SYMBOLICAL ILLUSTRATION

Representing the
Transmutation of the Metals.

[To face page 33

The Powers of the Philosopher’s Stone.

§ 26. The alchemists believed that a most minute proportion of the Stone projected upon considerable quantities of heated mercury, molten lead, or other “base” metal, would transmute practically the whole into silver or gold. This claim of the alchemists, that a most minute quantity of the Stone was sufficient to transmute considerable quantities of “base” metal, has been the object of much ridicule. Certainly, some of the claims of the alchemists (understood literally) are out of all reason; but on the other hand, the disproportion between the quantities of Stone and transmuted metal cannot be advanced as an à priori objection to the alchemists’ claims, inasmuch that a class of chemical reactions (called “catalytic”) is known, in which the presence of a small quantity of some appropriate form of matter—the catalyst—brings about a chemical change in an indefinite quantity of some other form or forms; thus, for example, cane-sugar in aqueous solution is converted into two other sugars by the action of small quantities of acid; and sulphur-dioxide and oxygen, which will not combine under ordinary conditions, do so readily in the presence of a small quantity[35] of platinized asbestos, which is obtained unaltered after the reaction is completed and may be used over and over again (this process is actually employed in the manufacture of sulphuric acid or oil of vitriol). However, whether any such catalytic transmutation of the chemical “elements” is possible is merely conjecture.

The Elixir of Life.

§ 27. The Elixir of Life, which was generally described as a solution of the Stone in spirits of wine, or identified with the Stone itself, could be applied, so it was thought, under certain conditions to the alchemist himself, with an entirely analogous result, i.e., it would restore him to the flower of youth. The idea, not infrequently attributed to the alchemists, that the Elixir would endow one with a life of endless duration on the material plane is not in strict accord with alchemistic analogy. From this point of view, the effect of the Elixir is physiological perfection, which, although ensuring long life, is not equivalent to endless life on the material plane. “The Philosophers’ Stone,” says Paracelsus, “purges the whole body of man, and cleanses it from all impurities by the introduction of new and more youthful forces which it joins to the nature of man.”[38] And in another work expressive of the opinions of the same alchemist, we read: “. . . there is nothing which might deliver the mortal body from death; but there is One Thing which may postpone decay, renew youth, and prolong short human[36] life . . .”[39] In the theory that a solution of the Philosopher’s Stone (which, it must be remembered, was thought to be of a species with gold) constituted the Elixir Vitæ, can be traced, perhaps, the idea that gold in a potable form was a veritable cure-all: in the latter days of Alchemy any yellow-coloured liquid was foisted upon a credulous public as a medicinal preparation of gold.

PLATE 5.

ALCHEMISTIC APPARATUS. A and B.—Two forms of Apparatus for Sublimation.

To face page 37]

The Practical Methods of the Alchemists.

§ 28. We will conclude this chapter with some few remarks regarding the practical methods of the alchemists. In their experiments, the alchemists worked with very large quantities of material compared with what is employed in chemical researches at the present day. They had great belief in the efficacy of time to effect a desired change in their substances, and they were wont to repeat the same operation (such as distillation, for example) on the same material over and over again; which demonstrated their unwearied patience, even if it effected little towards the attainment of their end. They paid much attention to any changes of colour they observed in their experiments, and many descriptions of supposed methods to achieve the magnum opus contain detailed directions as to the various changes of colour which must be obtained in the material operated upon if a successful issue to the experiment is desired.[37][40] In plates 5 and 6 we give illustrations of some characteristic pieces of apparatus employed by the alchemists. Plate 5, fig. A, and plate 6, fig. A, are from a work known as Alchemiae Gebri (1545); plate 5, fig. B, is from Glauber’s work on Furnaces (1651); and plate 6, fig. B, is from a work by Dr. John French entitled The Art of Distillation (1651).[38] The first figure shows us a furnace and alembics. The alembic proper is a sort of still-head which can be luted on to a flask or other vessel, and was much used for distillations. In the present case, however, the alembics are employed in conjunction with apparatus for subliming difficultly volatile substances. Plate 5, fig. B, shows another apparatus for sublimation, consisting of a sort of oven, and three detachable upper chambers, generally called aludels. In both forms of apparatus the vapours are cooled in the upper part of the vessel, and the substance is deposited in the solid form, being thereby purified from less volatile impurities. Plate 6, fig. A, shows an athanor (or digesting furnace) and a couple of digesting vessels. A vessel of this sort was employed for heating bodies in a closed space, the top being sealed up when the substances to be operated upon had been put inside, and the vessel heated in ashes in an athanor, a uniform temperature being maintained. The pelican, illustrated in plate 6, fig. B, was used for a similar purpose, the two arms being added in the idea that the vapours would be circulated thereby.

PLATE 6.

ALCHEMISTIC APPARATUS. A.—An Athanor. B.—A Pelican.

To face page 38]

[39]

CHAPTER III
THE ALCHEMISTS[41]
(A. BEFORE PARACELSUS)

Hermes Trismegistos.

§ 29. Having now considered the chief points in the theory of Physical Alchemy, we must turn our attention to the lives and individual teachings of the alchemists themselves. The first name which is found in the history of Alchemy is that of Hermes Trismegistos. We have already mentioned the high esteem in which the works ascribed to this personage[40] were held by the alchemists (§ 6). He has been regarded as the father of Alchemy; his name has supplied a synonym for the Art—the Hermetic Art—and even to-day we speak of hermetically sealing flasks and the like. But who Hermes actually was, or even if there were such a personage, is a matter of conjecture. The alchemists themselves supposed him to have been an Egyptian living about the time of Moses. He is now generally regarded as purely mythical—a personification of Thoth, the Egyptian God of learning; but, of course, some person or persons must have written the works attributed to him, and the first of such writers (if, as seems not unlikely, there were more than one) may be considered to have a right to the name. Of these works, the Divine Pymander,[42] a mystical-religious treatise, is the most important. The Golden Tractate, also attributed to Hermes, which is an exceedingly obscure alchemistic work, is now regarded as having been written at a comparatively late date.

The Smaragdine Table.

§ 30. In a work attributed to Albertus Magnus, but which is probably spurious, we are told that Alexander the Great found the tomb of Hermes in a cave near Hebron. This tomb contained an emerald table—“The Smaragdine Table”—on which were inscribed the following thirteen sentences in Phœnician characters:—

1. I speak not fictitious things, but what is true and most certain.

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2. What is below is like that which is above, and what is above is like that which is below, to accomplish the miracles of one thing.

3. And as all things were produced by the mediation of one Being, so all things were produced from this one thing by adaptation.

4. Its father is the Sun, its mother the Moon; the wind carries it in its belly, its nurse is the earth.

5. It is the cause of all perfection throughout the whole world.

6. Its power is perfect if it be changed into earth.

7. Separate the earth from the fire, the subtle from the gross, acting prudently and with judgment.

8. Ascend with the greatest sagacity from the earth to heaven, and then again descend to the earth, and unite together the powers of things superior and things inferior. Thus you will obtain the glory of the whole world, and all obscurity will fly far away from you.

9. This thing is the fortitude of all fortitude, because it overcomes all subtle things, and penetrates every solid thing.

10. Thus were all things created.

11. Thence proceed wonderful adaptations which are produced in this way.

12. Therefore am I called Hermes Trismegistos, possessing the three parts of the philosophy of the whole world.

13. That which I had to say concerning the operation of the Sun is completed.

These sentences clearly teach the doctrine of the alchemistic essence or “One Thing,” which is everywhere present, penetrating even solids (this we should[42] note is true of the ether of space), and out of which all things of the physical world are made by adaptation or modification. The terms Sun and Moon in the above passage probably stand for Spirit and Matter respectively, not gold and silver.

Zosimus of Panopolis.

§ 31. One of the earliest of the alchemists of whom record remains was Zosimus of Panopolis, who flourished in the fifth century, and was regarded by the later alchemists as a master of the Art. He is said to have written many treatises dealing with Alchemy, but only fragments remain. Of these fragments, Professor Venable says: “. . . they give us a good idea of the learning of the man and of his times. They contain descriptions of apparatus, of furnaces, studies of minerals, of alloys, of glass making, of mineral waters, and much that is mystical, besides a good deal referring to the transmutation of metals.”[43] Zosimus is said to have been the author of the saying, “like begets like,” but whether all the fragments ascribed to him were really his work is doubtful.

Among other early alchemists we may mention also Africanus, the Syrian; Synesius, Bishop of Ptolemais, and the historian, Olympiodorus of Thebes.

Geber.

§ 32. In the seventh century the Arabians conquered Egypt; and strangely enough, Alchemy flourished under them to a remarkable degree. Of all the Arabian alchemists, Geber has been regarded as the greatest; as Professor Meyer says: “There can be no dispute that with the name Geber was propagated the memory of a personality[43] with which the chemical knowledge of the time was bound up.”[44] Geber is supposed to have lived about the ninth century, but of his life nothing definite is known. A large number of works have been ascribed to him, of which the majority are unknown, but the four Latin MSS. which have been printed under the titles Summa Perfectionis Mettalorum, De Investigatione Perfectionis Metallorum, De Inventione Veritatis and De Fornacibus Construendis, were, until a few years ago, regarded as genuine. On the strength of these works, Geber has ranked high as a chemist. In them are described the preparation of many important chemical compounds; the most essential chemical operations, such as sublimation, distillation, filtration, crystallisation (or coagulation, as the alchemists called it), &c.; and also important chemical apparatus, for example, the water-bath, improved furnaces, &c. However, it was shown by the late Professor Berthelot that Summa Perfectionis Mettalorum is a forgery of the fourteenth century, and the other works forgeries of an even later date. Moreover, the original Arabic MSS. of Geber have been brought to light. These true writings of Geber are very obscure; they give no warrant for believing that the famous sulphur-mercury theory was due to this alchemist, and they prove him not to be the expert chemist that he was supposed to have been. The spurious writings mentioned above show that the pseudo-Geber was a man of wide chemical knowledge and experience, and play a not inconsiderable part in the history of Alchemy.

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Other Arabian Alchemists.

§ 33. Among other Arabian alchemists the most celebrated were Avicenna and Rhasis, who are supposed to have lived some time after Geber; and to whom, perhaps, the sulphur-mercury theory may have been to some extent due.

The teachings of the Arabian alchemists gradually penetrated into the Western world, in which, during the thirteenth century, flourished some of the most eminent of the alchemists, whose lives and teachings we must now briefly consider.

PLATE 7.

[by de Bry]

PORTRAIT OF
ALBERTUS MAGNUS.

To face page 44]

Albertus Magnus (1193-1280).

§ 34. Albertus Magnus, Albert Groot or Albert von Bollstädt (see plate 7), was born at Lauingen, probably in 1193. He was educated at Padua, and in his later years he showed himself apt at acquiring the knowledge of his time. He studied theology, philosophy and natural science, and is chiefly celebrated as an Aristotelean philosopher. He entered the Dominican order, taught publicly at Cologne, Paris and elsewhere, and was made provincial of this order. Later he had the bishopric of Regensburg conferred on him, but he retired after a few years to a Dominican cloister, where he devoted himself to philosophy and science. He was one of the most learned men of his time and, moreover, a man of noble character. The authenticity of the alchemistic works attributed to him has been questioned.

Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274).

§ 35. The celebrated Dominican, Thomas Aquinas (see plate 8), was probably a pupil of Albertus Magnus, from whom it is thought he imbibed alchemistic learning. It is very probable, however, that the alchemistic works attributed to him are spurious. The[45] author of these works manifests a deeply religious tone, and, according to Thomson’s History of Chemistry, he was the first to employ the term “amalgam” to designate an alloy of mercury with some other metal.[45]

Roger Bacon (1214-1294).

§ 36. Roger Bacon, the most illustrious of the mediæval alchemists, was born near Ilchester in Somerset, probably in 1214. His erudition, considering the general state of ignorance prevailing at this time, was most remarkable. Professor Meyer says: “He is to be regarded as the intellectual originator of experimental research, if the departure in this direction is to be coupled with any one name—a direction which, followed more and more as time went on, gave to the science [of Chemistry] its own peculiar stamp, and ensured its steady development.”[46] Roger Bacon studied theology and science at Oxford and at Paris; and he joined the Franciscan order, at what date, however, is uncertain. He was particularly interested in optics, and certain discoveries in this branch of physics have been attributed to him, though probably erroneously. It appears, also, that he was acquainted with gunpowder, which was, however, not employed in Europe until many years later.[47] Unfortunately, he earned the undesirable reputation of being in communication with the powers of darkness, and as he did not hesitate to oppose many of the opinions current at the time, he[46] suffered much persecution. He was a firm believer in the powers of the Philosopher’s Stone to transmute large quantities of “base” metal into gold, and also to extend the life of the individual. “Alchimy,” he says, “is a Science, teaching how to transforme any kind of mettall into another: and that by a proper medicine, as it appeareth by many Philosophers Bookes. Alchimy therefore is a science teaching how to make and compound a certaine medicine, which is called Elixir, the which when it is cast upon mettals or imperfect bodies, doth fully perfect them in the verie projection.”[48] He also believed in Astrology; but, nevertheless, he was entirely opposed to many of the magical and superstitious notions held at the time, and his tract, De Secretis Operibus Artis et Naturæ, et de Nullitate Magiæ, was an endeavour to prove that many so-called “miracles” could be brought about simply by the aid of natural science. Roger Bacon was a firm supporter of the Sulphur-Mercury theory: he says: “. . . the natural principles in the mynes, are Argent-vive, and Sulphur. All mettals and minerals, whereof there be sundrie and divers kinds, are begotten of these two: but I must tel you, that nature alwaies intendeth and striveth to the perfection of Gold: but many accidents coming between, change the metalls. . . . For according to the puritie and impuritie of the two aforesaide principles, Argent-vive and Sulphur, pure, and impure mettals are ingendred.”[49] He expresses surprise that any should employ animal and vegetable substances in their attempts to prepare the Stone, a practice common to some alchemists but warmly criticised by[47] others. He says: “Nothing may be mingled with mettalls which hath not beene made or sprung from them, it remaineth cleane inough, that no strange thing which hath not his originall from these two [viz., sulphur and mercury], is able to perfect them, or to make a chaunge and new transmutation of them: so that it is to be wondered at, that any wise man should set his mind upon living creatures, or vegetables which are far off, when there be minerals to bee found nigh enough: neither may we in any wise thinke, that any of the Philosophers placed the Art in the said remote things, except it were by way of comparison.”[50] The one process necessary for the preparation of the Stone, he tells us, is “continuall concoction” in the fire, which is the method that “God hath given to nature.”[51] He died about 1294.

Arnold de Villanova (12—?-1310?).

§ 37. The date and birthplace of Arnold de Villanova, or Villeneuve, are both uncertain. He studied medicine at Paris, and in the latter part of the thirteenth century practised professionally in Barcelona. To avoid persecution at the hands of the Inquisition, he was obliged to leave Spain, and ultimately found safety with Frederick II. in Sicily. He was famous not only as an alchemist, but also as a skilful physician. He died (it is thought in a shipwreck) about 1310-1313.

Raymond Lully (1235?-1315).

§ 38. Raymond Lully, the son of a noble Spanish family, was born at Palma (in Majorca) about 1235. He was a man of somewhat eccentric character—in his youth a man of pleasure; in his maturity,[48] a mystic and ascetic. His career was of a roving and adventurous character. We are told that, in his younger days, although married, he became violently infatuated with a lady of the name of Ambrosia de Castello, who vainly tried to dissuade him from his profane passion. Her efforts proving futile, she requested Lully to call upon her, and in the presence of her husband, bared to his sight her breast, which was almost eaten away by a cancer. This sight—so the story goes—brought about Lully’s conversion. He became actuated by the idea of converting to Christianity the heathen in Africa, and engaged the services of an Arabian whereby he might learn the language. The man, however, discovering his master’s object, attempted to assassinate him, and Lully narrowly escaped with his life. But his enthusiasm for missionary work never abated—his central idea was the reasonableness and demonstrability of Christian doctrine—and unhappily he was, at last, stoned to death by the inhabitants of Bugiah (in Algeria) in 1315.[52]

A very large number of alchemistic, theological and other treatises are attributed to Lully, many of which are undoubtedly spurious; and it is a difficult question to decide exactly which are genuine. He is supposed to have derived a knowledge of Alchemy from Roger Bacon and Arnold de Villanova. It appears more probable, however, either that Lully the alchemist was a personage distinct from the Lully whose life we have sketched above, or that the alchemistic writings attributed to him are forgeries of a similar nature to[49] the works of pseudo-Geber (§ 32). Of these alchemical writings we may here mention the Clavicula. This he says is the key to all his other books on Alchemy, in which books the whole Art is fully declared, though so obscurely as not to be understandable without its aid. In this work an alleged method for what may be called the multiplication of the “noble” metals rather than transmutation is described in clear language; but it should be noticed that the stone employed is itself a compound either of silver or gold. According to Lully, the secret of the Philosopher’s Stone is the extraction of the mercury of silver or gold. He writes: “Metals cannot be transmuted . . . in the Minerals, unless they be reduced into their first Matter. . . . Therefore I counsel you, O my Friends, that you do not work but about Sol and Luna, reducing them into the first Matter, our Sulphur and Argent vive: therefore, Son, you are to use this venerable Matter; and I swear unto you and promise, that unless you take the Argent vive of these two, you go to the Practick as blind men without eyes or sense. . . .”[53]

Peter Bonus (14th Century).

§ 39. In 1546, a work was published entitled Magarita Pretiosa, which claimed to be a “faithful abridgement,” by “Janus Lacinus Therapus, the Calabrian,” of a MS. written by Peter Bonus in the fourteenth century. An abridged English translation of this book by Mr. A. E. Waite was published in 1894. Of the life of Bonus, who is said to have been an inhabitant of Pola, a seaport[50] of Istria, nothing is known; but the Magarita Pretiosa is an alchemistic work of considerable interest. The author commences, like pseudo-Geber in his Sum of Perfection, by bringing forward a number of very ingenious arguments against the validity of the Art; he then proceeds with arguments in favour of Alchemy and puts forward answers in full to the former objections; further difficulties, &c., are then dealt with. In all this, compared with many other alchemists, Bonus, though somewhat prolix, is remarkably lucid. All metals, he argues, following the views of pseudo-Geber, consist of mercury and sulphur; but whilst the mercury is always one and the same, different metals contain different sulphurs. There are also two different kinds of sulphurs—inward and outward. Sulphur is necessary for the development of the mercury, but for the final product, gold, to come forth, it is necessary that the outward and impure sulphur be purged off. “Each metal,” says Bonus, “differs from all the rest, and has a certain perfection and completeness of its own; but none, except gold, has reached that highest degree of perfection of which it is capable. For all common metals there is a transient and a perfect state of inward completeness, and this perfect state they attain either through the slow operation of Nature, or through the sudden transformatory power of our Stone. We must, however, add that the imperfect metals form part of the great plan and design of Nature, though they are in course of transformation into gold. For a large number of very useful and indispensable tools and utensils could not be provided at all if there were no copper, iron, tin, or lead, and if all metals[51] were either silver or gold. For this beneficent reason Nature has furnished us with the metallic substance in all its different stages of development, from iron, or the lowest, to gold, or the highest state of metallic perfection. Nature is ever studying variety, and, for that reason, instead of covering the whole face of the earth with water, has evolved out of that elementary substance a great diversity of forms, embracing the whole animal, vegetable and mineral world. It is, in like manner, for the use of men that Nature has differentiated the metallic substance into a great variety of species and forms.”[54] According to this interesting alchemistic work, the Art of Alchemy consists, not in reducing the imperfect metals to their first substance, but in carrying forward Nature’s work, developing the imperfect metals to perfection and removing their impure sulphur.

PLATE 8.

PORTRAIT OF THOMAS AQUINAS.

PORTRAIT OF NICOLAS FLAMEL.

To face page 52]

Nicolas Flamel (1330-1418).

§ 40. Nicolas Flamel (see plate 8) was born about 1330, probably in Paris. His parents were poor, and Nicolas took up the trade of a scrivener. In the course of time, Flamel became a very wealthy man and, at the same time, it appears, one who exhibited considerable munificence. This increase in Flamel’s wealth has been attributed to supposed success in the Hermetic Art. We are told that a remarkable book came into the young scrivener’s possession, which, at first, he was unable to understand, until, at last, he had the good fortune to meet an adept who translated its mysteries for him. This book revealed the occult secrets of Alchemy, and by its means Nicolas was enabled[52] to obtain immense quantities of gold. This story, however, appears to be of a legendary nature, and it seems more likely that Flamel’s riches resulted from his business as a scrivener and from moneylending. At any rate, all of the alchemistic works attributed to Flamel are of more or less questionable origin. One of these, entitled A Short Tract, or Philosophical Summary, will be found in The Hermetic Museum. It is a very brief work, supporting the sulphur-mercury theory.

“Basil Valentine” and “The Triumphal Chariot of Antimony.”

§ 41. Probably the most celebrated of all alchemistic books is the work known as Triumph-Wagen des Antimonii. A Latin translation with a commentary by Theodore Kerckringius was published in 1685, and an English translation of this version by Mr. A. E. Waite appeared in 1893. The author describes himself as “Basil Valentine, a Benedictine monk.” In his “Practica,” another alchemistic work, he says: “When I had emptied to the dregs the cup of human suffering, I was led to consider the wretchedness of this world, and the fearful consequences of our first parents’ disobedience . . . I made haste to withdraw myself from the evil world, to bid farewell to it, and to devote myself to the Service of God.”[55] He proceeds to relate that he entered a monastery, but finding that he had some time on his hands after performing his daily work and devotions, and not wishing to pass this time in idleness, he took up the study of Alchemy, “the investigation of those natural secrets by which God has[53] shadowed out eternal things,” and at last his labours were rewarded by the discovery of a Stone most potent in the curing of diseases. In The Triumphal Chariot of Antimony are accurately described a large number of antimonial preparations, and as Basil was supposed to have written this work some time in the fifteenth century, these preparations were accordingly concluded to have been, for the most part, his own discoveries. He defends with the utmost vigour the medicinal values of antimony, and criticises in terms far from mild the physicians of his day. On account of this work Basil Valentine has ranked very high as an experimental chemist; but from quite early times its date and authorship have been regarded alike as doubtful; and it appears from the researches of the late Professor Schorlemmer “to be an undoubted forgery dating from about 1600, the information being culled from the works of other writers. . . .”[56] Probably the other works ascribed to Basil Valentine are of a like nature. The Triumphal Chariot of Antimony does, however, give an accurate account of the knowledge of antimony of this time, and the pseudo-Valentine shows himself to have been a man of considerable experience with regard to this subject.

Isaac of Holland (15th Century).

§ 42. Isaac of Holland and a countryman of the same name, probably his son, are said to have been the first Dutch alchemists. They are supposed to have lived during the fifteenth century, but of their lives nothing is known. Isaac, although not free from superstitious opinions, appears to have been a practical[54] chemist, and his works, which abound in recipes, were held in great esteem by Paracelsus and other alchemists. He held that all things in this world are of a dual nature, partly good and partly bad. “. . . All that God hath created good in the upper part of the world,” he writes, “are perfect and uncorruptible, as the heaven: but whatsoever in these lower parts, whether it be in beasts, fishes, and all manner of sensible creatures, hearbs or plants, it is indued with a double nature, that is to say, perfect, and unperfect; the perfect nature is called the Quintessence, the unperfect the Feces or dreggs, or the venemous or combustible oile. . . . God hath put a secret nature or influence in every creature, and . . . to every nature of one sort or kind he hath given one common influence and vertue, whether it bee on Physick or other secret works, which partly are found out by naturall workmanship. And yet more things are unknown than are apparent to our senses.”[57] He gives directions for extracting the Quintessence, for which marvellous powers are claimed, out of sugar and other organic substances; and he appears to be the earliest known writer who makes mention of the famous sulphur-mercury-salt theory.

Bernard Trévisan (1406-1490).

§ 43. Bernard Trévisan, a French count of the fifteenth century, squandered enormous sums of money in the search for the Stone, in which the whole of his life and energies were engaged. He seems to have become the dupe of one charlatan after another,[55] but at last, at a ripe old age, he says that his labours were rewarded, and that he successfully performed the magnum opus. In a short, but rather obscure work, he speaks of the Philosopher’s Stone in the following words: “This Stone then is compounded of a Body and Spirit, or of a volatile and fixed Substance, and that is therefore done, because nothing in the World can be generated and brought to light without these two Substances, to wit, a Male and Female: From whence it appeareth, that although these two Substances are not of one and the same species, yet one Stone doth thence arise, and although they appear and are said to be two Substances, yet in truth it is but one, to wit, Argent-vive.”[58] He appears, however, to have added nothing to our knowledge of chemical science.

Sir George Ripley (14—?-1490?).

§ 44. Sir George Ripley, an eminent alchemistic philosopher of the fifteenth century, entered upon a monastic life when a youth, becoming one of the canons regular of Bridlington. After some travels he returned to England and obtaining leave from the Pope to live in solitude, he devoted himself to the study of the Hermetic Art. His chief work is The Compound of Alchymie . . . conteining twelve Gates, which was written in 1471. In this curious work, we learn that there are twelve processes necessary for the achievement of the magnum opus, namely, Calcination, Solution, Separation, Conjunction, Putrefaction, Congelation, Cibation, Sublimation, Fermentation,[56] Exaltation, Multiplication, and Projection. These are likened to the twelve gates of a castle which the philosopher must enter. At the conclusion of the twelfth gate, Ripley says:—

At the conclusion of the work he tells us that in all that he wrote before he was mistaken; he says:—

Ripley did much to popularise the works of Raymond Lully in England, but does not appear to have added to the knowledge of practical chemistry. His Bosom Book, which contains an alleged method for preparing the Stone, will be found in the Collectanea Chemica (1893).

Thomas Norton (15th Century).

§ 45. Thomas Norton, the author of the celebrated Ordinall of Alchemy, was probably born shortly before[57] the commencement of the fifteenth century. The Ordinall, which is written in verse (and which will be found in Ashmole’s Theatrum Chemicum Britannicum),[61] is anonymous, but the author’s identity is revealed by a curious device. The initial syllables of the proem and of the first six chapters, together with the first line of the seventh chapter, give the following couplet:—

Samuel Norton, the grandson of Thomas, who was also an alchemist, says that Thomas Norton was a member of the privy chamber of Edward IV. Norton’s distinctive views regarding the generation of the metals we have already mentioned (see § 20). He taught that true knowledge of the Art of Alchemy could only be obtained by word of mouth from an adept, and in his Ordinall he gives an account of his own initiation. He tells us that he was instructed by his master (probably Sir George Ripley) and learnt the secrets of the Art in forty days, at the age of twenty-eight. He does not, however, appear to have reaped the fruits of this knowledge. Twice, he tells us, did he prepare the Elixir, and twice was it stolen from him; and he is said to have died in 1477, after ruining himself and his friends by his unsuccessful experiments.

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CHAPTER IV
THE ALCHEMISTS (continued)
(B. PARACELSUS AND AFTER)

Paracelsus (1493-1541.)

§ 46. That erratic genius, Paracelsus—or, to give him his correct name, Philip (?) Aureole (?) Theophrast Bombast von Hohenheim—whose portrait forms the frontispiece to the present work—was born at Einsiedeln in Switzerland in 1493. He studied the alchemistic and medical arts under his father, who was a physician, and continued his studies later at the University of Basle. He also gave some time to the study of magic and the occult sciences under the famous Trithemius of Spanheim. Paracelsus, however, found the merely theoretical “book learning” of the university curriculum unsatisfactory and betook himself to the mines, where he might study the nature of metals at first hand. He then spent several years in travelling, visiting some of the chief countries of Europe. At last he returned to Basle, the chair of Medical Science of his old university being bestowed upon him. The works of Isaac of Holland had inspired him with the desire to improve upon the medical science of his day, and in his lectures (which were,[59] contrary to the usual custom, delivered not in Latin, but in the German language) he denounced in violent terms the teachings of Galen and Avicenna, who were until then the accredited authorities on medical matters. His use of the German tongue, his coarseness in criticism and his intense self-esteem, combined with the fact that he did lay bare many of the medical follies and frauds of his day, brought him into very general dislike with the rest of the physicians, and the municipal authorities siding with the aggrieved apothecaries and physicians, whose methods Paracelsus had exposed, he fled from Basle and resumed his former roving life. He was, so we are told, a man of very intemperate habits, being seldom sober (a statement seriously open to doubt); but on the other hand, he certainly accomplished a very large number of most remarkable cures, and, judging from his writings, he was inspired by lofty and noble ideals and a fervent belief in the Christian religion. He died in 1541.

Paracelsus combined in himself such opposite characteristics that it is a matter of difficulty to criticise him aright. As says Professor Ferguson: “It is most difficult . . . to ascertain what his true character really was, to appreciate aright this man of fervid imagination, of powerful and persistent conviction, of unbated honesty and love of truth, of keen insight into the errors (as he thought them) of his time, of a merciless will to lay bare these errors and to reform the abuses to which they gave rise, who in an instant offends by his boasting, his grossness, his want of self-respect. It is a problem how to reconcile his ignorance, his weakness, his superstition, his crude[60] notions, his erroneous observations, his ridiculous inferences and theories, with his grasp of method, his lofty views of the true scope of medicine, his lucid statements, his incisive and epigrammatic criticisms of men and motives.”[62] It is also a problem of considerable difficulty to determine which of the many books attributed to him are really his genuine works, and consequently what his views on certain points exactly were.

Views of Paracelsus.

§ 47. Paracelsus was the first to recognise the desirability of investigating the physical universe with a motive other than alchemistic. He taught that “the object of chemistry is not to make gold, but to prepare medicines,” and founded the school of Iatro-chemistry or Medical Chemistry. This synthesis of chemistry with medicine was of very great benefit to each science; new possibilities of chemical investigation were opened up now that the aim was not purely alchemistic. Paracelsus’s central theory was that of the analogy between man, the microcosm, and the world or macrocosm. He regarded all the actions that go on in the human body as of a chemical nature, and he thought that illness was the result of a disproportion in the body between the quantities of the three great principles—sulphur, mercury, and salt—which he regarded as constituting all things; for example, he considered an excess of sulphur as the cause of fever, since sulphur was the fiery principle, &c. The basis of the iatro-chemical doctrines, namely, that the healthy human body is a particular combination of[61] chemical substances: illness the result of some change in this combination, and hence curable only by chemical medicines, expresses a certain truth, and is undoubtedly a great improvement upon the ideas of the ancients. But in the elaboration of his medical doctrines Paracelsus fell a prey to exaggeration and the fantastic, and many of his theories appear to be highly ridiculous. This extravagance is also very pronounced in the alchemistic works attributed to him; for example, the belief in the artificial creation of minute living creatures resembling men (called “homunculi”)—a belief of the utmost absurdity, if we are to understand it literally. On the other hand, his writings do contain much true teaching of a mystical nature; his doctrine of the correspondence of man with the universe considered as a whole, for example, certainly being radically true, though fantastically stated and developed by Paracelsus himself.

Iatro-Chemistry.

§ 48. Between the pupils of Paracelsus and the older school of medicine, as might well be supposed, a battle royal was waged for a considerable time, which ultimately concluded, if not with a full vindication of Paracelsus’s teaching, yet with the acceptance of the fundamental iatro-chemical doctrines. Henceforward it is necessary to distinguish between the chemists and the alchemists—to distinguish those who pursued chemical studies with the object of discovering and preparing useful medicines, and later those who pursued such studies for their own sake, from those whose object was the transmutation of the “base” metals into gold, whether from purely selfish motives, or with the desire to[62] demonstrate on the physical plane the validity of the doctrines of Mysticism. However, during the following century or two we find, very often, the chemist and the alchemist united in one and the same person. Men such as Glauber and Boyle, whose names will ever be remembered by chemists, did not doubt the possibility of performing the magnum opus. In the present chapter, however, we shall confine our attention for the most part to those men who may be regarded, for one reason or another, particularly as alchemists. And the alchemists of the period we are now considering present a very great diversity. On the one hand, we have men of much chemical knowledge and skill such as Libavius and van Helmont, on the other hand we have those who stand equally as high as exponents of mystic wisdom—men such as Jacob Boehme and, to a less extent, Thomas Vaughan. We have those, who, although they did not enrich the science of Chemistry with any new discoveries, were, nevertheless, regarded as masters of the Hermetic Art; and, finally, we have alchemists of the Edward Kelley and “Cagliostro” type, whose main object was their own enrichment at their neighbours’ expense. Before, however, proceeding to an account of the lives and teachings of these men, there is one curious matter—perhaps the most remarkable of all historical curiosities—that calls for some brief consideration. We refer to the “far-famed” Rosicrucian Society.

The Rosicrucian Society.

§ 49. The exoteric history of the Rosicrucian Society commences with the year 1614. In that year there was published at Cassel in Germany a pamphlet entitled The Discovery of the Fraternity of the Meritorious Order of the Rosy Cross, addressed to[63] the Learned in General and the Governors of Europe. After a discussion of the momentous question of the general reformation of the world, which was to be accomplished through the medium of a secret confederacy of the wisest and most philanthropic men, the pamphlet proceeds to inform its readers that such an association is in existence, founded over one hundred years ago by the famous C.R.C., grand initiate in the mysteries of Alchemy, whose history (which is clearly of a fabulous or symbolical nature) is given. The book concludes by inviting the wise men of the time to join the Fraternity, directing those who wished to do so to indicate their desire by the publication of printed letters, which should come into the hands of the Brotherhood. As might well be expected, the pamphlet was the cause of considerable interest and excitement, but although many letters were printed, apparently none of them were vouchsafed a reply. The following year a further pamphlet appeared, The Confession of the Rosicrucian Fraternity, addressed to the Learned in Europe, and in 1616, The Chymical Nuptials of Christian Rosencreutz. This latter book is a remarkable allegorical romance, describing how an old man, a lifelong student of the alchemistic Art, was present at the accomplishment of the magnum opus in the year 1459. An enormous amount of controversy took place; it was plain to some that the Society had deluded them, whilst others hotly maintained its claims; but after about four years had passed, the excitement had subsided, and the subject ceased, for the time being, to arouse any particular interest.

Some writers, even in recent times, more gifted for[64] romance than for historical research, have seen in the Rosicrucian Society a secret confederacy of immense antiquity and of stupendous powers, consisting of the great initiates of all ages, supposed to be in possession of the arch secrets of alchemistic art. It is abundantly evident, however, that it was nothing of the sort. It is clear from an examination of the pamphlets already mentioned that they are animated by Lutheran ideals; and it is of interest to note that Luther’s seal contained both the cross and the rose—whence the term “Rosicrucian.” The generally accepted theory regards the pamphlets as a sort of elaborate hoax perpetrated by Valentine Andreä, a young and benevolent Lutheran divine; but more, however, than a mere hoax. As the late Mr. R. A. Vaughan wrote: “. . . this Andreä writes the Discovery of the Rosicrucian Brotherhood, a jeu-d’esprit with a serious purpose, just as an experiment to see whether something cannot be done by combined effort to remedy the defect and abuses—social, educational, and religious, so lamented by all good men. He thought there were many Andreäs scattered throughout Europe—how powerful would be their united systematic action! . . . He hoped that the few nobler minds whom he desired to organize would see through the veil of fiction in which he had invested his proposal; that he might communicate personally with some such, if they should appear; or that his book might lead them to form among themselves a practical philanthropic confederacy, answering to the serious purpose he had embodied in his fiction.”[63] His scheme was a[65] failure, and on seeing its result, Andreä, not daring to reveal himself as the author of the pamphlets, did his best to put a stop to the folly by writing several works in criticism of the Society and its claims. Mr. A. E. Waite, however, whose work on the subject should be consulted for further information, rejects this theory, and suggests that the Rosicrucian Society was probably identical with the Militia Crucifera Evangelica, a secret society founded in Nuremburg by the Lutheran alchemist and mystic, Simon Studion.[64]

Thomas Charnock (1524-1581).

§ 50. We must now turn our attention to the lives and teachings of the alchemists of the period under consideration, treating them, as far as possible, in chronological order; whence the first alchemist to come under our notice is Thomas Charnock.

Thomas Charnock was born at Faversham (Kent), either in the year 1524 or in 1526. After some travels over England he settled at Oxford, carrying on experiments in Alchemy. In 1557 he wrote his Breviary of Philosophy. This work is almost entirely autobiographical, describing Charnock’s alchemistic experiences. He tells us that he was initiated into the mysteries of the Hermetic Art by a certain James S. of Salisbury; he also had another master, an old blind man, who on his death-bed instructed Charnock. Unfortunately, however, Thomas was doomed to failure in his experiments. On the first attempt his apparatus caught fire and his work was destroyed. His next experiments were ruined by the negligence of a servant. His final misfortune shall be described[66] in his own words. He had started the work for a third time, and had spent much money on his fire, hoping to be shortly rewarded. . . .

Thomas Charnock married in 1562 a Miss Agnes Norden. He died in 1581. It is, perhaps, unnecessary to say that his name does not appear in the history of Chemistry.

Andreas Libavius (1540-1616.)

§ 51. Andreas Libavius was born at Halle in Germany in 1540, where he studied medicine and practiced for a short time as a physician. He accepted the fundamental iatro-chemical doctrines, at the same time, however, criticising certain of the more extravagant views expressed by Paracelsus. He was a firm believer in the transmutation of the metals, but his own activities were chiefly directed to the preparation of new and better medicines. He enriched the science of Chemistry by many valuable discoveries, and tin tetra-chloride, which he was the first to prepare, is still known by the name of spiritus fumans Libavii. Libavius was a man possessed of keen powers of observation; and his work on Chemistry, which contains a full account of the knowledge of the science of his time, may be[67] regarded as the first text-book of Chemistry. It was held in high esteem for a considerable time, being reprinted on several occasions.

PLATE 9.

PORTRAIT OF EDWARD KELLEY.

PORTRAIT OF JOHN DEE.

To face page 68]

Edward Kelley (1555-1595) and John Dee (1527-1608.)

§ 52. Edward Kelley or Kelly (see plate 9) was born at Worcester on August 1, 1555. His life is so obscured by various traditions that it is very difficult to arrive at the truth concerning it. The latest, and probably the best, account will be found in Miss Charlotte Fell Smith’s John Dee (1909). Edward Kelley, according to some accounts, was brought up as an apothecary.[66] He is also said to have entered Oxford University under the pseudonym of Talbot.[67] Later, he practised as a notary in London. He is said to have committed a forgery, for which he had his ears cropped; but another account, which supposes him to have avoided this penalty by making his escape to Wales, is not improbable. Other crimes of which he is accused are coining and necromancy. He was probably not guilty of all these crimes, but that he was undoubtedly a charlatan and profligate the sequel will make plain. We are told that about the time of his alleged escape to Wales, whilst in the neighbourhood of Glastonbury Abbey, he became possessed, by a lucky chance, of a manuscript by St. Dunstan setting forth the grand secrets of Alchemy, together with some of the two transmuting tinctures, both white and red,[68][68] which had been discovered in a tomb near by. His friendship with John Dee, or Dr. Dee as he is generally called, commenced in 1582. Now, John Dee (see plate 9) was undoubtedly a mathematician of considerable erudition. He was also an astrologer, and was much interested in experiments in “crystal-gazing,” for which purpose he employed a speculum of polished cannel-coal, and by means of which he believed that he had communication with the inhabitants of spiritual spheres. It appears that Kelley, who probably did possess some mediumistic powers, the results of which he augmented by means of fraud, interested himself in these experiments, and not only became the doctor’s “scryer,” but also gulled him into the belief that he was in the possession of the arch-secrets of Alchemy. In 1583, Kelley and his learned dupe left England together with their wives and a Polish nobleman, staying firstly at Cracovia and afterwards at Prague, where it is not unlikely that the Emperor Rudolph II. knighted Kelley. As instances of the belief which the doctor had in Kelley’s powers as an alchemist, we may note that in his Private Diary under the date December 19, 1586, Dee records that Kelley performed a transmutation for the benefit of one Edward Garland and his brother Francis;[69] and[69] under the date May 10, 1588, we find the following recorded: “E.K. did open the great secret to me, God be thanked!”[70] That he was not always without doubts as to Kelley’s honesty, however, is evident from other entries in his Diary. In 1587 occurred an event which must be recorded to the partners’ lasting shame. To cap his former impositions, Kelley informed the doctor that by the orders of a spirit which had appeared to him in the crystal, they were to share “their two wives in common”; to which arrangement, after some further persuasion, Dee consented. Kelley’s profligacy and violent temper, however, had already been the cause of some disagreement between him and the doctor, and this incident leading to a further quarrel, the erstwhile friends parted. In 1589, the Emperor Rudolph imprisoned Kelley, the price of his freedom being the transmutative secret, or a substantial quantity of gold, at least, prepared by its aid. He was, however, released in 1593; but died in 1595; according to one account, as the result of an accident incurred while attempting to escape from a second imprisonment. Dee merely records that he received news to the effect that Kelley “was slayne.”

It was during his incarceration that he wrote an alchemistic work entitled The Stone of the Philosophers, which consists largely of quotations from older alchemistic writings. His other works on Alchemy were probably written at an earlier period.[71]

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Henry Khunrath (1560-1605).

§ 53. Henry Khunrath was born in Saxony in the second half of the sixteenth century. He was a follower of Paracelsus, and travelled about Germany, practising as a physician. “This German alchemist,” says Mr. A. E. Waite, “. . . is claimed as a hierophant of the psychic side of the magnum opus, and . . . was undoubtedly aware of the larger issues, of Hermetic theorems”; he describes Khunrath’s chief work, Amphitheatrum Sapientiæ Æternæ, &c., as “purely mystical and magical.”[72]

Alexander Sethon (?-1604) and Michael Sendivogius (1566?-1646).

§ 54. The date and birthplace of Alexander Sethon, a Scottish alchemist, do not appear to have been recorded, but Michael Sendivogius was probably born in Moravia about 1566. Sethon, we are told, was in possession of the arch-secrets of Alchemy. He visited Holland in 1602, proceeded after a time to Italy, and passed through Basle to Germany; meanwhile he is said to have performed many transmutations. Ultimately arriving at Dresden, however, he fell into the clutches of the young Elector, Christian II., who, in order to extort his secret, cast him into prison, and put him to the torture, but without avail. Now, it so happened that Sendivogius, who was in quest of the Philosopher’s Stone, was staying at Dresden, and hearing of Sethon’s imprisonment obtained permission to visit him. Sendivogius offered to effect Sethon’s escape in return for assistance in his alchemistic pursuits, to which arrangement the Scottish alchemist willingly agreed. After some considerable outlay of money in bribery, Sendivogiu[71]s’s plan of escape was successfully carried out, and Sethon found himself a free man; but he refused to betray the high secrets of Hermetic philosophy to his rescuer. However, before his death, which occurred shortly afterwards, he presented him with an ounce of the transmutative powder. Sendivogius soon used up this powder, we are told, in effecting transmutations and cures, and, being fond of expensive living, he married Sethon’s widow, in the hope that she was in the possession of the transmutative secret. In this, however, he was disappointed; she knew nothing of the matter, but she had the manuscript of an alchemistic work written by her late husband. Shortly afterwards Sendivogius printed at Prague a book entitled The New Chemical Light under the name of “Cosmopolita,” which is said to be this work of Sethon’s but which Sendivogius claimed for his own by the insertion of his name on the title-page, in the form of an anagram. The tract On Sulphur which was printed at the end of later editions, however, is said to have been the genuine work of the Moravian. Whilst his powder lasted, Sendivogius travelled about, performing, we are told, many transmutations. He was twice imprisoned in order to extort the secrets of Alchemy from him, on one occasion escaping, and on the other occasion obtaining his release from the Emperor Rudolph. Afterwards, he appears to have degenerated into an impostor, but this is said to have been a finesse to hide his true character as an alchemistic adept. He died in 1646.[73]

The New Chemical Light was held in great esteem by the alchemists. The first part treats at[72] length of the generation of the metals and also of the Philosopher’s Stone, and claims to be based on practical experience. The seed of Nature, we are told, is one, but various products result on account of the different conditions of development. An imaginary conversation between Mercury, an Alchemist and Nature which is appended, is not without a touch of humour. Says the Alchemist, in despair, “Now I see that I know nothing; only I must not say so. For I should lose the good opinion of my neighbours, and they would no longer entrust me with money for my experiments. I must therefore go on saying that I know everything; for there are many that expect me to do great things for them. . . . There are many countries, and many greedy persons who will suffer themselves to be gulled by my promises of mountains of gold. Thus day will follow day, and in the meantime the King or the donkey will die, or I myself.”[74] The second part treats of the Elements and Principles (see §§ 17 and 19).

PLATE 10.

[by J. Brunn]

PORTRAIT OF
MICHAEL MAIER.

To face page 72

Michael Maier (1568-1622).

§ 55. Michael Maier (see plate 10) was born at Rendsberg (in Holstein) about 1568. He studied medicine assiduously, becoming a most successful physician, and he was ennobled by Rudolf II. Later on, however, he took up the subject of Alchemy, and is said to have ruined his health and wasted his fortune in the pursuit of the alchemistic ignis fatuus—the Stone of the Philosophers—travelling about Germany and elsewhere in order to have converse with those who were regarded as adepts in the[73] Art. He took a prominent part in the famous Rosicrucian controversy (see § 49), defending the claims of the alleged society in several tracts. He is said, on the one hand, to have been admitted as a member of the fraternity; and on the other hand, to have himself founded a similar institution. A full account of his views will be found in the Rev. J. B. Craven’s Count Michael Maier: Life and Writings (1910). He was a very learned man, but his works are somewhat obscure and abound in fanciful allegories. He read an alchemistic meaning into the ancient fables concerning the Egyptian and Greek gods and heroes. Like most alchemists, he held the supposed virtues of mercury in high esteem. In his Lusus Serius: or, Serious Passe-time, for example, he supposes a Parliament of the various creatures of the world to meet, in order that Man might choose the noblest of them as king over all the rest. The calf, the sheep, the goose, the oyster, the bee, the silkworm, flax and mercury are the chosen representatives, each of which discourses in turn. It will be unnecessary to state that Mercury wins the day. Thus does Maier eulogise it: “Thou art the miracle, splendour and light of the world. Thou art the glory, ornament, and supporter of the Earth. Thou art the Asyle, Anchor, and tye of the Universe. Next to the minde of Man, God Created nothing more Noble, more Glorious, or more Profitable.”[75] His Subtle Allegory concerning the Secrets of Alchemy, very useful to possess and pleasant to read, will be found in the Hermetic Museum, together with his Golden Tripod,[74] consisting of translations of “Valentine’s” “Practica” and Twelve Keys, Norton’s Ordinal and Cremer’s spurious Testament.

Plate 11.

PORTRAIT OF
JACOB BOEHME.

To face page 74]

Jacob Boehme (1575-1624.)

§ 56. Jacob Boehme, or Behmen (see plate 11), was born at Alt Seidenberg, a village near Görlitz, in 1575. His parents being poor, the education he received was of a very rudimentary nature, and when his schooling days were over, Jacob was apprenticed to a shoemaker. His religious nature caused him often to admonish his fellow-apprentices, which behaviour ultimately caused him to be dismissed. He travelled about as a journeyman shoemaker, returning, however, to Görlitz in 1594, where he married and settled in business. He claims to have experienced a wonderful vision in 1598, and to have had a similar vision two years later. In these visions, the first of which lasted for several days, he believed that he saw into the inmost secrets of nature; but what at first appeared dim and vague became clear and coherent in a third vision, which he tells us was vouchsafed to him in 1610. It was then that he wrote his first book, the Aurora, which he composed for himself only, in order that he should not forget the mysteries disclosed to him. At a later period he produced a large number of treatises of a mystical-religious nature, having spent the intervening years in improving his early education. These books aroused the ire of the narrow-minded ecclesiastical authorities of the town, and Jacob suffered considerable persecution in consequence. He visited Dresden in 1624, and in the same year was there taken ill with a fever. Returning to Görlitz, he expired in a condition of ecstasy.

[75]

Jacob Boehme was an alchemist of a purely transcendental order. He had, it appears, acquired some knowledge of Chemistry during his apprentice days, and he employed the language of Alchemy in the elaboration of his system of mystical philosophy. With this lofty mystical-religious system we cannot here deal; Boehme is, indeed, often accounted the greatest of true Christian mystics; but although conscious of his superiority over many minor lights, we think this title is due to Emanuel Swedenborg. The question of the validity of his visions is also one which lies beyond the scope of the present work;[76] we must confine our attention to Boehme as an alchemist. The Philosopher’s Stone, in Boehme’s terminology, is the Spirit of Christ which must “tincture” the individual soul. In one place he says, “The Phylosophers Stone is a very dark disesteemed Stone, of a Gray colour, but therein lyeth the highest Tincture.”[77] In the transcendental sense, this is reminiscent of the words of Isaiah: “He hath no form nor comeliness; and when we see him, there is no beauty that we should desire him. . . . He was despised and we esteemed him not,” &c.[78]

J. B. van Helmont (1577-1644) and F. M. van Helmont (1618-1699.)

§ 57. John Baptist van Helmont (see plate 12) was born in Brussels in 1577. He devoted himself to the study of medicine, at first following Galen, but[76] afterwards accepting in part the teachings of Paracelsus; and he helped to a large extent in the overthrow of the old medical doctrines. His purely chemical researches were also of great value to the science. He was a man of profound knowledge, of a religious temperament, and he possessed a marked liking for the mystical. He was inspired by the writings of Thomas à Kempis to imitate Christ in all things, and he practised medicine, therefore, as a work of benevolence, asking no fee for his services. At the same time, moreover, he was a firm believer in the powers of the Philosopher’s Stone, claiming to have himself successfully performed the transmutation of the metals on more than one occasion, though unacquainted with the composition of the medicine employed (see § 62). Many of his theoretical views are highly fantastical. He lived a life devoted to scientific research, and died in 1644.

PLATE 12.

PORTRAITS OF
J. B. AND F. M. VAN HELMONT.
(From the Frontispiece to J. B. van Helmont’s Oriatrike).

To face page 76]

Van Helmont regarded water as the primary element out of which all things are produced. He denied that fire was an element or anything material at all, and he did not accept the sulphur-mercury-salt theory. To him is due the word “gas”—before his time various gases were looked upon as mere varieties of air—and he also made a distinction between gases (which could not be condensed)[79] and vapours (which give liquids on cooling). In particular he investigated the gas that is now known as carbon-dioxide (carbonic anhydride), which he termed gas sylvestre; but he lacked suitable apparatus for the[77] collection of gases, and hence was led in many cases to erroneous conclusions.

Francis Mercurius van Helmont (see plate 12), the son of John Baptist, born in 1618, gained the reputation of having also achieved the magnum opus, since he appeared to live very luxuriously upon a limited income. He was a skilled chemist and physician, but held many queer theories, metempsychosis included.

Johann Rudolf Glauber (1604-1668).

§ 58. Johann Rudolf Glauber was born at Karlstadt in 1604. Of his life little is known. He appears to have travelled about Germany a good deal, afterwards visiting Amsterdam, where he died in 1668. He was of a very patriotic nature, and a most ardent investigator in the realm of Chemistry. He accepted the main iatro-chemical doctrines, but gave most of his attention to applied Chemistry. He enriched the science with many important discoveries; and crystallised sodium sulphate is still called “Glauber’s Salt.” Glauber, himself, attributed remarkable medicinal powers to this compound. He was a firm believer in the claims of Alchemy, and held many fantastic ideas.

Thomas Vaughan (“Eugenius Philalethes”) (1622-1666.)

§ 59. Thomas Vaughan, who wrote under the name of “Eugenius Philalethes,” was born at Newton in Brecknockshire in 1622. He was educated at Jesus College, Oxford, graduating as a Bachelor of Arts, and being made a fellow of his college. He appears also to have taken holy orders and to have had the living of St. Bridget’s (Brecknockshire) conferred on him.[78][80] During the civil wars he bore arms for the king, but his allegiance to the Royalist cause led to his being accused of “drunkenness, swearing, incontinency and bearing arms for the King”; and he appears to have been deprived of his living. He retired to Oxford and gave himself up to study and chemical research. He is to be regarded as an alchemist of the transcendental order. His views as to the nature of the true Philosopher’s Stone may be gathered from the following quotation: “This, reader,” he says, speaking of the mystical illumination, “is the Christian Philosopher’s Stone, a Stone so often inculcated in Scripture. This is the Rock in the wildernesse, because in great obscurity, and few there are that know the right way unto it. This is the Stone of Fire in Ezekiel; this is the Stone with Seven Eyes upon it in Zacharie, and this is the White Stone with the New Name in the Revelation. But in the Gospel, where Christ himself speakes, who was born to discover mysteries and communicate Heaven to Earth, it is more clearly described.”[81] At the same time he appears to have carried out experiments in physical Alchemy, and is said to have met with his death in 1666 through accidentally inhaling the fumes of some mercury with which he was experimenting.

Thomas Vaughan was an ardent disciple of Cornelius Agrippa, the sixteenth-century theosophist. He held the peripatetic philosophy in very slight esteem. He was a man devoted to God, though probably guilty of some youthful follies, full of love[79] towards his wife, and with an intense desire for the solution of the great problems of Nature. Amongst his chief works, which are by no means wanting in flashes of mystic wisdom, may be mentioned Anthroposophia Theomagica, Anima Magica Abscondita (which were published together), and Magia Adamica; or, the Antiquitie of Magic. With regard to his views as expressed in the first two of these books, a controversy ensued between Vaughan and Henry Moore, which was marked by considerable acrimony.

“Eirenæus Philalethes”
(1623?-?) and George Starkey (?-1665).

§ 60. The use of the pseudonym “Philalethes” has not been confined to one alchemist. The cosmopolitan adept who wrote under the name of “Eirenæus Philalethes,” has been confused, on the one hand, with Thomas Vaughan, on the other hand with George Starkey (?-1665). He has also been identified with Dr. Robert Child (1613-1654); but his real identity remains shrouded in mystery.[82] George Starkey (or Stirk), the son of George Stirk, minister of the Church of England in Bermuda, graduated at Harvard in 1646 and practised medicine in the United States of America from 1647 to 1650. In 1651 he came to England and practised medicine in London. He died of the plague in 1665. In 1654-5 he published The[80] Marrow of Alchemy, by “Eirenæus Philoponos Philalethes,” which some think he had stolen from his Hermetic Master. Other works by “Eirenæus Philalethes” appeared after Starkey’s death and became immensely popular. The Open Entrance to the Closed Palace of the King (the most famous of these) and the Three Treatises of the same author will be found in The Hermetic Museum. Some of his views have already been noted (see §§ 1 and 22). On certain points he differed from the majority of the alchemists. He denied that fire was an element, and, also, that bodies are formed by mixture of the elements. According to him there is one principle in the metals, namely, mercury, which arises from the aqueous element, and is termed “metalically differentiated water, i.e., it is water passed into that stage of development, in which it can no longer produce anything but mineral substances.”[83] Philalethes’s views as to “metallic seed” are also of considerable interest. Of the seed of gold, which he regarded as the seed, also, of all other metals, he says: “The seed of animals and vegetables is something separate, and may be cut out, or otherwise separately exhibited; but metallic seed is diffused throughout the metal, and contained in all its smallest parts; neither can it be discerned from its body: its extraction is therefore a task which may well tax the ingenuity of the most experienced philosopher. . . .”[84] Well might this have been said of the electron of modern scientific theory.

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CHAPTER V
THE OUTCOME OF ALCHEMY

Did the Alchemists achieve the “Magnum Opus”?

§ 61. The alchemists were untiring in their search for the Stone of the Philosophers, and we may well ask whether they ever succeeded in effecting a real transmutation. That many apparent transmutations occurred, the observers being either self-deceived by a superficial examination—certain alloys resemble the “noble metals”—or deliberately cheated by impostors, is of course undoubted. But at the same time we must not assume that, because we know not the method now, real transmutations have never taken place. Modern research indicates that it may be possible to transmute other metals, such as lead or bismuth, into gold, and consequently we must admit the possibility that amongst the many experiments carried out, a real transmutation was effected. On the other hand, the method which is suggested by the recent researches in question could not have been known to the alchemists or accidentally employed by them; and, moreover, the quantity of gold which is hoped for, should such a method prove successful, is far below the smallest amount that would have been detected in[82] the days of Alchemy. But if there be one method whereby the metals may be transmuted, there may be other methods. And it is not altogether an easy task to explain away the testimony of eminent men such as were van Helmont and Helvetius.

The Testimony of van Helmont.

§ 62. John Baptist van Helmont (see § 57), who was celebrated alike for his skill as a physician and chemist and for his nobility of character, testified in more than one place that he had himself carried out the transmutation of mercury into gold. But, as we have mentioned above, the composition of the Stone employed on these occasions was unknown to him. He says: “. . . For truly, I have divers times seen it [the Stone of the Philosophers], and handled it with my hands: but it was of colour, such as is in Saffron in its Powder, yet weighty, and shining like unto powdered Glass: There was once given unto me one fourth part of one Grain: But I call a Grain the six hundredth part of one Ounce: This quarter of one Grain therefore, being rouled up in Paper, I projected upon eight Ounces of Quick-silver made hot in a Crucible; and straightway all the Quick-silver, with a certain degree of Noise, stood still from flowing, and being congealed, setled like unto a yellow Lump: but after pouring it out, the Bellows blowing, there were found eight Ounces, and a little less than eleven Grains [eight Ounces less eleven Grains] of the purest Gold: Therefore one only Grain of that Powder, had transchanged 19186 [19156] Parts of Quick-silver, equal to itself, into the best Gold.”[85]

[83]

And again: “I am constrained to believe that there is the Stone which makes Gold, and which makes Silver; because I have at distinct turns, made projection with my hand, of one grain of the Powder, upon some thousand grains of hot Quick-silver; and the buisiness succeeded in the Fire, even as Books do promise; a Circle of many People standing by, together with a tickling Admiration of us all. . . . He who first gave me the Gold-making Powder, had likewise also, at least as much of it, as might be sufficient for changing two hundred thousand Pounds of Gold: . . . For he gave me perhaps half a grain of that Powder, and nine ounces and three quarters of Quick-silver were thereby transchanged: But that Gold, a strange man [a stranger], being a Friend of one evenings acquaintance, gave me.”[86]

PLATE 13.

To face page 84]

The Testimony of Helvetius.

§ 63. John Frederick Helvetius (see plate 13), an eminent doctor of medicine, and physician to the Prince of Orange, published at the Hague in 1667 the following remarkable account of a transmutation he claimed to have effected. Certain points of resemblance between this account and that of van Helmont (e.g., in each case the Stone is described as a glassy substance of a pale yellow colour) are worth noticing: “On the 27 December, 1666, in the forenoon, there came to my house a certain man, who was a complete stranger to me, but of an honest, grave countenance, and an authoritative[84] mien, clothed in a simple garb like that of a Memnonite. . . .

“After we had exchanged salutations, he asked me whether he might have some conversation with me. He wished to say something to me about the Pyrotechnic Art, as he had read one of my tracts (directed against the sympathetic Powder of Dr. Digby), in which I hinted a suspicion whether the Grand Arcanum of the Sages was not after all a gigantic hoax. He, therefore, took that opportunity of asking me whether I could not believe that such a grand mystery might exist in the nature of things, by means of which a physician could restore any patient whose vitals were not irreparably destroyed. I answered: ‘Such a Medicine would be a most desirable acquisition for any physician; nor can any man tell how many secrets there may be hidden in Nature; yet, though I have read much about the truth of this Art, it has never been my good fortune to meet with a real Master of the Alchemical Science.’ I also enquired whether he was a medical man. . . . In reply, he . . . described himself as a brassfounder. . . . After some further conversation, the Artist Elias (for it was he) thus addressed me: ‘Since you have read so much in the works of the Alchemists about this Stone, its substance, its colour, and its wonderful effects, may I be allowed the question, whether you have not yourself prepared it?’ On my answering his question in the negative, he took out of his bag a cunningly-worked ivory box, in which there were three large pieces of a substance resembling glass, or pale sulphur, and informed me that here was enough of the Tincture for the production of 20 tons of gold. When I[85] had held the precious treasure in my hand for a quarter of an hour (during which time I listened to a recital of its wonderful curative properties), I was compelled to restore it to its owner, which I could not help doing with a certain degree of reluctance. After thanking him for his kindness in shewing it to me, I then asked how it was that his Stone did not display that ruby colour, which I had been taught to regard as characteristic of the Philosopher’s Stone. He replied that the colour made no difference, and that the substance was sufficiently mature for all practical purposes. My request that he would give me a piece of his Stone (though it were no larger than a coriander seed), he somewhat brusquely refused, adding, in a milder tone, that he could not give it me for all the wealth I possessed, and that not on account of its great preciousness, but for some other reason which it was not lawful for him to divulge; . . .

Helvetius obtains the Philosopher’s Stone.

§ 64. “When my strange visitor had concluded his narrative, I besought him to give me a proof of his assertion, by performing the transmutatory operation on some metals in my presence. He answered evasively, that he could not do so then, but that he would return in three weeks, and that, if he was then at liberty to do so, he would shew me something that would make me open my eyes. He appeared punctually to the promised day, and invited me to take a walk with him, in the course of which we discoursed profoundly on the secrets of Nature in fire, though I noticed that my companion was very chary in imparting information about the Grand Arcanum. . . . At last I asked him point-blank to show me[86] the transmutation of metals. I besought him to come and dine with me, and to spend the night at my house; I entreated; I expostulated; but in vain. He remained firm. I reminded him of his promise. He retorted that his promise had been conditional upon his being permitted to reveal the secret to me. At last, however, I prevailed upon him to give me a piece of his precious Stone—a piece no larger than a grain of rape seed. He delivered it to me as if it were the most princely donation in the world. Upon my uttering a doubt whether it would be sufficient to tinge more than four grains of lead, he eagerly demanded it back. I complied, in the hope that he would exchange it for a larger piece; instead of which he divided it in two with his thumb, threw away one-half and gave me back the other, saying: ‘Even now it is sufficient for you.’ Then I was still more heavily disappointed, as I could not believe that anything could be done with so small a particle of the Medicine. He, however, bade me take two drachms, or half an ounce of lead, or even a little more, and to melt it in the crucible; for the Medicine would certainly not tinge more of the base metal than it was sufficient for. I answered that I could not believe that so small a quantity of Tincture could transform so large a mass of lead. But I had to be satisfied with what he had given me, and my chief difficulty was about the application of the Tincture. I confessed that when I held his ivory box in my hand, I had managed to extract a few crumbs of his Stone, but that they had changed my lead, not into gold, but only into glass. He laughed, and said that I was more expert at theft than at the application of the Tincture. ‘You should[87] have protected your spoil with “yellow wax,” then it would have been able to penetrate the lead and to transmute it into gold.’ . . .

Helvetius performs a Transmutation.

§ 65. “. . . With . . . a promise to return at nine o’clock the next morning, he left me. But at the stated hour on the following day he did not make his appearance; in his stead, however, there came, a few hours later, a stranger, who told me that his friend the Artist was unavoidably detained, but that he would call at three o’clock in the afternoon. The afternoon came; I waited for him till half-past seven o’clock. He did not appear. Thereupon my wife came and tempted me to try the transmutation myself. I determined, however, to wait till the morrow, and in the meantime, ordered my son to light the fire, as I was now almost sure that he was an impostor. On the morrow, however, I thought that I might at least make an experiment with the piece of ‘Tincture’ which I had received; if it turned out a failure, in spite of my following his directions closely, I might then be quite certain that my visitor had been a mere pretender to a knowledge of this Art. So I asked my wife to put the Tincture in wax, and I myself, in the meantime, prepared six drachms of lead; I then cast the Tincture, enveloped as it was in wax, on the lead; as soon as it was melted, there was a hissing sound and a slight effervescence, and after a quarter of an hour I found that the whole mass of lead had been turned into the finest gold. Before this transmutation took place, the compound became intensely green, but as soon as I had poured it into the melting pot it assumed a hue like blood. When it cooled, it glittered[88] and shone like gold. We immediately took it to the goldsmith, who at once declared it to be the finest gold he had ever seen, and offered to pay fifty florins an ounce for it.

Helvetius’s Gold Assayed.

§ 66. “The rumour, of course, spread at once like wildfire through the whole city; and in the afternoon, I had visits from many illustrious students of this Art; I also received a call from the Master of the Mint and some other gentlemen, who requested me to place at their disposal a small piece of the gold, in order that they might subject it to the usual tests. I consented, and we betook ourselves to the house of a certain silversmith, named Brechtil, who submitted a small piece of my gold to the test called ‘the fourth’: three or four parts of silver are melted in the crucible with one part of gold, and then beaten out into thin plates, upon which some strong aqua fortis [nitric acid] is poured. The usual result of this experiment is that the silver is dissolved, while the gold sinks to the bottom in the shape of a black powder, and after the aqua fortis has been poured off, [the gold,] melted once again in the crucible, resumes its former shape. . . . When we now performed this experiment, we thought at first that one-half of the gold had evaporated; but afterwards we found that this was not the case, but that, on the contrary, two scruples of the silver had undergone a change into gold.

Helvetius’s Gold Further Tested.

§ 67. “Then we tried another test, viz., that which is performed by means of a septuple of Antimony; at first it seemed as if eight grains of the gold had been lost, but afterwards, not only had two scruples of the silver been converted into gold, but the silver itself[89] was greatly improved both in quality and malleability. Thrice I performed this infallible test, discovering that every drachm of gold produced an increase of a scruple of gold, but the silver is excellent and extremely flexible. Thus I have unfolded to you the whole story from beginning to end. The gold I still retain in my possession, but I cannot tell you what has become of the Artist Elias. Before he left me, on the last day of our friendly intercourse, he told me that he was on the point of undertaking a journey to the Holy Land. May the Holy Angels of God watch over him wherever he is, and long preserve him as a source of blessing to Christendom! This is my earnest prayer on his and our behalf.”[87]

Testimony such as this warns us not to be too sure that a real transmutation has never taken place. On the whole, with regard to this question, an agnostic position appears to be the more philosophical.

The Genesis of Chemistry.

§ 68. But even if the alchemists did not discover the Grand Arcanum of Nature, they did discover very many scientifically important facts. Even if they did not prepare the Philosopher’s Stone, they did prepare a very large number of new and important chemical compounds. Their labours were the seeds out of which modern Chemistry developed, and this highly important science is rightfully included under the expression “The Outcome of Alchemy.” As we have already pointed out (§ 48), it was the iatro-chemists who first investigated chemical matters with an object other than alchemistic,[90] their especial end in view being the preparation of useful medicines, though the medical-chemist and the alchemist were very often united in the one person, as in the case of Paracelsus himself and the not less famous van Helmont. It was not until still later that Chemistry was recognised as a distinct science separate from medicine.

The Degeneracy of Alchemy.

§ 69. In another direction the Outcome of Alchemy was of a very distressing nature. Alchemy was in many respects eminently suitable as a cloak for fraud, and those who became “alchemists” with the sole object of accumulating much wealth in a short space of time, finding that the legitimate pursuit of the Art did not enable them to realise their expectations in this direction, availed themselves of this fact. There is, indeed, some evidence that the degeneracy of Alchemy had commenced as early as the fourteenth century, but the attainment of the magnum opus was regarded as possible for some three or more centuries.

The alchemistic promises of health, wealth and happiness and a pseudo-mystical style of language were effectively employed by these impostors. Some more or less ingenious tricks—such as the use of hollow stirring-rods, in which the gold was concealed, &c.—convinced a credulous public of the validity of their claims. Of these pseudo-alchemists we have already made the acquaintance of Edward Kelley, but chief of them all is generally accounted the notorious “Count Cagliostro.” That “Cagliostro” is rightfully placed in the category of pseudo-alchemists is certain, but it also appears equally certain that, charlatan though he was, posterity has not always done him[91] that justice which is due to all men, however bad they may be.

“Count Cagliostro”
(—?-1795).

§ 70. Of the birth and early life of the personage calling himself “Count Cagliostro” nothing is known with any degree of certainty, even his true name being enveloped in mystery. It has, indeed, been usual to identify him with the notorious Italian swindler, Giuseppe Balsamo, who, born at Palermo in 1743 (or 1748), apparently disappeared from mortal ken after some thirty years, of which the majority were spent in committing various crimes. “Cagliostro’s” latest biographer,[88] who appears to have gone into the matter very thoroughly, however, throws very grave doubts on the truth of this theory.

PLATE 14.

To face page 92]

If the earlier part of “Cagliostro’s” life is unknown, the latter part is so overlaid with legends and lies, that it is almost impossible to get at the truth concerning it. In 1776 Cagliostro and his wife were in London, where “Cagliostro” became a Freemason, joining a lodge connected with “The Order of Strict Observance,” a secret society incorporated with Freemasonry,[92] and which (on the Continent, at least) was concerned largely with occult subjects. “Cagliostro,” however, was unsatisfied with its rituals and devised a new system which he called Egyptian Masonry. Egyptian Masonry, he taught, was to reform the whole world, and he set out, leaving England for the Continent, to convert Masons and others to his views. We must look for the motive power of his extraordinary career in vanity and a love of mystery-mongering, without any true knowledge of the occult; it is probable, indeed, that ultimately his unbounded vanity triumphed over his reason and that he actually believed in his own pretensions. That he did possess hypnotic and clairvoyant powers is, we think, at least probable; but it is none the less certain that, when such failed him, he had no scruples against employing other means of convincing the credulous of the validity of his claims. This was the case on his visit to Russia, which occurred not long afterwards. At St. Petersburg a youthful medium he was employing, to put the matter briefly, “gave the show away,” and at Warsaw, where he found it necessary to turn alchemist, he was detected in the process of introducing a piece of gold in the crucible containing the base metal he was about to “transmute.” At Strasburg, which he reached in 1780, however, he was more successful. Here he appeared as a miraculous healer of all diseases, though whether his cures are to be ascribed to some simple but efficacious medicine which he had discovered, to hypnotism, to the power of the imagination on the part of his patients, or to the power of imagination on the part of those who have recorded the alleged cures, is a question into which we do not[93] propose to enter. At Strasburg “Cagliostro” came into contact with the Cardinal de Rohan, and a fast friendship sprang up between the two, which, in the end, proved “Cagliostro’s” ruin. The “Count” next visited Bordeaux and Lyons, successfully founding lodges of Egyptian Masonry. From the latter town he proceeded to Paris, where he reached the height of his fame. He became extraordinarily rich, although he is said to have asked, and to have accepted, no fee for his services as a healer. On the other hand, there was a substantial entrance-fee to the mysteries of Egyptian Masonry, which, with its alchemistic promises of health and wealth, prospered exceedingly. At the summit of his career, however, fortune forsook him. As a friend of de Rohan, he was arrested in connection with the Diamond Necklace affair, on the word of the infamous Countess de Lamotte; although, of whatever else he may have been guilty, he was perfectly innocent of this charge. After lying imprisoned in the Bastille for several months, he was tried by the French Parliament, pronounced innocent, and released. Immediately, however, the king banished him, and he left Paris for London, where he seems to have been persistently persecuted by agents of the French king. He returned to the Continent, ultimately reaching Italy, where he was arrested by the Inquisition and condemned to death on the charge of being a Freemason (a dire offence in the eyes of the Roman Catholic Church). The sentence, however, was modified to one of perpetual imprisonment, and he was confined in the Castle of San Leo, where he died in 1795, after four years of imprisonment, in what manner is not known.

[94]

CHAPTER VI
THE AGE OF MODERN CHEMISTRY

The Birth of Modern Chemistry.

§ 71. Chemistry as distinct from Alchemy and Iatro-chemistry commenced with Robert Boyle (see plate 15), who first clearly recognised that its aim is neither the transmutation of the metals nor the preparation of medicines, but the observation and generalisation of a certain class of phenomena; who denied the validity of the alchemistic view of the constitution of matter, and enunciated the definition of an element which has since reigned supreme in Chemistry; and who enriched the science with observations of the utmost importance. Boyle, however, was a man whose ideas were in advance of his times, and intervening between the iatro-chemical period and the Age of Modern Chemistry proper came the period of the Phlogistic Theory—a theory which had a certain affinity with the ideas of the alchemists.

PLATE 15.

PORTRAIT OF ROBERT BOYLE.

To face page 94]

The Phlogiston Theory.

§ 72. The phlogiston theory was mainly due to Georg Ernst Stahl (1660-1734). Becher (1635-1682) had attempted to revive the once universally accepted sulphur-mercury-salt theory of the alchemists in a somewhat modified form, by the assumption that all substances consist of three earths—the[95] combustible, mercurial, and vitreous; and herein is to be found the germ of Stahl’s phlogistic theory. According to Stahl, all combustible bodies (including those metals that change on heating) contain phlogiston, the principle of combustion, which escapes in the form of flame when such substances are burned. According to this theory, therefore, the metals are compounds, since they consist of a metallic calx (what we now call the “oxide” of the metal) combined with phlogiston; and, further, to obtain the metal from the calx it is only necessary to act upon it with some substance rich in phlogiston. Now, coal and charcoal are both almost completely combustible, leaving very little residue; hence, according to this theory, they must consist very largely of phlogiston; and, as a matter of fact, metals can be obtained by heating their calces with either of these substances. Many other facts of a like nature were explicable in terms of the phlogiston theory, and it became exceedingly popular. Chemists at this time did not pay much attention to the balance; it was observed, however, that metals increased in weight on calcination, but this was “explained” on the assumption that phlogiston possessed negative weight. Antoine Lavoisier (1743-1794), utilising Priestley’s discovery of oxygen (called “dephlogisticated air” by its discoverer) and studying the weight relations accompanying combustion, demonstrated the non-validity of the phlogistic theory[89] and proved combustion to be the combination of the substance burnt[96] with a certain constituent of the air, the oxygen. By this time Alchemy was to all intents and purposes defunct, Boerhave (1668-1738) was the last eminent chemist to give any support to its doctrines, and the new chemistry of Lavoisier gave it a final death-blow. We now enter upon the Age of Modern Chemistry, but we shall deal in this chapter with the history of chemical theory only so far as is necessary in pursuance of our primary object, and hence our account will be very far from complete.

Boyle and the Definition of an Element.

§ 73. Robert Boyle (1626-1691) had defined an element as a substance which could not be decomposed, but which could enter into combination with other elements giving compounds capable of decomposition into these original elements. Hence, the metals were classed among the elements, since they had defied all attempts to decompose them. Now, it must be noted that this definition is of a negative character, and, although it is convenient to term “elements” all substances which have so far defied decomposition, it is a matter of impossibility to decide what substances are true elements with absolute certainty; and the possibility, however faint, that gold and other metals are of a compound nature, and hence the possibility of preparing gold from the “base” metals or other substances, must always remain. This uncertainty regarding the elements appears to have generally been recognised by the new school of chemists, but this having been so, it is the more surprising that their criticism of alchemistic art was not less severe.

The Stoichiometric Laws.

§ 74. With the study of the relative weights in[97] which substances combine, certain generalisations or “natural laws” of supreme importance were discovered. These stoichiometric laws, as they are called, are as follows:—

1. “The Law of Constant Proportion”—The same chemical compound always contains the same elements, and there is a constant ratio between the weights of the constituent elements present.

2. “The Law of Multiple Proportions”—If two substances combine chemically in more than one proportion, the weights of the one which combine with a given weight of the other, stand in a simple rational ratio to one another.

3. “The Law of Combining Weights”—Substances combine either in the ratio of their combining numbers, or in simple rational multiples or submultiples of these numbers. (The weights of different substances which combine with a given weight of some particular substance, which is taken as the unit, are called the combining numbers of such substances with reference to this unit. The usual unit now chosen is 8 grammes of Oxygen.)[90]

As examples of these laws we may take the few following simple facts:—

[98]

1. Pure water is found always to consist of oxygen and hydrogen combined in the ratio of 1·008 parts by weight of the latter to 8 parts by weight of the former; and pure sulphur-dioxide, to take another example, is found always to consist of sulphur and oxygen combined in the ratio of 8·02 parts by weight of sulphur to 8 parts by weight of oxygen. (The Law of Constant Proportion.)

2. Another compound is known consisting only of oxygen and hydrogen, which, however, differs entirely in its properties from water. It is found always to consist of oxygen and hydrogen combined in the ratio of 1·008 parts by weight of the latter to 16 parts by weight of the former, i.e., in it a definite weight of hydrogen is combined with an amount of oxygen exactly twice that which is combined with the same weight of hydrogen in water. No definite compound has been discovered with a constitution intermediate between these two. Other compounds consisting only of sulphur and oxygen are also known. One of these (viz., sulphur-trioxide, or sulphuric anhydride) is found always to consist of sulphur and oxygen combined in the ratio of 5·35 parts by weight of sulphur to 8 parts by weight of oxygen. We see, therefore, that the weights of sulphur combined with a definite weight of oxygen in the two compounds called respectively “sulphur-dioxide” and “sulphur-trioxide,” are in the proportion of 8·02 to 5·35, i.e., 3 : 2. Similar simple ratios are obtained in the case of all the other compounds. (The Law of Multiple Proportions.)

3. From the data given in (1) above we can fix the combining number of hydrogen as 1·008, that of[99] sulphur as 8·02. Now, compounds are known containing sulphur and hydrogen, and, in each case, the weight of sulphur combined with 1·008 grammes of hydrogen is found always to be either 8·02 grammes or some multiple or submultiple of this quantity. Thus, in the simplest compound of this sort, containing only hydrogen and sulphur (viz., sulphuretted-hydrogen or hydrogen sulphide), 1·008 grammes of hydrogen is found always to be combined with 16·04 grammes of sulphur, i.e., exactly twice the above quantity. (The Law of Combining Weights.)

Berthollet (1748-1822) denied the truth of the law of constant proportion, and a controversy ensued between this chemist and Proust (1755-1826), who undertook a research to settle the question, the results of which were in entire agreement with the law, and were regarded as completely substantiating it.

PLATE 16.

[by Worthington, after Allen]

PORTRAIT OF JOHN DALTON.]

To face page 100]

Dalton’s Atomic Theory.

§ 75. At the beginning of the nineteenth century, John Dalton (see plate 15) put forward his Atomic Theory in explanation of these facts. This theory assumes (1) that all matter is made up of small indivisible and indestructible particles, called “atoms”; (2) that all atoms are not alike, there being as many different sorts of atoms as there are elements; (3) that the atoms constituting any one element are exactly alike and are of definite weight; and (4) that compounds are produced by the combination of different atoms. Now, it is at once evident that if matter be so constituted, the stoichiometric laws must necessarily follow. For the smallest particle of any definite compound (now called a “molecule”) must consist of a definite assemblage of different atoms, and these[100] atoms are of definite weight: whence the law of constant proportion. One atom of one substance may combine with 1, 2, 3 . . . atoms of some other substance, but it cannot combine with some fractional part of an atom, since the atoms are indivisible: whence the law of multiple proportions. And these laws holding good, and the atoms being of definite weight, the law of combining weights necessarily follows. Dalton’s Atomic Theory gave a simple and intelligible explanation of these remarkable facts regarding the weights of substances entering into chemical combination, and, therefore, gained universal acceptance. But throughout the history of Chemistry can be discerned a spirit of revolt against it as an explanation of the absolute constitution of matter. The tendency of scientific philosophy has always been towards Monism as opposed to Dualism, and here were not merely two eternals, but several dozen; Dalton’s theory denied the unity of the Cosmos, it lacked the unifying principle of the alchemists. It is only in recent times that it has been recognised that a scientific hypothesis may be very useful without being altogether true. As to the usefulness of Dalton’s theory there can be no question; it has accomplished that which no other hypothesis could have done; it rendered the concepts of a chemical element, a chemical compound and a chemical reaction definite; and has, in a sense, led to the majority of the discoveries in the domain of Chemistry that have been made since its enunciation. But as an expression of absolute truth, Dalton’s theory, as is very generally recognised nowadays, fails to be satisfactory. In the past, however, it has been the philosophers of the materialistic school of thought,[101] rather than the chemists quâ chemists, who have insisted on the absolute truth of the Atomic Theory; Kekulé, who by developing Franklin’s theory of atomicity or valency[91] made still more definite the atomic view of matter, himself expressed grave doubts as to the absolute truth of Dalton’s theory; but he regarded it as chemically true, and thus voices what appears to be the opinion of the majority of chemists nowadays, namely, there are such things as chemical atoms and chemical elements, incapable of being decomposed by purely chemical means, but that such are not absolute atoms or absolute elements, and[102] consequently not impervious to all forms of action. But of this more will be said later.

The Determination of the Atomic Weights of the Elements.

§ 76. With the acceptance of Dalton’s Atomic Theory, it became necessary to determine the atomic weights of the various elements, i.e., not the absolute atomic weights, but the relative weights of the various atoms with reference to one of them as unit.[92] We cannot in this place enter upon a discussion of the various difficulties, both of an experimental and theoretical nature, which were involved in this problem, save to remark that the correct atomic weights could be arrived at only with the acceptance of Avogadro’s Hypothesis. This hypothesis, which is to the effect that equal volumes of different gases measured at the same temperature and pressure contain an equal number of gaseous molecules, was put forward in explanation of a number of facts connected with the physical behaviour of gases; but its importance was for some time unrecognised, owing to the fact that the distinction between atoms and molecules was not yet clearly drawn. A list of those chemical substances at present recognised as “elements,” together with their atomic weights, will be found on pp. 106, 107.

Prout’s Hypothesis.

§ 77. It was observed by a chemist of the name of Prout, that, the atomic weight of hydrogen being taken[103] as the unit, the atomic weights of nearly all the elements approximated to whole numbers; and in 1815 he suggested as the reason for this regularity, that all the elements consist solely of hydrogen. Prout’s Hypothesis received on the whole a very favourable reception; it harmonised Dalton’s Theory with the grand concept of the unity of matter—all matter was hydrogen in essence; and Thomas Thomson undertook a research to demonstrate its truth. On the other hand, however, the eminent Swedish chemist, Berzelius, who had carried out many atomic weight determinations, criticised both Prout’s Hypothesis and Thomson’s research (which latter, it is true, was worthless) in most severe terms; for the hypothesis amounted to this—that the decimals in the atomic weights obtained experimentally by Berzelius, after so much labour, were to be regarded as so many errors. In 1844, Marignac suggested half the hydrogen atom as the unit, for the element chlorine, with an atomic weight of 35·5, would not fit in with Prout’s Hypothesis as originally formulated; and later, Dumas suggested one-quarter. With this theoretical division of the hydrogen-atom, the hypothesis lost its simplicity and charm, and was doomed to downfall. Recent and most accurate atomic weight determinations show clearly that the atomic weights are not exactly whole numbers, but that, nevertheless, the majority of them (if expressed in terms of O = 16 as the unit) do approximate very closely to such. The Hon. R. J. Strutt has recently calculated that the probability of this occurring, in the case of certain of the commoner elements, by mere chance is exceedingly small (about 1 in[104] 1,000),[93] and several attempts to explain this remarkable fact have been put forward. Modern scientific speculations concerning the constitution of atoms tend towards a modified form of Prout’s hypothesis, or to the view that the atoms of other elements are, in a manner, polymerides of hydrogen and helium atoms. As has been pointed out, it is possible, according to modern views, for elements of different atomic weight to have identical chemical properties, since these latter depend only upon the number of free electrons in the atom and not at all upon the massive central nucleus. By a method somewhat similar to that used for determining the mass of kathode particles (see § 79), but applied to positively charged particles, Sir Joseph Thomson and Dr. F. W. Aston discovered that the element neon was a mixture of two isotopic elements in unequal proportions, one having an atomic mass of 20, the other (present only to a slight extent) having an atomic mass of 22. Dr. Aston has perfected this method of analysing mixtures of isotopes and determining their atomic masses.[94] The results are of great interest. The atomic weight of hydrogen, 1·008, is confirmed. The elements helium, carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, fluorine, phosphorus, sulphur, arsenic, iodine and sodium are found to be simple bodies with whole-number atomic weights. On the other hand, boron, neon, silicon, chlorine, bromine, krypton, xenon,[105] mercury, lithium, potassium and rubidium are found to be mixtures. What is specially of interest is that the indicated atomic mass of each of the constituents is a whole number. Thus chlorine, whose atomic weight is 35·46, is found to be a mixture of two chemically-identical elements whose atomic weights are 35 and 37. Some of the elements, e.g., xenon, are mixtures of more than two isotopes.

It is highly probable that what is true of the elements investigated by Dr. Aston is true of the remainder. It appears, therefore, that the irregularities presented by the atomic weights of the ordinary elements, which have so much puzzled men of science in the past, are due to the fact that these elements are, in many cases, mixtures. As concerns hydrogen, it is only reasonable to suppose that the close packing of electrically charged particles should give rise to a slight decrease in their total mass, so that the atomic weights of other elements referred to H = 1 should be slightly less than whole numbers, or, what is the same thing, that the atomic weight of hydrogen referred to O = 16 should be slightly more than unity.

The “Periodic Law.”

§ 78. A remarkable property of the atomic weights was discovered, in the sixties, independently by Lothar Meyer and Mendeléeff. They found that the elements could be arranged in rows in the order of their atomic weights so that similar elements would be found in the same columns. A modernised form of the Periodic Table will be found on pp. 106, 107. It will be noticed, for example, that the “alkali” metals, Lithium, Sodium, Rubidium and Cæsium, which resemble one another very closely, fall in Column 1; the “alkaline earth” metals occur together in Column 2; though in each case these are accompanied by certain elements with somewhat different properties. Much the same holds good in the case of the other columns of this Table; there is manifested a remarkable regularity, with certain still more remarkable divergences (see notes appended to Table on pp. 106, 107). This regularity exhibited by the “elements” is of considerable importance, since it shows that, in general, the properties of the “elements” are periodic functions of their atomic weights; and, together with certain other remarkable properties of the “elements,” distinguishes them sharply from the “compounds.” It may be concluded with tolerable certainty, therefore, that if the “elements” are in reality of a compound nature, they are all, in general, compounds of a like nature distinct from that of other compounds.

[106-
107]

THE PERIODIC TABLE OF THE CHEMICAL ELEMENTS.

NOTES.

There are several somewhat different forms of this Periodic Table. This is one of the simplest, but it lacks certain advantages of some of the more complicated forms. The atomic weights given are those of the International Atomic Weights Committee for 1920-1. They are calculated on the basis, Oxygen = 16. The number of decimal places given in each case indicates the degree of accuracy with which each atomic weight has been determined. The letter or letters underneath the name of each element is the symbol by which it is invariably designated by chemists.

The number above each column indicates the valency which the elements of each group exhibit towards oxygen. Many of the elements are exceptional in this respect.

a: The exact position of Hydrogen is in dispute.

b: The positions of Argon and Potassium have been inverted in order that these elements may fall in the right columns with the elements they resemble; d: so also have the positions of Tellurium and Iodine.

c: The whole of “Group 8” forms an exception to the Table.

e: There are a number of ill-defined rare earth metals with atomic weights lying between those of Cerium and Tantalum. They all appear to resemble the elements of “Group 3,” so that their positions in the Table cannot be decided with accuracy.

[108]

It is now some years since the late Sir William Crookes attempted to explain the periodicity of the properties of the elements on the theory that they have all been evolved by a conglomerating process from some primal stuff—the protyle—consisting of very small particles. He represented the action of this generative cause by means of a “figure of eight” spiral, along which the elements are placed at regular intervals, so that similar elements come underneath one another, as in Mendeléeff’s table, though the grouping differs in some respects. The slope of the curve is supposed to represent the decline of some factor (e.g., temperature) conditioning the process, which process is assumed to be of a recurrent nature, like the swing of a pendulum. After the completion of one swing[109] (to keep to the illustration of a pendulum) whereby one series of elements is produced, owing to the decline of the above-mentioned factor, the same series of elements is not again the result as would otherwise be the case, but a somewhat different series is produced, each member of which resembles the corresponding member of the former series. Thus, if the first series contains, for example, helium, lithium, carbon, &c., the second series will contain instead, argon, potassium, titanium, &c. The whole theory, though highly interesting, is, however, by no means free from defects.

The Corpuscular Theory of Matter.

§ 79. We must now turn our attention to those recent views of the constitution of matter which originated to a great extent in the investigations of the passage of electricity through gases at very low pressures. It will be possible, however, on the present occasion, to give only the very briefest account of the subject; but a fuller treatment is rendered unnecessary by the fact that these and allied investigations and the theories to which they have given rise have been fully treated in several well-known works, by various authorities on the subject, which have appeared during the last few years.[95]

When an electrical discharge is passed through a high-vacuum tube, invisible rays are emitted from the kathode, generally with the production of a greenish-yellow[110] fluorescence where they strike the glass walls of the tube. These rays are called “kathode rays.” At one time they were regarded as waves in the ether, but it was shown by Sir William Crookes that they consist of small electrically charged particles, moving with a very high velocity. Sir J. J. Thomson was able to determine the ratio of the charge carried by these particles to their mass or inertia; he found that this ratio was constant whatever gas was contained in the vacuum tube, and much greater than the corresponding ratio for the hydrogen ion (electrically charged hydrogen atom) in electrolysis. By a skilful method, based on the fact discovered by Mr. C. T. R. Wilson, that charged particles can serve as nuclei for the condensation of water-vapour, he was further able to determine the value of the electrical charge carried by these particles, which was found to be constant also, and equal to the charge carried by univalent ions, e.g., hydrogen, in electrolysis. Hence, it follows that the mass of these kathode particles must be much smaller than the hydrogen ion, the actual ratio being about 1 : 1700. The first theory put forward by Sir J. J. Thomson in explanation of these facts, was that these kathode particles (“corpuscles” as he termed them) were electrically charged portions of matter, much smaller than the smallest atom; and since the same sort of corpuscle is obtained whatever gas is contained in the vacuum tube, it is reasonable to conclude that the corpuscle is the common unit of all matter.

Proof that the Electrons are not Matter.

§ 80. This eminent physicist, however, had shown mathematically that a charged particle moving with a very high velocity (approaching that of light)[111] would exhibit an appreciable increase in mass or inertia due to the charge, the magnitude of such inertia depending on the velocity of the particle. This was experimentally verified by Kaufmann, who determined the velocities, and the ratios between the electrical charge and the inertia, of various kathode particles and similar particles which are emitted by compounds of radium (see §§ 89 and 90). Sir J. J. Thomson calculated these values on the assumption that the inertia of such particles is entirely of electrical origin, and thereby obtained values in remarkable agreement with the experimental. There is, therefore, no reason for supposing the corpuscle to be matter at all; indeed, if it were, the above agreement would not be obtained. As Professor Jones says: “Since we know things only by their properties, and since all the properties of the corpuscle are accounted for by the electrical charge associated with it, why assume that the corpuscle contains anything but the electrical charge? It is obvious that there is no reason for doing so.

“The corpuscle is, then, nothing but a disembodied electrical charge, containing nothing material, as we have been accustomed to use that term. It is electricity, and nothing but electricity. With this new conception a new term was introduced, and, now, instead of speaking of the corpuscle we speak of the electron.”[96] Applying this modification to the above view of the constitution of matter, we have what is called “the electronic theory,” namely, that the[112] material atoms consist of electrons, or units of electricity in rapid motion; which amounts to this—that matter is simply an electrical phenomenon.

The Electronic Theory of Matter.

§ 81. Sir J. J. Thomson has elaborated this theory of the nature and constitution of matter; he has shown what systems of electrons would be stable, and has attempted to find therein the significance of Mendeléeff’s generalisation and the explanation of valency. There can be no doubt that there is a considerable element of truth in the electronic theory of matter; the one characteristic property of matter, i.e., inertia, can be accounted for electrically. The fundamental difficulty is that the electrons are units of negative electricity, whereas matter is electrically neutral. Several theories have been put forward to surmount this difficulty. Certainly the electron is a constituent of matter; but is it the sole constituent? Recent research indicates that, as already pointed out, all atoms consist of two distinct portions, a massive central nucleus, whose net charge is positive, surrounded by a number of electrons, just sufficient to neutralize this charge. The point of greatest interest is that the indicated number of free electrons is exactly the number which expresses the position of the element in the Periodic Table, reckoning helium as 2, lithium as 3, and so on; and it would seem that the chemical properties of the elements are determined entirely by these electrons, and are, therefore, not, strictly speaking, periodic functions of their atomic weights, as was formerly thought (§ 78), but of their atomic numbers. The exact nature of the nuclei of the various atoms has yet to be[113] determined: in the case of the atoms heavier than helium they would appear to be made up of the nuclei of hydrogen and (or) helium atoms together with—in many cases—electrons insufficient in number to neutralize the positive charges associated with these.

The Etheric Theory of Matter.

§ 82. The analysis of matter has been carried a step further. A philosophical view of the Cosmos involves the assumption of an absolutely continuous and homogeneous medium filling all space, for an absolute vacuum is unthinkable, and if it were supposed that the stuff filling all space is of an atomic structure, the question arises, What occupies the interstices between its atoms? This ubiquitous medium is termed by the scientists of to-day “the Ether of Space.” Moreover, such a medium as the Ether is demanded by the phenomena of light. It appears, however, that the ether of space has another and a still more important function than the transmission of light: the idea that matter has its explanation therein has been developed by Sir Oliver Lodge. The evidence certainly points to the conclusion that matter is some sort of singularity in the ether, probably a stress centre. We have been too much accustomed to think of the ether as something excessively light and quite the reverse of massive or dense, in which it appears we have been wrong. Sir Oliver Lodge calculates that the density of the ether is far greater than that of the most dense forms of matter; not that matter is to be thought of as a rarefaction of the ether, for the ether within matter is as dense as that without. What we call matter, however, is not a continuous substance; it consists,[114] rather, of a number of widely separated particles, whence its comparatively small density compared with the perfectly continuous ether. Further, if there is a difficulty in conceiving how a perfect fluid like the ether can give rise to a solid body possessed of such properties as rigidity, impenetrability and elasticity, we must remember that all these properties can be produced by means of motion. A jet of water moving with a sufficient velocity behaves like a rigid and impenetrable solid, whilst a revolving disc of paper exhibits elasticity and can act as a circular saw.[97] It appears, therefore, that the ancient doctrine of the alchemistic essence is fundamentally true after all, that out of the “One Thing” all material things have been produced by adaptation or modification; and, as we have already noticed (§ 60), there also appears to be some resemblance between the concept of the electron and that of the seed of gold, which seed, it should be borne in mind, was regarded by the alchemists as the common seed of all metals.

Further Evidence of the Complexity of the Atoms.

§ 83. There are also certain other facts which appear to demand such a modification of Dalton’s Atomic Theory as is found in the Electronic Theory. One of the characteristics of the chemical elements is that each one gives a spectrum peculiar to itself. The spectrum of an element must, therefore, be due to its atoms, which in some way are able, at a sufficiently high temperature, to act upon the ether so as to produce vibrations of definite and characteristic wave-length. Now, in many cases the number of lines of definite wave-length[115] observed in such a spectrum is considerable, for example, hundreds of different lines have been observed in the arc-spectrum of iron. But it is incredible that an atom, if it were a simple unit, would give rise to such a number of different and definite vibrations, and the only reasonable conclusion is that the atoms must be complex in structure. We may here mention that spectroscopic examination of various heavenly bodies leads to the conclusion that there is some process of evolution at work building up complex elements from simpler ones, since the hottest nebulæ appear to consist of but a few simple elements, whilst cooler bodies exhibit a greater complexity.

Views of Wald and Ostwald.

§ 84. Such modifications of the atomic theory as those we have briefly discussed above, although profoundly modifying, and, indeed, controverting the philosophical significance of Dalton’s theory as originally formulated, leave its chemical significance practically unchanged. The atoms can be regarded no longer as the eternal, indissoluble gods of Nature that they were once supposed to be; thus, Materialism is deprived of what was thought to be its scientific basis.[98] But the science of Chemistry is unaffected thereby; the atoms are not the ultimate units out of which material things are built, but the atoms cannot be decomposed by purely chemical means; the “elements” are not truly elemental, but they are chemical elements. However, the atomic theory has been subjected to a far more searching criticism. Wald argues that substances obey the law of definite[116] proportions because of the way in which they are prepared; chemists refuse, he says, to admit any substance as a definite chemical compound unless it does obey this law. Wald’s opinions have been supported by Professor Ostwald, who has attempted to deduce the other stoichiometric laws on these grounds without assuming any atomic hypothesis[99]; but these new ideas do not appear to have gained the approval of chemists in general. It is not to be supposed that chemists will give up without a struggle a mental tool of such great utility as Dalton’s theory, in spite of its defects, has proved itself to be. There does seem, however, to be logic in the arguments of Wald and Ostwald, but the trend of recent scientific theory and research does not appear to be in the direction of Wald’s views. Certainly, however, it appears that, on the one hand, the atomic theory is not necessitated by the so-called “stoichiometric laws”; but, on the other hand, a molecular constitution of matter seems to be demanded by the phenomenon known as the “Brownian Movement,” i.e., the spontaneous, irregular and apparently perpetual movement of microscopic portions of solid matter when immersed in a liquid medium; such movement appearing to be explicable only as the result of the motion of the molecules of which the liquid in question is built up.[100]

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CHAPTER VII
MODERN ALCHEMY

“Modern Alchemy.”

§ 85. Correctly speaking, there is no such thing as “Modern Alchemy”; not that Mysticism is dead, or that men no longer seek to apply the principles of Mysticism to phenomena on the physical plane, but they do so after another manner from that of the alchemists. A new science, however, is born amongst us, closely related on the one hand to Chemistry, on the other to Physics, but dealing with changes more profound and reactions more deeply seated than are dealt with by either of these; a science as yet without a name, unless it be the not altogether satisfactory one of “Radioactivity.” It is this science, or, perhaps we should say, a certain aspect of it, to which we refer (it may be fantastically) by the expression “Modern Alchemy”: the aptness of the title we hope to make plain in the course of the present chapter.

X-rays and Becquerel rays.

§ 86. As is commonly known, what are called X-rays are produced when an electric discharge is passed through a high-vacuum tube. It has been shown that these rays are a series of irregular pulses in the ether, which are set up when the kathode particles strike the walls of the glass vacuum[118] tube,[101] and it was found that more powerful effects can be produced by inserting a disc of platinum in the path of the kathode particles. It was M. Becquerel who first discovered that there are substances which naturally emit radiations similar to X-rays. He found that uranium compounds affected a photographic plate from which they were carefully screened, and he also showed that these uranium radiations, or “Becquerel rays,” resemble X-rays in other particulars. It was already known that certain substances fluoresce (emit light) in the dark after having been exposed to sunlight, and it was thought at first that the above phenomenon exhibited by uranium salts was of a like nature, since certain uranium salts are fluorescent; but M. Becquerel found that uranium salts which had never been exposed to sunlight were still capable of affecting a photographic plate, and that this remarkable property was possessed by all uranium salts, whether fluorescent or not. This phenomenon is known as “radioactivity,” and bodies which exhibit it are said to be “radioactive.” Schmidt found that thorium compounds possess a similar property, and Professor Rutherford showed that thorium compounds evolved also something resembling a gas. He called this an “emanation.”

The Discovery of Radium.

§ 87. Mme. Curie[102] determined the radioactivity of many uranium and thorium compounds, and found that there was a proportion between the radioactivity[119] of such compounds and the quantity of uranium or thorium in them, with the remarkable exception of certain natural ores, which had a radioactivity much in excess of the normal, and, indeed, in certain cases, much greater than pure uranium. In order to throw some light on this matter, Mme. Curie prepared one of these ores by a chemical process and found that it possessed a normal radioactivity. The only logical conclusion to be drawn from these facts was that the ores in question must contain some unknown, highly radioactive substance, and the Curies were able, after very considerable labour, to extract from pitchblende (the ore with the greatest radioactivity) minute quantities of the salts of two new elements—which they named “Polonium” and “Radium” respectively—both of which were extremely radioactive.

M. Debierne has obtained a third radioactive substance from pitchblende, which he has called “Actinium.”

Chemical Properties of Radium.

§ 88. Radium is an element resembling calcium, strontium, and barium in chemical properties; its atomic weight was determined by Mme. Curie, and found to be about 225, according to her first experiments; a redetermination gave a slightly higher value, which has been confirmed by a further investigation carried out by Sir T. E. Thorpe.[103] Radium gives a[120] characteristic spectrum, and is intensely radioactive. It should be noted that up to the middle of the year 1910 the element radium itself had not been prepared; in all the experiments carried out radium salts were employed (i.e., certain compounds of radium with other elements), generally radium chloride and radium bromide. In that year, however, Mme. Curie, in conjunction with M. Debierne, obtained the free metal. It is described as a white, shining metal resembling the other alkaline earth metals. It reacts very violently with water, chars paper with which it is allowed to come in contact, and blackens in the air, probably owing to the formation of a nitride. It fuses at 700° C., and is more volatile than barium.[104]

The Radioactivity of Radium.

§ 89. Radium salts give off three distinct sorts of rays, referred to by the Greek letters α, β, γ. The α-rays have been shown to consist of electrically charged (positive) particles, with a mass approximately equal to that of four hydrogen atoms; they are slightly deviated by a magnetic field, and do not possess great penetrative power. The β-rays are similar to the kathode rays, and consist of (negative) electrons; they are strongly deviated by a magnetic field, in a direction opposite to that in which the α-particles are deviated, and possess medium penetrative power, passing for the most part through a thin sheet of metal. The γ-rays resemble X-rays; they possess[121] great penetrative power, and are not deviated by a magnetic field. The difference in the effect of the magnetic field on these rays, and the difference in their penetrative power, led to their detection and allows of their separate examination. Radium salts emit also an emanation, which tends to become occluded in the solid salt, but can be conveniently liberated by dissolving the salt in water, or by heating it. The emanation exhibits the characteristic properties of a gas, it obeys Boyle’s Law (i.e., its volume varies inversely with its pressure), and it can be condensed to a liquid at low temperatures; its density as determined by the diffusion method is about 100. Attempts to prepare chemical compounds of the emanation have failed, and in this respect it resembles the rare gases of the atmosphere—helium, neon, argon, krypton, and xenon—whence it is probable that its molecules are monatomic, so that a density of 100 would give its atomic weight as 200.[105] As can be seen from the table on pp. 106, 107, an atomic weight of about 220 corresponds to a position in the column containing the rare gases in the periodic system. That the emanation actually has an atomic weight of these dimensions was confirmed by further experiments carried out by the late Sir William Ramsay and Dr. R. W. Gray.[106] These chemists determined the density of the emanation by actually weighing minute quantities of known volume of the substance, sealed up in small capillary tubes, a specially sensitive[122] balance being employed. Values for the density varying from 108 to 113¹⁄₂, corresponding to values for the atomic weight varying from 216 to 227, were thereby obtained. Sir William Ramsay, therefore, considered that there could no longer be any doubt that the emanation was one of the elements of the group of chemically inert gases. He proposed to call it Niton, and, for reasons which we shall note later, considered that in all probability it had an atomic weight of about 222¹⁄₂.

The Disintegration of the Radium Atom.

§ 90. Radium salts possess another very remarkable property, namely, that of continuously emitting light and heat. It seemed, at first, that here was a startling contradiction to the law of the conservation of energy, but the whole mystery becomes comparatively clear in terms of the corpuscular or the electronic theory of matter. The radium-atom is a system of a large number (see § 81) of corpuscles or electrons, and contains in virtue of their motion an enormous amount of energy. But it is known from Chemistry that atomic systems (i.e., molecules) which contain very much energy are unstable and liable to explode. The same law holds good on the more interior plane—the radium-atom is liable to, and actually does, explode. And the result? Energy is set free, and manifests itself partly as heat and light. Some free electrons are shot off (the β-rays), which, striking the undecomposed particles of salt, give rise to pulses in the ether (the γ-rays),[107] just as the kathode particles give rise to X-rays when they[123] strike the walls of the vacuum tube or a platinum disc placed in their path. The β- and γ-rays do not, however, result immediately from the exploding radium-atoms, the initial products being the emanation and one α-particle from each radium-atom destroyed.

“Induced Radioactivity.”

§ 91. Radium salts have the property of causing surrounding objects to become temporally radioactive. This “induced radioactivity,” as it may be called, is found to be due to the emanation, which is itself radioactive (it emits α-rays only), and is decomposed into minute traces of solid radioactive deposits. By examining the rate of decay of the activity of the deposit, it has been found that it is undergoing a series of sub-atomic changes, the products being termed Radium A, B, C, &c. It has been proved that all the β- and γ-rays emitted by radium salts are really due to certain of these secondary products. Radium F is thought to be identical with Polonium (§ 87). Another product is also obtained by these decompositions, with which we shall deal later (§ 94).

Properties of Uranium and Thorium.

§ 92. Uranium and thorium differ in one important respect from radium, inasmuch as the first product of the decomposition of the uranium and thorium atoms is in both cases solid. Sir William Crookes[108] was able to separate from uranium salts by chemical means a small quantity of an intensely radioactive substance, which he called Uranium X, the residual uranium having lost most of its activity; and M.[124] Becquerel, on repeating the experiment, found that the activity of the residual uranium was slowly regained, whilst that of the uranium X decayed. This is most simply explained by the theory that uranium first changes into uranium X. It has been suggested that radium may be the final product of the breaking up of the uranium-atom; at any rate, it is quite certain that radium must be evolved in some way, as otherwise there would be none in existence—it would all have decomposed. This suggestion has been experimentally confirmed, the growth of radium in large quantities of a solution of purified uranyl nitrate having been observed. Uranium gives no emanation. Thorium probably gives at least three solid products—Meso-thorium, Radio-thorium, and Thorium X, the last of which yields an emanation resembling that obtained from radium, but not identical with it.

The Radium Emanation.

§ 93. We must now more fully consider the radium emanation—a substance with more astounding properties than even the radium compounds themselves. By distilling off the emanation from some radium bromide, and measuring the quantities of heat given off by the emanation and the radium salt respectively, Professors Rutherford and Barnes[109] proved that nearly three-fourths of the total amount of heat given out by a radium salt comes from the minute quantity of emanation that it contains. The amount of energy liberated as heat during the decay of the emanation is enormous; one cubic centimetre liberates about four[125] million times as much heat as is obtained by the combustion of an equal volume of hydrogen. Undoubtedly this must indicate some profound change, and one may well ask, What is the ultimate product of the decomposition of the emanation?

The Production of Helium from Radium.

§ 94. It had been observed already that the radioactive minerals on heating give off Helium—a gaseous element, characterised by a particular yellow line in its spectrum—and it seemed not unlikely that helium might be the ultimate decomposition product of the emanation. A research to settle this point was undertaken by Sir William Ramsay and Mr. Soddy,[110] and a preliminary experiment having confirmed the above speculation, they carried out further very careful experiments. “The maximum amount of the emanation obtained from 50 milligrams of radium bromide was conveyed by means of oxygen into a U-tube cooled in liquid air, and the latter was then extracted by the pump.” The spectrum was observed; it “was apparently a new one, probably that of the emanation itself. . . . After standing from July 17 to 21 the helium spectrum appeared, and the characteristic lines were observed.” Sir William Ramsay performed a further experiment with a similar result, in which the radium salt had been first of all heated in a vacuum for some time, proving that the helium obtained could not have been occluded in it; though the fact that the helium spectrum did not immediately appear, in itself[126] proves this point. Sir William Ramsay’s results were confirmed by further careful experiments by Sir James Dewar and other chemists. It was suggested, therefore, that the α-particle consists of an electrically charged helium-atom, and not only is this view in agreement with the value of the mass of this particle as determined experimentally, but it has been completely demonstrated by Professor Rutherford and Mr. Royds. These chemists performed an experiment in which the emanation from about one-seventh of a gramme of radium was enclosed in a thin-walled tube, through the walls of which the α-particles could pass, but which were impervious to gases. This tube was surrounded by an outer jacket, which was evacuated. After a time the presence of helium in the space between the inner tube and the outer jacket was observed spectroscopically.[111] Now, the emanation-atom results from the radium-atom by the expulsion of one α-particle; and since this latter consists of an electrically charged helium-atom, it follows that the emanation must have an atomic weight of 226 – 4, i.e., 222. This value is in agreement with Sir William Ramsay’s determination of the density of the emanation. We may represent the degradation of the radium-atom, therefore, by the following scheme:—

[127]

Nature of this Change.

§ 95. Here, then, for the first time in the history of Chemistry, we have the undoubted formation of one chemical element from another, for, leaving out of the question the nature of the emanation, there can be no doubt that radium is a chemical element. This is a point which must be insisted upon, for it has been suggested that radium may be a compound of helium with some unknown element; or, perhaps, a compound of helium with lead, since it has been shown that lead is probably one of the end products of the decomposition of radium. The following considerations, however, show this view to be altogether untenable: (i.) All attempts to prepare compounds of helium with other elements have failed. (ii.) Radium possesses all the properties of a chemical element; it has a characteristic spectrum, and falls in that column in the Periodic Table with those elements which it resembles as to its chemical properties. (iii.) The quantity of heat liberated on the decomposition of the emanation is, as we have already indicated, out of all proportion to that obtained even in the most violent chemical reactions; and (iv.) one very important fact has been observed, namely, that the rate of decay of the emanation is unaffected by even extreme changes of temperature, whereas chemical actions are always affected in rate by changes of temperature. It will also be advisable, perhaps, to indicate some of the differences between helium and the emanation. The latter is a heavy gas, condensable to a liquid by liquid air (recently it has been solidified[112]); whereas helium[128] is the lightest of all known gases with the exception of hydrogen and has been liquefied only by the most persistent effort.[113] The emanation, moreover, is radioactive, giving off α-particles, whereas helium does not possess this property.

Is this Change a true Transmutation?

§ 96. It has been pointed out, however, that (in a sense) this change (viz., of emanation into helium) is not quite what has been meant by the expression “transmutation of the elements”; for the reason that it is a spontaneous change; no effort of ours can bring it about or cause it to cease.[114] But the fact of the change does go to prove that the chemical elements are not the discrete units of matter that they were supposed to be. And since it appears that all matter is radioactive, although (save in these exceptional cases) in a very slight degree,[115] we here have evidence of a process of evolution at work among the chemical elements. The chemical elements are not permanent; they are all undergoing change; and the common elements merely mark those points where the rate of the evolutionary process is at its slowest. (See also §§ 78 and 83.) Thus, the essential truth in the old alchemistic doctrine of the growth of metals is vindicated, for the metals do grow in the womb of Nature, although the process may be far[129] slower than appears to have been imagined by certain of the alchemists,[116] and although gold may not be the end product. As writes Professor Sir W. Tilden: “. . . It appears that modern ideas as to the genesis of the elements, and hence of all matter, stand in strong contrast with those which chiefly prevailed among experimental philosophers from the time of Newton, and seem to reflect in an altered form the speculative views of the ancients.” “. . . It seems probable,” he adds, “that the chemical elements, and hence all material substances of which the earth, the sea, the air, and the host of heavenly bodies are all composed, resulted from a change, corresponding to condensation, in something of which we have no direct and intimate knowledge. Some have imagined this primal essence of all things to be identical with the ether of space. As yet we know nothing with certainty, but it is thought that by means of the spectroscope some stages of the operation may be seen in progress in the nebulæ and stars. . . .”[117] We have[130] next to consider whether there is any experimental evidence showing it to be possible (using the phraseology of the alchemists) for man to assist in Nature’s work.

The Production of Neon from Emanation.

§ 97. As we have already indicated above (§ 93), the radium emanation contains a vast store of potential energy, and it was with the idea of utilising this energy for bringing about chemical changes that Sir William Ramsay[118] undertook a research on the chemical action of this substance—a research with the most surprising and the most interesting results, for the energy contained within the radium emanation appeared to behave like a veritable Philosopher’s Stone. The first experiments were carried out on distilled water. It had already been observed that the emanation decomposes water into its gaseous elements, oxygen and hydrogen, and that the latter is always produced in excess. These results were confirmed and the presence of hydrogen peroxide was detected, explaining the formation of an excess of hydrogen; it was also shown that the emanation brings about the reverse change to some extent, causing oxygen and hydrogen to unite with the production of water, until a position of equilibrium is[131] attained. On examining spectroscopically the gas obtained by the action of the emanation on water, after the removal of the ordinary gases, a most surprising result was observed—the gas showed a brilliant spectrum of neon, accompanied with some faint helium lines. A more careful experiment was carried out later by Sir William Ramsay and Mr. Cameron, in which a silica bulb was employed instead of glass. The spectrum of the residual gas after removing ordinary gases was successfully photographed, and a large number of the neon lines identified; helium was also present. The presence of neon could not be explained, in Ramsay’s opinion, by leakage of air into the apparatus, as the percentage of neon in the air is not sufficiently high, whereas this suggestion might be put forward in the case of argon. Moreover, the neon could not have come from the aluminium of the electrodes (in which it might be thought to have been occluded), as the sparking tube had been used and tested before the experiment was carried out. The authors conclude: “We must regard the transformation of emanation into neon, in presence of water, as indisputably proved, and, if a transmutation be defined as a transformation brought about at will, by change of conditions, then this is the first case of transmutation of which conclusive evidence is put forward.”[119] However, Professor Rutherford and Mr. Royds have been unable to confirm this result. They describe[120] attempts to obtain neon by the action of emanation[132] on water. Out of five experiments no neon was obtained, save in one case in which a small air leak was discovered; and, since the authors find that very minute quantities of this gas are sufficient to give a clearly visible spectrum, they conclude that Ramsay’s positive results are due, after all, to leakage of air into the apparatus. But if this is the true explanation of Ramsay’s results, it is difficult to understand why, in the case of the experiment with a solution of a copper salt described below, the presence of neon was not detected, for, if due to leakage, the proportions of the rare gases present should presumably have been the same in all the experiments. Further research seems necessary conclusively to settle the question.

Ramsay’s Experiments on Copper.

§ 98. The fact that an excess of hydrogen was produced when water was decomposed by the emanation suggested to Sir William Ramsay and Mr. Cameron that if a solution of a metallic salt was employed in place of pure water, the free metal might be obtained. These “modern alchemists,” therefore, proceeded to investigate the action of radium emanation on solutions of copper and lead salts, and again apparently effected transmutations. They found on removing the copper from a solution of a copper-salt which had been subjected to the action of the emanation, and spectroscopically examining the residue, that a considerable quantity of sodium was present, together with traces of lithium; and the gas evolved in the case of a solution of copper nitrate contained, along with much nitric oxide and a little nitrogen, argon (which was detected spectroscopically), but no helium. It certainly seemed like a dual transformation of[133] copper into lithium and sodium, and emanation into argon. They also observed that apparently carbon-dioxide is continually evolved from an acid solution of thorium nitrate (see below, § 100). It is worth while noticing that helium, neon and argon occur in the same column in the Periodic Table with emanation; lithium and sodium with copper, and carbon with thorium; in each case the elements produced being of lighter atomic weight than those decomposed.[121] The authors make the following suggestions: “(1) That helium and the α-particle are not identical; (2) that helium results from the ‘degradation’ of the large molecule of emanation by its bombardment with α-particles; (3) that this ‘degradation,’ when the emanation is alone or mixed with oxygen and hydrogen, results in the lowest member of the inactive series, namely, helium; (4) that if particles of greater mass than hydrogen or oxygen are associated with the emanation, namely, liquid water, then the ‘degradation’ of the emanation is less complete, and neon is produced; (5) that when molecules of still greater weight and complexity are present, as is the case when the emanation is dissolved in a solution of copper sulphate, the product of ‘degradation’ of the emanation is argon. We are inclined to believe too [they say] that (6) the copper also is involved in this process of degradation, and is reduced to the lowest term of its series, namely, lithium; and at the same time, inasmuch as the weight of the residue of alkali, produced when copper nitrate is present, is double that obtained from the blank experiment, or from water alone, the supposition is not excluded that the[134] chief product of the ‘degradation’ of copper is sodium.”[122]

Further Experiments on Radium and Copper.

§ 99. A little later Madame Curie and Mademoiselle Gleditsch[123] repeated Cameron and Ramsay’s experiments on copper salts, using, however, platinum apparatus. They failed to detect lithium after the action of the emanation, and think that Cameron and Ramsay’s results may be due to the glass vessels employed. Dr. Perman[124] has investigated the direct action of the emanation on copper and gold, and has failed to detect any trace of lithium. The transmutation of copper into lithium, therefore, must be regarded as unproved, but further research is necessary before any conclusive statements can be made on the subject.

Ramsay’s Experiments on Thorium and allied Metals.

§ 100. In his presidential address to the Chemical Society, March 25, 1909, after having brought forward some exceedingly interesting arguments for the possibility of transmutation, Sir William Ramsay described some experiments which he had carried out on[135] thorium and allied elements.[125] It was found, as we have already stated (§ 98), that, apparently, carbon-dioxide was continually evolved from an acid solution of thorium nitrate, precautions being taken that the gas was not produced from the grease on the stop-cock employed, and it also appeared that carbon-dioxide was produced by the action of radium emanation on thorium nitrate. The action of radium emanation on compounds (not containing carbon) of other members of the carbon group, namely, silicon, zirconium and lead, was then investigated; in the cases of zirconium nitrate and hydro-fluosilicic acid, carbon-dioxide was obtained; but in the case of lead chlorate the amount of carbon dioxide was quite insignificant. Curiously enough, the perchlorate of bismuth, a metal which belongs to the nitrogen group of elements, also yielded carbon-dioxide when acted on by emanation. Sir William Ramsay concludes his discussion of these experiments as follows: “Such are the facts. No one is better aware than I how insufficient the proof is. Many other experiments must be made before it can confidently be asserted that certain elements, when exposed to ‘concentrated energy,’ undergo degradation into carbon.” Some such confirmatory experiments were carried out by Sir William Ramsay and Mr. Francis L. Usher, and they also described an experiment with a compound of titanium. Their results confirm Sir William Ramsay’s former experiments. Carbon-dioxide was obtained in appreciable quantities by the action of emanation on compounds[136] of silicon, titanium, zirconium and thorium. In the case of lead, the amount of carbon dioxide obtained was inappreciable.[126]

The Possibility of Making Gold.

§ 101. It does not seem unlikely that if it is possible to “degrade” elements, it may be possible to build them up. It has been suggested that it might be possible to obtain, in this way, gold from silver, since these two elements occur in the same column in the Periodic Table; but the suggestion still awaits experimental confirmation. The question arises, What would be the result if gold could be cheaply produced? That gold is a metal admirably adapted for many purposes, for which its scarcity prevents its use, must be admitted. But the financial chaos which would follow if it were to be cheaply obtained surpasses the ordinary imagination. It is a theme that ought to appeal to a novelist of exceptional imaginative power. However, we need not fear these results, for not only is radium extremely rare, far dearer than gold, and on account of its instability will never be obtained in large quantities, but, judging from the above-described experiments, if, indeed, the radium emanation is the true Philosopher’s Stone, the quantity of gold that may be hoped for by its aid is extremely small.

The Significance of “Allotropy.”

§ 102. A very suggestive argument for the transmutation of the metals was put forward by Professor Henry M. Howe, LL.D., in a paper entitled “Allotropy or Transmutation?” read before the British Association (Section B), Sheffield Meeting, 1910.[137] Certain substances are known which, although differing in their physical properties very markedly, behave chemically as if they were one and the same element, giving rise to the same series of compounds. Such substances, of which we may mention diamond, graphite and charcoal (e.g., lampblack)—all of which are known chemically as “carbon”—or, to take another example, yellow phosphorus (a yellow, waxy, highly inflammable solid) and red phosphorus (a difficultly-inflammable, dark red substance, probably possessing a minutely crystalline structure), are, moreover, convertible one into the other.[127] It has been customary to refer to such substances as different forms or allotropic modifications of the same element, and not to regard them as being different elements. As Professor Howe says, “If after defining ‘elements’ as substances hitherto indivisible, and different elements as those which differ in at least some one property, and after asserting that the elements cannot be transmuted into each other, we are confronted with the change from diamond into lampblack, and with the facts, first, that each is clearly[138] indivisible hitherto and hence an element, and, second, that they differ in every property, we try to escape in a circle by saying that they are not different elements because they do change into each other. In short, we limit the name ‘element’ to indivisible substances which cannot be transmuted into each other, and we define those which do transmute as ipso facto one element, and then we say that the elements cannot be transmuted. Is not this very like saying that, if you call a calf’s tail a leg, then a calf has five legs? And if it is just to reply that calling a tail a leg does not make it a leg, is it not equally just to reply that calling two transmutable elements one element does not make them so?

“Is it philosophical to point to the fact that two such transmutable elements yield but a single line of derivatives as proof that they are one element? Is not this rather proof of the readiness, indeed irresistibleness, of their transmutation? Does not this simply mean that the derivativeless element, whenever it enters into combination, inevitably transmutes into its mate which has derivatives?”[128]

According to the atomic theory the differences between what are termed “allotropic modifications” are generally ascribed to differences in the number and arrangement of the atoms constituting the molecules of such “modifications,” and not to any differences in the atoms themselves. But we cannot argue that two such “allotropic modifications” or elements which are transmutable into one another[139] are one and the same element, because they possess the same atomic weight, and different elements are distinguished by different atomic weights; for the reason that, in the determination of atomic weights, derivatives of such bodies are employed; hence, the value obtained is the atomic weight of the element which forms derivatives, from which that of its derivativeless mate may differ considerably for all we know to the contrary, if we do, indeed, regard the atomic weights of the elements as having any meaning beyond expressing the inertia-ratios in which they combine one with another.

If we wish to distinguish between two such “allotropic modifications” apart from any theoretical views concerning the nature and constitution of matter, we can say that such “modifications” are different because equal weights of them contain, or are equivalent to, different quantities of energy,[129] since the change of one “form” to another takes place only with the evolution or absorption (as the case may be) of heat.[130] But, according to modern views regarding the nature of matter, this is the sole fundamental[140] difference between two different elements—such are different because equal weights of them contain or are equivalent to different quantities of energy. The so-called “allotropic modifications of an element,” therefore, are just as much different elements as any other different elements, and the change from one “modification” to another is a true transmutation of the elements; the only distinction being that what are called “allotropic modifications of the same element” differ only slightly in respect of the energy they contain, and hence are comparatively easy to convert one into the other, whereas different elements (so called) differ very greatly from one another in this respect, whence it is to be concluded that the transmutation of one such element into another will only be attained by the utilisation of energy in a very highly concentrated form, such as is evolved simultaneously with the spontaneous decomposition of the radium emanation.

Conclusion.

§ 103. We have shown that modern science indicates the essential truth of alchemistic doctrine, and our task is ended. Writing in 1904, Sir William Ramsay said: “If these hypotheses [concerning the possibility of causing the atoms of ordinary elements to absorb energy] are just, then the transmutations of the elements no longer appears an idle dream. The philosopher’s stone will have been discovered, and it is not beyond the bounds of possibility that it may lead to that other goal of the philosophers of the dark ages—the elixir vitæ. For the action of living cells is also dependent on the nature and direction of the energy which they contain; and who can say that it will be[141] impossible to control their action, when the means of imparting and controlling energy shall have been investigated?”[131] Whatever may be the final verdict concerning his own experiments, those of Sir Ernest Rutherford, referred to in the Preface to the present edition, demonstrate the fact of transmutation; and it is worth noticing how many of the alchemists’ obscure descriptions of their Magistery well apply to that marvellous something which we call Energy, the true “First Matter” of the Universe. And of the other problem, the Elixir Vitæ, who knows?

THE END.

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Karl von Eckhartshausen (1752-1803)

LETTER I

Scanned from “The Unknown World”, No. 6 – Vol. I, Jan. 15, 1895, and corrected by hand.

There is no age more remarkable to the quiet observer than our own. Everywhere there is a fermentation in the minds of men; everywhere there is a battle between light and darkness, between exploded thought and living ideas, between powerless wills and living active force; in short everywhere is there war between animal man and growing spiritual man.

It is said that we live in an age of light, but it would be truer to say that we are living in an age of twilight; here and there a luminous ray pierces through the mists of darkness, but does not light to full clearness either our reason or our hearts. Men are not of one mind, scientists dispute, and where there is discord truth is not yet apprehended.

The most important objects for humanity are still undetermined. No one is agreed either on the principle of rationality or on the principle of morality, or on the cause of the will. This proves that though we are dwelling in an age of light, we do not well understand what emanates from our hearts- and what from our heads. Probably we should have this information much sooner if we did not imagine that we have the light of knowledge already in our hands, or if we would cast a look on our weakness, and recognize that we require a more brilliant illumination. We live in the times of idolatry of the intellect, we place a common torchlight upon the altar and we loudly proclaim the aurora, that now daylight is really about to appear, and that the world is emerging more and more out of obscurity into the full day of perfection, through the arts, sciences, cultured taste, and even from a purer understanding of religion.

Poor mankind! To what standpoint have you raised the happiness of man? Has there ever been an age which has counted so many victims to humanity as the present? Has there ever been an age in which immorality and egotism have been greater or more dominant than in this one? The tree is known by its fruits. Mad men! With your imaginary natural reason, from whence have you the light by which you are so willing to enlighten others? Are not all your ideas borrowed from your senses which do not give you the reality but merely its phenomena? Is it not true that in time and space all knowledge is but relative? Is it not true that all which we call reality is but relative, for absolute truth is not to be found in the phenomenal world? Thus your natural reason does not possess its true essence, but only the appearance of truth and light; and the more this appearance increases and spreads, the more the essence of light inwardly fades, and the man confuses himself with this appearance and gropes vainly after the dazzling phantasmal images he conjures.

The philosophy of our age raises the natural intellect into independent objectivity, and gives it judicial power, she exempts it from any superior authority, she makes it voluntary, converting it into divinity by closing all harmony and communication with God; and this god Reason, which has no other law but its own, is to govern Man and make him happy! …

… Darkness able to spread light!

… Death capable of giving Life!

… The truth leads man to happiness. Can you give it?

That which you call truth is a form of conception empty of real matter, the knowledge of which is acquired from without and through the senses, and the understanding co-ordinates them by observed synthetic relationship into science or opinion.

You abstract from the Scriptures and Tradition their moral, theoretical and practical truth; but as individuality is the principle of your intelligence, and as egotism is the incentive to your will, you do not see, by your light, the moral law which dominates, or you repel it with your will. It is to this length that the light of to-day has penetrated. Individuality under the cloak of false philosophy is a child of corruption.

Who can pretend that the sun is in full zenith if no bright rays illuminate the earth, and no warmth vitalizes vegetation? If wisdom does not benefit man, if love does not make him happy, but very little has been done for him on the whole.

Oh! If only natural man, that is, sensuous man, would only learn to see that the source of his intelligence and the incentive of his will are only his individuality, he would then seek interiorly for a higher source, and he would thereby approach that which alone can give this true element, because it is wisdom in its essential substance.

Jesus Christ is that Wisdom, Truth and Love. He, as Wisdom, is the Principle of reason, and the Source of the purest intelligence. As Love, He is the Principle of morality, the true and pure incentive of the will.

Love and Wisdom beget the spirit of truth, interior light; this light illuminates us and makes supernatural things objective to us.

It is inconceivable to what depths of error a man falls when he abandons simple truths of faith by opposing his own opinions.

Our century tries to decide by its (brain) intelligence, wherein lies the principle or ground of reason and morality, or the ground of the will; if the scientists were mindful, they would see that these things are better answered in the heart of the simplest man, than through their most brilliant casuistry. The practical Christian finds this incentive to the will, the principle of all morality, really and objectively in his heart; and this incentive is expressed in the following formula:- “Love God with all thy heart, and thy neighbor as thyself.”

The love of God and his neighbor is the motive for the Christian’s will, and the essence of love itself is Jesus Christ in Us.

It is in this way the principle of reason is wisdom in us; and the essence of wisdom, wisdom in its substance, is again Jesus Christ, the light of the world. Thus we find in Him the principle of reason and of morality.

All that I am now saying is not hyperphysical extravagance; it is reality, absolute truth, that everyone can prove for himself by experience, as soon as he receives in himself the principle of all reason and morality- Jesus Christ, being wisdom and love in essence.

But the eye of the man of sensuous perception only is firmly closed to the fundamental basis of all that is true and to all that is transcendental.

The intelligence which many would fain raise to legislative authority is only that of the senses, whose light differs from that of transcendental reason, as does the phosphorescent glimmer of decayed wood from the glories of sunshine.

Absolute truth does not exist for sensuous man; it exists only for interior and spiritual man who possesses a suitable sensorium; or, to speak more correctly, who possesses an interior sense to receive the absolute truth of the transcendental world, a spiritual faculty which cognizes spiritual objects as objectively and naturally as the exterior senses perceive external phenomena.

This interior faculty of the man spiritual; this sensorium for the metaphysical world is unfortunately not known to those who cognize only outside of it- for it is a mystery of the kingdom of God.

The current incredulity towards everything which is not cognized objectively by our senses is the explanation for the misconception of truths which are, of all, most important to man.

But how can this be otherwise? In order to see one must have eyes, to hear, one must have ears. Every apparent object requires its appropriate senses. So it is that transcendental objects require their sensorium- and this said sensorium is closed in most men. Hence men judge the metaphysical world through the intelligence of their senses, even as the blind imagine colors and the deaf judge tones- without suitable senses.

There is an objective and substantial ground of reason, an objective and substantial motive for the will. These two together form the new principle of life, and morality is there essentially inherent. This pure substance of reason and will,

re-united in us the divine and the human, is Jesus Christ, the light of the world, who must enter into direct relationship with us, to be really recognized.

This real knowledge is actual faith, in which everything takes place in spirit and in truth.

Thus one ought to have a sensorium fitted for this communication, an organized spiritual sensorium, a spiritual and interior faculty able to receive this light; but it is closed to most men by their senses.

This interior organ is the intuitive sense of the transcendental world, and until this intuitive sense is effective in us we can have no certainty of more lofty truths.

This organism is naturally inactive since the Fall, which degraded man to the world of physical senses alone. The gross matter which envelops this interior

sensorium is a film which veils the internal eye, and therefore prevents the exterior eye from seeing into spiritual realms. This same matter muffles our internal hearing, so that we are deaf to the sounds of the metaphysical world; it so paralyses our spiritual speech that we can scarcely stammer words of sacred import, words we fully pronounced once, and by virtue of which we held authority over the elements and the external world.

The opening of this spiritual sensorium is the mystery of the New Man- the mystery of Regeneration, and of the vital union between God and man- it is the noblest object of religion on earth, that religion whose sublime goal is none other than to unite men with God in Spirit and in Truth.

We can therefore easily see by this how it is that religion tends always towards the subjection of the senses. It does so because it desires to make the spiritual man dominant, in order that the spiritual or truly rational man may govern the man of sense. Philosophy feels this truth, only its error consists in not apprehending the true source of reason, and because she would replace it by individuality by sensuous reason.

As man has internally a spiritual organ and a sensorium to receive the true principle of divine wisdom, or a true motive for the will or divine love, he has also exteriorly a physical and material sensorium to receive the appearance of light and truth. As external nature can have no absolute truth, but only phenomenally relative, therefore, human reason cannot cognize pure truth, it can but apprehend through the appearance of phenomena, which excites the lust of the eye, and in this as a source of action consists the corruption of sensuous man and the degradation of nature.

This exterior sensorium in man is composed of frail matter, whereas the internal sensorium is organized fundamentally from incorruptible, transcendental, and metaphysical substance.

The first is the cause of our depravity and our mortality, the second the cause of our incorruptibility and of our immortality.

In the regions of material and corruptible nature mortality hides immortality, therefore all our trouble results from corruptible mortal matter. In order that man should be released from this distress, it is necessary that the immortal and incorruptible principle, which dwells within, should expand and absorb the corruptible principle, so that the envelope of the senses should be opened, and man appear in his pristine purity.

This natural envelope is a truly corruptible substance found in our blood, forming the fleshly bonds binding our immortal spirits under the servitude of the mortal flesh.

This envelope can be rent more or less in every man, and this places him in greater spiritual liberty, and makes him more cognizant of the transcendental world.

There are three different degrees in the opening of our spiritual sensorium.

The first degree reaches to the moral plane only, the transcendental world energizes through us in but by interior action, called inspiration.

The second and higher degree opens this sensorium to the reception of the spiritual and the intellectual, and the metaphysical world works in us by interior illumination.

The third degree, which is the highest and most seldom attained, opens the whole inner man. It breaks the crust which fills our spiritual eyes and ears; it reveals the kingdom of spirit, and enables us to see objectively, metaphysical, and transcendental sights; hence all visions are explained fundamentally.

Thus we have an internal sense of objectivity as well as externally. Only the objects and the senses are different. Exteriorly animal and sensual motives act in us and corruptible sensuous matter energizes. Interiorly it is metaphysical and indivisible substance which gains admittance within, and the incorruptible and immortal essence of our Spirit receives its influence. Nevertheless, generally things pass much in the same way interiorly as they do externally. The law is everywhere the same. Hence, as the spirit or our internal man has quite other senses, and quite another objective sight from the rational man; one need not be surprised that it (the spirit) should remain an enigma for the scientists of our age, for those who have no objective sense of the transcendental and spiritual world. Hence they measure the supernatural by the measurement of the senses. However, we owe a debt of gratitude towards the philosopher Kant for his view of the truths we have promulgated.

Kant has shown incontestably that the natural reason can know absolutely nothing of what is supernatural, and that it can never understand analytically or synthetically, neither can it prove the possibility of the reality of Love, Spirit, or of the Deity.

This is a great truth, lofty and beneficial for our epoch, though it is true that St.

Paul has already enunciated it (I Cor., i., 2-24).

But the pagan philosophy of Christian scientists has been able to overlook it up to Kant. The virtue of this truth is double. First it puts insurmountable limits to the sentiment, to the fanaticism and to the extravagance of carnal reason. Then it shows by dazzling contrast the necessity and divinity of Revelation. It proves that our human reason, in its state of unfoldment, “has no other” objective source for the supernatural than revelation, the only source of instruction in Divine things or of the spiritual world, the soul and its immortality; hence it follows that without revelation it is absolutely impossible to suppose or conjecture anything regarding these matters.

We are, therefore, indebted to Kant for proving philosophically now-a-days, what long ago was taught in a more advanced and illumined school, “that without revelation no knowledge of God, neither any doctrine touching the soul could be at all possible”.

It is therefore clear that a universal Revelation must serve as a fundamental basis to all mundane religion.

Hence, following Kant, it is clear that the transmundane knowledge is wholly inaccessible to natural reason, and that God inhabits a world of light, into which no speculation of the unfolded reason can penetrate. Thus the rational man, or man of human reason, has no sense of transcendental reality, and therefore it was necessary that it should be revealed to him, for which faith is required, because the means are given to him by faith whereby his inner sensorium unfolds, and through which he can apprehend the reality of truths otherwise incapable of being understood by the natural man.

It is quite true that with new senses we can acquire sense of further reality. This reality exists already, but is not known to us, because we lack the organ by which to cognize it. One must not lay the fault to the percept, but on the receptive organ.

With, however, the development of the new organ we have a new perception, a sense of new reality. Without it the spiritual world cannot exist for us, because the organ rendering it objective to us is not developed.

With, however, its unfoldment, the curtain is all at once raised, the impenetrable veil is torn away, the cloud before the Sanctuary lifts, a new world suddenly exists for us, scales fall from the eyes, and we are at once transported from the phenomenal world to the regions of truth.

God alone is substance, absolute truth; He alone is He who is, and we are what He has made us. For Him, all exists in Unity, for us, all exists in multiplicity.

A great many men have no more idea of the development of the inner sensorium than they have of the true and objective life of the spirit, which they neither perceive nor foresee in any manner. Hence it is impossible to them to know that one can comprehend the spiritual and transcendental, and that one can be raised to the supernatural, even to vision.

The great and true work of building the Temple consists solely in destroying the miserable Adamic hut and in erecting a divine temple; this means, in other words, to develop in us the interior sensorium, or the organ to receive God. After this process, the metaphysical and incorruptible principle rules over the terrestrial, and man begins to live, not any longer in the principle of self-love, but in the Spirit and in the Truth, of which he is the Temple.

The moral law then evolves into love for one’s neighbor in deed and in truth, whereas for the natural man it is but a simple attitude of thought; and the spiritual man, regenerated in spirit, sees all in its essence, of which the natural man has only the forms void of thought, mere empty sounds, symbols and letters, which are all dead images without interior spirit. The lofty aim of religion is the intimate union of man with God; and this union is possible in this world; but it only can be by the opening of our inner sensorium, which enables our hearts to become receptive to God.

Therein are mysteries that our philosophy does not dream of, the key to which is not to be found in scholastic science.

Meanwhile, a more advanced school has always existed to whom this deposition of all science has been confided, and this school was the community illuminated interiorly by the Savior, the society of the Elect, which has continued from the first day of creation to the present time; its members, it is true, are scattered all over the world, but they have always been united in the spirit and in one truth; they have had but one intelligence and one source of truth, but one doctor and one master; but in whom resides substantially the whole plentitude of God, and who alone initiates them into the high mysteries of Nature and the Spiritual World.

This community of light has been called from all time the invisible celestial Church, or the most ancient of all communities, of which we will speak more fully in our next letter.

TRANSLATOR’S NOTE.

I am afraid that some readers who are interested in “Mysticism,” or rather are desirous of entering into its study, may be deterred from doing so by reading these letters of the excellent Mystic, Eckartshausen. For the reason that his doctrine, Regeneration, has been so much misunderstood owing to the over-familiarity with the ordinary signification of that deeply important word, that modern Religion mostly given us. Nevertheless, no reader can fail to see that Eckartshausen has a very real and vital reason for all he says. His language is extraordinarily simple, so much so that many may consider that he hides deeper matter purposely.

This is not quite the case; in all Catholic and central truth there are various meanings, not opposing ones, but each opening, as it were, according to the grade of the student’s own spiritual understanding.

Indeed, it is very frequently urged against mystic and alchemic writings that they purposely and selfishly veil the truth. No doubt in many cases it has been purposely done, for very sincerely good reasons that real enquiry would amply endorse; but it is by no means a true bill against “Mystic” writings that the language is deliberately symbolic, allegoric, or in a sort of cipher-code, as it were, in which one word is mischievously meant for another and so forth. I have heard all alchemic works described, indeed once thought so myself, as a farrago of pure bosh. But we know, as most people now-a-days who pretend to any philosophy at all, that there are other planes of nature besides the physical, and that mystic and alchemical writings are not generally dealing with physical or mental matters and nomenclature. They refer to higher planes of nature- and if a student is able to enter into higher planes I understand that the terms and expressions all take simple and rightful place. But all that a student can do in his first study in these matters is to try and discern somewhat where the planes change and where the writer mean literally on the higher plane or parabolically on the physical or on what plane is the literalness? But most alchemic writing is hyperphysical. Origen says “to the literal minded (or carnal) we teach the Gospel in the historic or literal way, but to the proficients, fired with the love of Divine Wisdom, we impart the Logos.” Also we must remember that these writers were Spiritual giants; men who had gone through the vital process of Regeneration, and who wrote to others in like condition, not to the carnal minded or literal man, who have their spiritual “sensorium,” as Eckhartshausen calls it, still sealed.

We are, therefore, grateful when a Spiritual giant like Eckhartshausen writes as he does in simpler fashion, one more suitable to the plane of intellectuality on which we usually are. He tells us literally that man has fallen from his high estate, as we have all been taught in “common” Christianity, and he proceeds to point out the Spiritual rationale whereby man may attain his former Greatness. In doing so, he explains in a most suggestive manner the real value of the rites and ceremonies of Catholic Christendom, the Church as he teaches being the outer manifestation of that Inner Society (the nameless one), that Society of the Elect which has always existed, and must still exist, for the protection of mankind. If this Sacred Circle, this Celestial Church, did not subsist, our earthly sinful Churches could not exist. That they do is a proof of its holy Guardianship- Eckhartshausen’s letters on the subject explanatory of this position, are most instructive. There are doubtless a few elect souls who are so richly laden with the ten talents they have earned in preceding lives, that they can, so to say, take the Kingdom of Heaven with violence and obtain their Regeneration and Immortality early in this life, without possibly belonging to any Society, whether Church organization or otherwise, but to most people this is impossible; and we then, as humbler students, do well to lay heed to the great importance of Christian rites and ceremonies- especially that of the Sacred Supper. This is, of course, not new teaching to instructed Catholics, but I would respectfully suggest that Eckhartshausen does lead the understanding to higher ground and higher possibilities, as a permitted Initiate, than Church teaching generally can do, because Catholic Doctrine does not, cannot fully explain. It is her function only to enunciate ex cathedra as the legitimately authorized channel of communication; but certain writers, Initiates and Regenerate men, have special offices, of instructors and explainers. Therefore those peeple who have not the gift of Faith to receive enunciated Doctrine, have indeed much to be thankful for in that there are such writers who are permitted to explain the reason why of doctrine and dogma. To minds, then, who are not gifted with Faith, or who have not attained to it, the writings of the mystics are priceless, as no doubt through them the student who only commenced the quest through mere but honest curiosity and desire, if, however, he continue sincere and earnest, can without doubt rise not only to the region of faith, but in addition with a clear understanding, and he then is in a still better condition for further advancement. Mad is that person who with the grace and gift of Faith to commence with has left his talent untouched!

“The Cloud upon the Sanctuary” is written in six letters, and they show the meaning of Revelation, the means whereby man can receive it; the supreme importance of man’s Regeneration and the means whereby he can attain to it. And I may here say that a Regenerated Man in Mystic phraseology is equivalent to “Mahatma,” or may be more; in modern theosophic terms, it means a Master, and until man attains to this rank he is not able to fully recognize the Master, so must always remain until that time outside the Temple, not yet fit to enter within the sacred precincts and be hailed as a true Builder by the Master Builder Himself.

Regeneration is moreover the only means by which he gains freedom from Karma, and is thenceforth freed from the Circle of Necessity or Re-birth. There is one other matter to note, both in reading sacred writ and mystic writers, that if we find one meaning pretty clear throughout we may conclude we have one key, but that is all, and because we understand this side of the truth is just the reason that we have not all the truth. If we keep this well in our minds it will be a useful preventive against spiritual pride, for it will keep us always respectful to out brothers’ and sisters’ versions of the matter. Nevertheless there is something so real, so solid, so concrete

in the presentment of Mystic Truth that if that foundation be firmly realised it is remarkable how much more easily the building is raised than we could imagine while wandering in the phantasmal regions of astral Revelations- that realm of Chaos out of and from which man has been lifted, by being created Rational Man, but towards which he too easily returns on a retrograde course. We must also note that Eckhartshausen lived and wrote at the period of the French Revolution; at an era very similar to our own in all but its sad consummation. “Magic” was the fashion, and quite as much was known then on these matters as is known now.

There were spiritual circles, occult societies, brotherhoods, and a great searching into the “hidden things of the Spirit.”

We have St. Martin’s valuable authority at that period for thinking very highly of Eckhartshausen as a man who worked and thought centrally, and whose writings commanded his highest respect.

ISABEL DE STEIGER.

LETTER II

Scanned from “The Unknown World”, Vol. II – No. I, Feb. 15, 1895, and corrected by hand.

It is necessary, my dear brothers in the Lord, to give you a clear idea of the interior Church; of that illuminated Community of God which is scattered throughout the world, but which is governed by one truth and united in one spirit.

This enlightened community has existed since the first day of the world’s creation, and its duration will be to the last day of time.

This community possesses a school, in which all who thirst for knowledge are instructed by the Spirit of Wisdom itself; and all the mysteries of God and of nature are preserved in this school for the children of light. Perfect knowledge of God, of

nature, and of humanity are the objects of instruction in this school. It is from her that all truths penetrate into the world, she is the School of the Prophets, and of all who search for wisdom, and it is in this community alone that truth and the explanation of all mystery is to be found. It is the most hidden of communities yet possesses members from many circles; of such is this school. From all time there has been an exterior school based on the interior one, of which it is but the outer expression. From all time, therefore, there has been a hidden assembly, a society of the Elect, of those who sought for and had capacity for light, and this interior society was called the interior Sanctuary or Church. All that the external Church possesses in symbol ceremony or rite is the letter expressive outwardly of the spirit of truth residing in the interior Sanctuary.

Hence this Sanctuary composed of scattered members, but tied by the bonds of perfect unity and love, has been occupied from the earliest ages in building the grand Temple through the regeneration of humanity, by which the reign of God will be manifest. This society is in the communion of those who have most capacity for light, i.e., the Elect. The Elect are united in truth, and their Chief is the Light of the World himself, Jesus Christ, the One Anointed in light, the single mediator for the human race, the Way, the Truth, and the Life- Primitive light, wisdom, and the only medium by which man can return to God.

The interior Church was formed immediately after the fall of man, and received from God at first-hand the revelation of the means by which fallen humanity could be again raised to its rights and delivered from its misery. It received the primitive charge of all revelation and mystery; it received the key of true science, both divine and natural.

But when men multiplied, the frailty of man and his weakness necessitated an exterior society which veiled the interior one, and concealed the spirit and the truth in the letter. Because many people were not capable of comprehending great interior truth, and the danger would have been too great in confiding the moist Holy to incapable people. Therefore, interior truths were wrapped in external and perceptible ceremonies, so that men, by the perception of the outer, which is the symbol of the interior, might by degrees be enabled safely to approach the interior spiritual truths.

But the inner truth bas always been confided to him who in his day had the most capacity for illumination, and he became the sole guardian of the original Trust, as High Priest of the Sanctuary.

When it became necessary that interior truths should be enfolded in exterior ceremony and symbol, on account of the real weakness of men who were not capable of bearing the Light of Light, then exterior worship began. It was, however, always the type and symbol of the interior, that is to say, the symbol of the true homage offered to God in spirit and in truth.

The difference between spiritual and animal man, and between rational and sensual man, made the exterior and interior imperative. Interior truth passed into the external wrapped in symbol and ceremony, so that sensuous man could observe, and be gradually thereby led to interior truth. Hence external worship was symbolically typical of interior truths, and of the true relationship between man and God before and after the Fall, and of his most perfect reconciliation. All the symbols of external worship are based upon the three fundamental relations- the Fall, the Reconciliation, and the Complete Atonement.

The care of the external service was the occupation of priests, and every father of a family was in the ancient times charged with this duty. First fruits and the first born among animals were offered to God, symbolizing that all that preserves and nourishes us comes from Him; also that animal man must be killed to make room for rational and spiritual man.

The external worship of God would never have been separated from interior service but for the weakness of man which tends too easily to forget the spirit in the letter, but the spirit of God is vigilant to note in every nation those who are able to receive light, and they are employed as agents to spread the light according to man’s capacity, and to re-vivify the dead letter.

Through these divine instruments the interior truths of the Sanctuary were taken into every nation, and modified symbolically according to their customs, capacity for instruction, climate, and receptiveness. So that the external types of every religion, worship, ceremonies and Sacred Books in general have more or less clearly, as their object of instruction, the interior truths of the Sanctuary, by which man, but only in the latter days, will be conducted to the universal knowledge of the one Absolute Truth.

The more the external worship of a people has remained united with the spirit of esoteric truth, the purer its religion; but the wider the difference between the symbolic letter and the invisible truth, the more imperfect has become the religion; even so far among some nations as to degenerate into polytheism. Then the external form entirely parted from its inner truth when ceremonial observances without soul or life remained alone.

When the germs of the most important truths had been carried everywhere by God’s agents, He chose a certain people to raise up a vital symbol destined by Him to manifest forth the means by which He intended to govern the human race in its present condition, and by which it would be raised into complete purification and perfection.

God Himself communicated to this people its exterior religious legislation, He gave all the symbols and enacted all the ceremonies, and they contained the impress, as it were, of the great esoteric truth of the Sanctuary.

God consecrated this external Church in Abraham, gave commandments through Moses, and it received its highest perfection in the double message of Jesus Christ, existing personally in poverty and suffering, and by the communication of His Spirit in the glory of the Resurrection.

Now, as God Himself laid the foundation of the external Church, the whole of the symbols of external worship formed the of science of the Temple and of the Priests in those days, because the mysteries of the most sacred truths became external through revelation alone. The scientific acquaintance of this holy symbolism was the science to unite fallen man once more with God, hence religion received its name from being the science of rebinding man with God, to bring man back to his origin.

One sees plainly by this pure idea of religion in general that unity in religion is within the inner Sanctuary, and that the multiplicity of external religions can never alter the true unity which is at the base of every exterior.

The wisdom of the ancient temple alliance was preserved by priests and by prophets.

To the priests was confided the external,- the letter of the symbol, hieroglyphics.

The prophets had the charge of the inner truth, and their occupation was to continually recall the priest to the spirit in the letter, when inclined to lose it. The science of the priests was that of the knowledge of exterior symbol.

That of the prophets was experimental possession of the truth of the symbols. In the interior the spirit lived. There was, therefore, in the ancient alliance a school of prophets and of priests, the one occupying itself with the spirit in the emblem, the other with the emblem itself. The priests had the external possession of the Ark, of the shewbread, of the candlesticks, of the manna, of Aaron’s rod, and the prophets were in interior possession of the inner spiritual truth which was represented exteriorly by the symbols just mentioned.

The external Church of the ancient alliance was visible, the interior Church was always invisible, must be invisible, and yet must govern all, because force and power are alone confided to her.

When the divine external[1] worship abandoned the interior worship it fell, and God proved by a remarkable chain of circumstances that the letter could not exist without the spirit, that it is only there to lead to the spirit, and it is useless and even rejected by God if it fails in its object.

As the spirit of nature extends to the most sterile depths to vivify and preserve and cause growth in everything susceptible to its influence, likewise the spirit of light spreads itself interiorly among nations to animate everywhere the dead letter by the living spirit.

This is why we find a Job among idolaters, a Melchizedek among strange nations, a Joseph with the Egyptian priests, a Moses in the country of Midian, as living proofs the interior community of those who are capable of receiving light was united by one spirit and one truth in all times and in all nations.

To these agents of light from the one inner community was united the Chief of all agents, Jesus Christ Himself, in the midst of time as royal priest after the order of Melchizedek.

The divine agents of the ancient alliance hitherto represented only specialized perfections of God; therefore a powerful movement was required which should show all at once- all in one. A universal type appeared, which gave the real touch of perfect unity to the picture, which opened a fresh door, and destroyed the number of the slavery of humanity.

The law of love began when the Image emanating from wisdom itself shewed to man all the greatness of his being, vivified him anew by every force, assured him of his immortality, and raised his intellectual status to that of being the true temple for the spirit.

This Chief Agent of all, this Savior of the World and universal Regenerator, claimed man’s whole attention to the primitive truth, whereby he can preserve his existence and recover his former dignity. Through the conditions of His own abasement He laid the base of the redemption of man, and He promised to accomplish it completely one day through His Spirit. He shewed also truly in part among His apostles all that should come to pass in the future to all the Elect.

He linked the chain of the community of light among the Elect, to whom He sent the spirit of truth, and confided to them the true primitive instruction in all divine and natural things, as a sign that He would never forsake His community.

When the letter and symbolic worship of the external Church of the ancient alliance had been realized by the Incarnation of the Savior, and verified in His person, new symbols became requisite for external use, which shewed us through the letter the future accomplishment of universal redemption.

The rites and symbols of the external Christian Church were formed after the pattern of these unchangeable and fundamental truths, announcing things of a strength and of an importance impossible to describe, and revealed only to those who knew the innermost Sanctuary.

This Sanctuary remains changeless, though external religion receives in the course of time and circumstances varied modification, entailing separation from the interior spirit which can alone preserve the letter. The profane idea of wishing to “civilize”[2] all that is Christian, and to Christianize all that is political, changed the exterior edifice, and covered with the shadow of death all that was interior light and life. Hence divisions and heresies, and the spirit of Sophistry ready to expound the letter when it had already lost the essence of truth.

Current incredulity increased corruption to its utmost point, attacking the edifice of Christianity in its fundamental parts and the sacred interior was mingled with the exterior, already enfeebled by the ignorance of weak man.

Then was born Deism; this brought forth materialism, which looked on the union of man with superior forces as imaginary; then finally came forth, partly from the head and partly from the heart, the last degree of man’s degradation- Atheism.

In the midst of all this, truth reposes inviolable in the inner Sanctuary.

Faithful to the spirit of truth, which promised never to abandon its community, the members of the interior Church lived in silence, but in real activity, and united the science of the temple of the ancient alliance with the spirit of the great savior of man- the spirit of the interior alliance, waiting humbly the great moment when the Lord will call them, and will assemble his community in order to give every dead letter external force and life.

This interior community of light is the reunion of all those capable of receiving light as Elect, and it is known as the Communion of Saints. The primitive receptacle for all strength and truth, confided to it from all time- it alone, says St. Paul, is in the possession of the science of the Saints.

By it the agents of God were formed in every age, passing from the interior to the exterior, and communicating spirit and life to the dead letter as already said.

This illuminated community has been through time the true school of God’s spirit, and considered as school, it has its Chair, its Doctor, it possesses a rule for students, it has forms and objects for study, and, in short, a method by which they study.

It has, also, its degrees for successive development. to higher altitudes.

The first and lowest degree consists in the moral good, by which the single will, subordinated to God, is led to God by the pure motive of willing with and to Jesus Christ, which it does through faith. The means by which the spirit of this school acts are called inspirations.

The second degree consists in the rational intellectuality, by which the understanding of the man of virtue, who is united to God, is crowned with wisdom and the light of know-ledge, and the means which the spirit uses to produce this is called interior illumination.

The third and highest degree is the entire opening of our inner sensorium, by which the inner man perceives objectively and really, metaphysical verities. This is the highest degree when faith passes into open vision, and the means the spirit uses for this are real visions.

These are the three degrees of the school for true interior wisdom- that of the illuminated Society. The same spirit which ripens men for this community also distributes its degrees by the co-action of the ripened subject.

This school of wisdom has been forever most secretly hidden from the world, because it is invisible and submissive solely to divine government.

It has never been exposed to the accidents of time and to the weakness of man.

Because only the most capable were chosen for it, and the spirits who selected made no error.

Through this school were developed the germs of all the sublime sciences, which were first received by external schools, then clothed in other forms, and hence degenerating.

This society of sages communicated, according to time and circumstances, unto the exterior societies their symbolic hieroglyphs, in order to attract man to the great truths of their interior.

But all exterior societies subsist through this interior one giving them its spirit. As soon as external societies wish to be independent of the interior one, and to transform a temple of wisdom into a political edifice, the interior society retires and leaves only the letter without the spirit. It is thus that secret external societies of wisdom were nothing but hieroglyphic screens, the truth remaining inviolable in the sanctuary so that she might never be profaned.

In this interior society man finds wisdom and with her- All– not the wisdom of this world which is but scientific knowledge, which revolves round the outside but never touches the centre (in which is contained all strength), but true wisdom and men obeying her.

All disputes, all controversies, all the things belonging to the false cares of this world, fruitless discussions, useless germs of opinions which spread the seeds of disunion, all error, schisms, and systems are banished. Neither calumny nor scandal are known. Every man is honored. Satire, that spirit which loves to make its neighbor smart, is unknown. Love alone reigns.

Want and feebleness are protected, and rejoicings are made at the elevation and greatness which man acquires.

We must not, however, imagine this society resembles any secret society, meeting at certain times, choosing its leaders and members, united by special objects. All societies, be what they may, can but come after this interior illuminated circle. This society knows none of the formalities which belong to the outer rings, the work of man. In this kingdom of power all outward forms cease.

God himself is the Power always present. The best man of his times, the chief himself, does not always know all the members, but the moment when it is the Will of God that he should accomplish any object, He finds them in the world with certainty to work for that purpose.

This community has no outside barriers. He who may be chosen by God is as the first, he presents himself among the others without presumption, and he is received by the others without jealousy.

If it be necessary that real members should meet together, they find and recognize each other with perfect certainty.

No disguise can be used, neither hypocrisy nor dissimulation could hide the characteristic qualities of this society, they are too genuine. All illusion is gone, and things appear in their true form.

No one member can choose another, unanimous choice is required. All men are called, the called may be chosen, if they become ripe for entrance.

Any one can look for the entrance, and any man who is within can teach another to seek for it; but only he who is fit can arrive inside.

Unprepared men occasion disorder in a community, and disorder is not compatible with the Sanctuary. This thrusts out all who are not homogeneous.

Worldly intelligence seeks this Sanctuary in vain, fruitless also will be the efforts of malice to penetrate these great mysteries; all is undecipherable to him who is not ripe, he can see nothing, read nothing in the interior.

He who is ripe is joined to the chain, perhaps often where he thought least likely, and at a point of which he knew nothing himself.

Seeking to become ripe, should be effort of him who sees wisdom.

But there are methods by which ripeness is attained, for in this holy communion is the primitive storehouse of the most ancient and original science of the human race, with the primitive mysteries also of all science. It is the unique and really illuminated community which is absolutely in possession of the key to all mystery, which knows the centre and source of all nature and creation. It is a society which unites superior strength to its own, and counts its members from more than one world. It is the society whose members form a theocratic republic, which one day will be the Regent Mother of the whole World.[3]

TRANSLATOR’S NOTE.

There is an expression in the third paragraph which is puzzling. The literal translation would of course be “many worlds,” (plusieurs mondes). The same word is also used in the last paragraph, “it counts its members from more than one world.” I confess I am at a loss to give the real meaning. Merely translating it, society, circle, set of people, would at once give it a sense of limitation; “from all kindreds and peoples” would seem the best way to convey the idea of an eclectic but universal choice. I can’t think it conveys the meaning that another planet or world would imply.

There is a paragraph in Carpenter’s work “From Adams Peak to Elephanta,” which I must here mention; he says a propos of the rites and ceremonies of a Hindu Temple; “the theory is that all the ceremonies have inner and mystic meanings- which meanings in due time are declared to those who are fit- and that thus the temple, institutions, and ceremonies constitute a great ladder by which men can

rise at last to those inner truths which lie beyond all formulas and are contained in no creed.”

This is exactly the argument of Eckartshausen, with the exception of the last phrase, as, au contraire, he would say that creeds are quite different to formulas- creeds being synthetic enunciation of verities, so shorn of all but the absolutely necessary words that no one but masters of theology can at all correctly enlarge them. However, the interesting part is the similar view of the importance of the outer ceremony on the part of the Hindu priests. It would be insulting the understandings of my readers if I were to point out the obvious fact that though Eckartshausen speaks so constantly of the Church rites and ceremonies he is not alluding to any special church. In the next letter, which is an extremely interesting one, the word Temple is substituted for Eglise. A Church properly speaking means a body of worshippers. A Temple means a building containing a shrine. This distinction is of importance. In France the R.C. Community call the Protestant places of worship Temples, which according to their views they cannot be, as they would not consider that the Protestants have the Sacred Vessels or offices, or anything really pertaining to a shrine.

Nevertheless, it is also clear that Eckartshausen speaks with so much respect of rites and ceremonies, symbols and hieroglyphics, which he may take otherwise than necessarily Egyptian, of course, that one feels that he must have thought with more respect of those Churches that have kept a larger amount of rite and ceremony than those who deliberately docked them. These latter emulated too soon the exalted condition of being “beyond formulas,” and so fell below it, the tendency of mankind in a natural condition being towards outer manifestation. This, of course, is but a preliminary stage, but a long way ahead of the condition of not feeling any desire for such manifestation.

In speaking of the “Elect” we cannot be sufficiently careful not to fall into any error of thought on this matter by being influenced by any dregs of Calvinistic limitation. We cannot exalt our ideas on of the subject high enough, for in fact we do not know anything at all about who and what are the Elect. Our mystic is certainly not writing on ordinary lines, neither to ordinary people. One may be inclined then to say, “Oh, then it does not concern us,” but it does, for we never know when we may turn from the ordinary into the extra-ordinary. All we have to do is- our best. We certainly shal1 be in the right if we exalt all theology especially as conveyed through mystic writers (who seem to have the power of exalting the gold into still purer sublimation, only it is only in appearance) as high as our imagination will go. The possibility of reaching this region will always be open to us, if we do not fall into the snare of imagining that we can easily experimentally arrive at this altitude. All the letters of Eckartshausen point to a region of thought and action quite beyond recognized theology. We therefore infer that he and other mystics give us some of the information known to the inner Sanctuary, and not taught generally in the outer circles, that is, in the Churches of Christendom. We must certainly read the words “Christian Mysteries” between the lines. If we said they mean the Sacraments, especially of the Holy Supper, we should limit these mysteries to those that are acknowledged as such and given generally to Christian Europe. We must all of us see an advanced grade beyond the one which we many of us can achieve, a grade of high initiation which will open these mysteries to us, an attitude of thought which at least must command our respect, and which certainly if faithfully

maintained would in itself do much to advance us. The fear of God is the beginning of Wisdom. Wisdom, as Eckartshausen points out, being something truly comprehensive.

1. I Can’t but think here that the words interior and exterior are transposed in translating from the original German to the French from which I translate it, but I put it as I find in the text of the very valuable edition to which I have access.- I. de S.
2. Civiliser in French, coming also from “civilis,” does not mean literally civilize, but it is difficult to find an English equivalent expressive of reducing things to civil or ordinary practice.- I. de S.
3. Capitals are rarely employed. I always quote them, but occasionally use them in other places when the sense requires them, so as not to confuse the cases and genders, for instance, esprit evidently requires to be written occasionally Spirit, not spirit.

ISABEL DE STEIGER.

LETTER III

Scanned from “The Unknown World”, Vol. II. – No. 2, March 15, 1895, and corrected by hand.

The absolute truth lying in the center of Mystery is like the sun, it blinds ordinary sight and man sees only the shadow. The eagle alone can gaze at the dazzling light, likewise only the prepared soul can bear its lustre. Nevertheless the great Something which is the inmost of the Holy Mysteries has never been hidden from the piercing gaze of him who can bear the light.

God and nature have no mysteries for their children. They are caused by the weakness of our nature, unable to support light, because it is not yet organized to bear the chaste light of unveiled truth.

This weakness is the Cloud that covers the Sanctuary; this is the curtain which veils the Holy of Holies.

But in order that man may recover the veiled light, strength and dignity, Divinity bends to the weakness of its creatures, and writes the truth that is interior and eternal mystery on the outside of things, so that man can transport himself through this to their spirit.

These letters are the ceremonies or the rituals of religion, which lead man to the interior life of union with God.

Mystic hieroglyphs are these letters also; they are sketches and designs holding interior and holy truth.

Religion and the Mysteries go hand in hand to lead our brethren to truth, both have for object the reversing and renewing of our natures, both have for the end the re-building of a temple inhabited by Wisdom and Love, or God with man.

But religion and the Mysteries would be useless phenomena if Divinity had not also accorded means to attain these great ends.

But these means are only in the innermost of the sanctuary. The Mysteries are required to build a temple to Religion, and religion is required to unite Man with God.

Such is the greatness of religion, and such the exalted dignity of the Mysteries from all time.

It would be unjust to you, beloved brothers, that we should think that you have never regarded the Holy Mysteries in this real aspect, the one which shows them as the only means able to preserve in purity and integrity the doctrine of the important truths concerning God, nature, and man. This doctrine was couched in holy symbolic language, and the truths which it contained having been gradually translated among the outer circle into the ordinary languages of man, became in con-sequence more obscure and unintelligible.

The Mysteries, as you know, beloved brothers, promise things which are and which will remain always the heritage of but a small number of men; these are the mysteries which can neither be bought nor sold publicly, and can only be acquired by a heart which has attained to wisdom and love.

He in whom this holy flame has been awakened lives in true happiness, content with everything and in everything free. He sees the cause of human corruption and knows that it is inevitable. He hates no criminal, he pities him, and seeks to raise him who has fallen, and to restore the wanderer, because he feels notwithstanding all the corruption, in the whole there is no taint.

He sees with a clear eye the underlying truth in the foundation of all religion, he knows the sources of superstition and of incredulity, as being caused by modifications of truth which have not attained perfect equilibrium.

We are assured, my esteemed brothers, that you consider the true Mystic from this aspect, and that you will not attribute to his royal art, that which the energy of some isolated individuals have made of this art.

It is, therefore, with these views, which accord exactly with ours, that you will compare religion, and the mysteries of the holy schools of Wisdom, to loving sisters who have watched over the good of mankind since the necessity of their birth.

Religion divides itself into exterior and interior religion, exterior signifying ceremony; and interior, worship in spirit and in truth; the outer schools possessing the letter and the symbol, the inner ones, the spirit and meaning- but the outer schools were united to the inner ones by ceremonies, as also the outer schools of the mysteries were linked with the inner one by means of symbol.

Thus religion can never be merely ceremony, but hidden and holy mysteries penetrate through symbol into the outer worship to prepare men properly for the worship of God in spirit and in truth.

Very soon the night of symbol will disappear, the light will bring forth the day and the mysteries no longer veiled will show themselves in the splendor of full truth.

The vestibule of nature, the temple of reason and the sanctuary of Revelation, will form but one Temple. Thus the great edifice will be completed, the edifice which consists in the re-union of man, nature, and God.

A perfect knowledge of man, of nature, and of God will be the lights which will enable the leaders of humanity to bring back from every side their wandering brothers, those who are led by the prejudices of reason, by the turbulence of passions, to the ways of peace and knowledge.

We are approaching the period of light, and the reign of wisdom and love, that of God who is the source of light; Brothers of light, there is but one religion whose simple truth spreads in all religions like branches, returning through multiplicity into the unity of the tree.

Sons of truth, there is but one order, but one Brotherhood, but one association of men thinking alike in the one object of acquiring the light. From this center misunderstanding has caused innumerable Orders, but all will return from the multiplicity of opinions, to the only truth and to the true Order, the association of those who are able to receive the light, the Community of the Elect.

With this measure all religions and all orders of man must be measured.

Multiplicity is in the ceremony of the exterior truth only in the interior. The right of these brotherhoods is in the variety of explanation of the symbols caused by the lapse of time, needs of the day, and other circumstances. The true Community of Light can be only one.

The exterior symbol is only the sheath which holds the inner; it may change and multiply, but it can never weaken the truth of the interior; moreover, it was necessary; we ought to seek it and try to decipher it to discover the meaning of the spiritual interior.

All errors, divisions, all misunderstandings in Religion and in secret societies only concern the letter. What rests behind it remains always pure and holy.

Soon the time for those who seek the light will be accomplished, or the day comes when the old will be united to the new, the outer to the inner, the high with the low, the heart with the brain, man with God, and this epoch is destined for present age. Do not ask, beloved brothers, … why the present age? …

Everything has its time for beings subject to time and space. It is in such wise according to the unvarying law of the Wisdom of God, who has co-ordinated all in harmony and perfection.

The elect should first labor to acquire both wisdom and love, in order to earn the gift of power, which unchangeable Divinity gives only to those who know and those who love.

Morning follows night, and the sun rises, and all moves on to full mid-day, where all shadows disappear in his vertical splendor. Thus, the letter of truth must exist; then comes the practical explanation, then the truth itself; only truth can comprehend truth; then alone can the spirit of truth appear which sets the seals closing the light. He who now can receive the truth will understand. It is to you, much loved brothers, you who labor to reach truth, you who have so faithfully preserved the hieroglyphics of the holy mysteries in your temple, it is to you that the first ray of truth will be directed; this ray will pierce through the cloud of mystery, and will announce the full day and the treasure which it brings.

Do not ask who those are who write to you; look at the spirit not the letter, the thing, not at persons.

Neither pride, nor self seeking, neither does any unworthy motive, exist in our retreats; we know the object and the destination of man, and the light which lights us works in all our actions.

We are especially called to write to you, dear brothers of light; and that which gives power to our commission is the truth which we possess, and which we pass on to you on the least sign, and according to the measure of the capacity of each.

Light is apt for communication, where there is reception and capacity, but it constrains no one, and waits its reception tranquilly.

Our desire, our aim, our office is to revivify the dead letter, and to spiritualize the symbols, turn the passive into the active, death into life; but this we cannot do by ourselves, but through the spirit of light of Him who is Wisdom and the Light of the world.

Until the present time the Inner Sanctuary has been separated from the Temple, and the Temple beset with those who belong only to the precincts; but the time is coming when the Innermost will be reunited with the Temple, in order that those who are in the Temple can influence those who are in the outer courts, so that the outer pass in.

In our sanctuary all the hidden mysteries are preserved intact, they have never been profaned.

This sanctuary is invisible, as is a force which is only known through its action.

By this short description, my dear brothers, you can tell who we are, and it will be superfluous to assure you that we do not belong to those restless natures who seek to build in this common life an ideal after their own fantastic imaginations. Neither do we belong to those who wish to play a great part in the world, and who promise miracles that they themselves do not understand. We do not represent either that class of minds, who, resenting the condition of certain things, have no object but the desire of dominating others, and who love adventure and exaggeration.

We can also assure you that we belong to no other sect or association than the one true and great one of those who are able to receive the light. We are not also of those who think it their right to mould all after their own model, the arrogance to seek to re-model all other societies; we assure you faithfully that we know exactly the innermost of religion and of the Holy Mysteries; and that we possess with absolute certainty, all that has been surmised to be in the Adytum, and that this said possession gives us the strength to justify our commission, and to impart to the dead letter and hieroglyphic everywhere both spirit and life. The treasures in our sanctuary are many; we understand the spirit and meaning of all symbols and all ceremony which have existed since the day of Creation to the present time, as well as the most interior truths of all the Holy Books, with the laws and customs of primitive people.

We possess a light by which we are anointed, and by means of which we read the hidden and secret things of nature.

We possess a fire which feeds us, and which gives us the strength to act upon everything in nature. We possess a key to open the gate of mystery, and a key to shut nature’s laboratory. We know of the existence of a bond which will unite us to

the Upper Worlds, and reveal to us their sights and their sounds. All the marvels of nature are subordinate to our will by its being united with Divinity.

We have mastered the science which draws directly from nature, whence there is no error, but truth and light only.

In our School we are instructed in all things because our Master is the Light itself and its essence. The plenitude of our scholarship is the knowledge of this tie between the divine and spiritual worlds and of the spiritual world with the elementary, and of the elementary world with the material world.

By these knowledges we are in condition to co-ordinate the spirits of nature and the heart of man.

Our science is the inheritance promised to the Elect; otherwise, those who are duly prepared for receiving the light, and the practice of our science is in the completion of the Divine union with the child of man.

We could often tell you, beloved brothers, of marvels relating to the hidden things in the treasury of the Sanctuary, which would amaze and astonish you; we could speak to you about ideas concerning which the profoundest philosophy is as removed as the earth from the sun, but to which we are near being one with the light of the innermost.

But our object is not to excite your curiosity, but to raise your desires to seek the light at its source, where your search for wisdom will be rewarded and your longing for love satisfied, for wisdom and love dwell in our retreats. The stimulus of their reality and of their truth is our magical power.

We assure you that our treasures, though of infinite value, are concealed in so simple a manner that they entirely baffle the researches of opinionated science, and also though these treasures would bring to carnal minds both madness and sorrow, nevertheless, they are, and they ever remain to us the treasures of the highest wisdom.

My best blessing upon you, O my brothers, if you understand these great truths.

The recovery of the triple word and of its power will be your reward.

Your happiness will be in having the strength to help to re-unite man with man, and with nature and with God, which is the real work of every workman who has not rejected the Corner Stone.

Now we have fulfilled our trust and we have announced the approach of full day, and the joining of the inner Sanctuary with the Temple; we leave the rest to your own free will.

We know well, to our bitter grief, that even as the Savior was not understood in his personality, but was ridiculed and condemned in his humility, likewise also His spirit which will appear in glory will also be rejected and despised by many.

Nevertheless the coming of His Spirit should be announced in the Temples in order that these words should be fulfilled.

“I have knocked at your doors and you have not opened them to me; I have called and you have not listened to my voice; I have invited you to the wedding, but you were busy with other things.”

May Peace and the light of the Spirit be with you!

TRANSLATOR’S NOTE.

It appears to me that it is most necessary to bear in mind, while reading the above, that as a rule all mystic writing is, so to speak, synthetic. This seems a contradiction somewhat to the continual repetition of very similar words and ideas. It is, however, synthetic in this respect, that though apparently diffuse, it is in reality condensed to the utmost.

There can be no manner of doubt that the author of the letters is addressing readers and hearers who are already much advanced in philosophy. It is well now and then, to use words in their true meaning, and say that his hearers and readers must have been true lovers of wisdom in the best sense, or he could not have addressed them as he does. Because, as I think I ventured to suggest in the notes to the first letter, Regeneration to the mystic does not mean the degenerate interpretation of modern theology.

The royal art hinted at in these letters is well called royal, as it is neither more nor less than a close imitation, under the inspiration of God’s wisdom, of the Creative power itself, or rather the re-creation of man back to his original royal stand-point.

What other work can compare to this?

No wonder “theology” in the early ages meant something very different in sense of fullness to the emptiness of theology as expounded in modern times. This indeed does hold the original letter, but the wonders lying behind it wait now for the true priest to decipher.

This “Royal Art” may be taken as pertaining to the “Christian Mysteries” which Eckartshausen speaks of with such deep respect and reverence as being in the Inner Sanctuary. In that Inner Sanctuary, where we may surmise none but the elect or the re-created could enter!

No wonder the prayers of such men ascended with sweet savor to the Master, no wonder the work of such men was efficacious as for century to century they worked on in order and knowledge towards the great Consummation, when the end was achieved and the Temple in its perfection manifested as the “first Fruits,” so that all who were ready saw, and all who were ready heard, for the day of the Gentiles had arrived.

Eckartshausen is, therefore, addressing the modern descendants in his day of those elect men- men who, coming after the consummation, could never achieve again the same work, but who had entered into the mysteries, and whose duty was to protect and cherish them. And to all followers, however remote they may have

been in his day, and in our days, from the special elect at the great period of the Church, is the same work given.

His synthetic language, therefore, is really addressed to minds already in good possession of a vast quantity of knowledge to whom it was not necessary to do more than point the discourse by short, direct, condensed description, for it is very clear that except in inculcating respect to the service of religion, there is very little that would be directly teaching to an ordinary theological student, who, we will-suppose, reads his exhortation with no knowledge of what interior process really meant.

Indeed, it would seem to such rather assumption and assertion, especially the latter part where Eckhartshausen, speaking in the plural, directly affirms his transcendental position with no explanation as to the how and the why.

It is clear, therefore, that he is addressing real students of the mysteries, and that whoever is fortunate enough to be a real student, to such the language will be sufficiently illuminative. If they were empty and inflated claims, it is certain that his letters would long ago have been repudiated as worthless; but we know that the contrary has been the case, and that no contradictions on his own grounds have ever been made.

One must notice, also, that in this letter, after speaking chiefly of the Church in the previous letters, it is the Temple that is generally referred to. Does it not all point to a conclusion, which I fancy all students of these matters agree to, that the Church, whether Eastern or Western, is meant as being the Receptacle for the letter, the enunciator of the synthesized unchangeable doctrine, and whose religion lies in symbol and hieroglyph, whereas it is reserved for another order, that of the Temple or the redeemed men within the Church to hold the mystery therein concealed, forming the Nameless Society which is made up from chosen (i.e., capable) men and women, out of the inner societies which have always existed as circles within more and more nearly approaching the Sacred Center. All mystics exhort students to respect and revere the religion in which they are born, being, as Eckartshausen so repeatedly points out, the standpoint from which more interior journey can alone be safely made. The word mystery is often most annoying to some minds, as is also the continual holding out of apparently vague and illusive hopes and expectations.

Eckartshausen especially says he does not wish to awaken curiosity; it is nevertheless clear that he does. To some minds it will remain mere curiosity, but others will be stimulated to prolonged and patient search and work. There can be no doubt in such case the road will open unexpectedly, and work will be pointed out that was not foreseen. Mystery not only means veiled knowledge, but also what is beyond our senses, so we call it rightly mystery in opposition to exact science which we know is within the capability of all industrious students, whereas mystery opens the possibility of undreamt of knowledge, and undreamt of happiness, for all the noble souls who we presume have a right to say so, say it is the Pearl without price. The great philosophy of the east in its grand and sonorous language says so, and we in modern times find that such was ever the one idea of the first philosophers, to which sources our most recent modern philosophy is wisely once more directing earnest attention.

ISABEL DE STEIGER.

LETTER IV

Scanned from “The Unknown World”, Vol. II. – No. 3, April 15, 1895, and corrected by hand.

As infinity in numbers loses itself in the unit, and as the innumerable rays of a circle are united in one single center only, it is likewise with the Mysteries; their hieroglyphics and infinite number of emblems have the object of exemplifying but one single truth. He who knows this has found the key to understand everything all at once.

There is but one God, but one truth, and one way which leads to this grand Truth.

There is but one means of finding it.

He who has found this way possesses everything in its possession all wisdom in one book alone, all strength in one force, every beauty in one single object, all riches in one treasure only, every happiness in one perfect felicity. And the sum of all these perfections is Jesus Christ, who was crucified and who lived again. Now, this great truth, expressed thus, is, it is true, only an object of faith, but it can become also one of experimental knowledge, as soon as we are instructed how Jesus Christ can be or become all this.

This great mystery was always an object of instruction in the Secret School of the invisible and interior Church; this great knowledge was understood in the earliest days of Christianity under the name of Disciplina Arcana. From this secret school are derived all the rites and ceremonies I extant in the Outer Church. But the spirit of these grand and simple verities was withdrawn into the Interior, and in our day it is entirely lost as to the exterior.

It has been prophesied long ago, dear brothers, that all which is hidden shall be revealed in these latter days; but it has also been predicted that many false prophets will arise, and the faithful are warned not to believe every spirit, but to prove them if they really come from God, I. John iv., 5. The apostle himself explains how this truth is ascertained. He says, “Hereby know ye the Spirit of God, every spirit which confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of God, and every spirit which confesseth not is not of God.” That is to say, the spirit who separates in Him the Divine and human is not from God.

We confess that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh, and hence the spirit of truth speaks by us. But the mystery that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh is of wide extent and great depth, and in it is contained the knowledge of the divine-human, and it is this knowledge that we are choosing today as object for our instruction.

As we are not speaking to neophytes in matters of faith, it will be much easier for you, dear brothers, to receive the sublime truths which we will present to you, as without doubt you have already chosen as object for your holy meditation various preparatory subjects.

Religion considered scientifically is the doctrine of the re-union of man separated from God to man re-united to God. Hence its sole object is to unite every human

being to God, through which union alone can humanity attain its highest felicity both temporally and spiritually.

This doctrine, therefore, of re-union is of the most sublime importance, and being a doctrine it necessarily must have a method by which it leads and teaches us. The first is the knowledge of the correct means of re-union, and secondly the teaching, after the knowledge of the correct means, how these means should be suitably coordinated to the end.

This grand concept of re-union, on which all religious doctrine is concentrated, could never have been known to man without revelation. It has always been altogether outside the sphere of scientific knowledge, but this very ignorance of man has made revelation absolutely necessary to us, otherwise we could, unassisted, never have found the means of rising out of this state of ignorance.

Revelation entails the necessity of faith in revelation, because he who has no experience or knowledge whatsoever of a thing must necessarily believe that he wishes to know and have experience. If faith fails, there is no desire for revelation, and the mind of man closes by itself, its own door and road for discovering the methods revealed by Revelation only. As action and re-action follow each other in nature, so also inevitably revelation and faith act and re-act. One cannot exist without the other, and the more faith a man has the more will revelation be made to him of matters which lie in obscurity. It is true, and very true, that all the veiled truths of religions, even those heavily veiled ones, the most difficult ones to us, will one day be revealed and justified before a tribunal of the most rigid Justice; but the weakness of men, the lack of penetration in perceiving the relation and correspondence between physical and spiritual nature, requires that the highest truths should only be imparted gradually.

The holy obscurity of the mysteries is thus on account of our weakness, because our eyes are enabled only gradually to bear their full and dazzling light. In every grade at which the believer in Revelation arrives, he obtains clearer light, and this progressive illumination continues the more convincing, because every truth of faith so acquired becomes more and more vitalized, passing finally into conviction.

Hence faith is founded on our weakness, and also on the full light of revelation which will, in its communication with us, direct us according to our capabilities to the gradual understanding of things, so that in due order the cognizance of the most elevated truths will be ours.

Those objects which are quite unknown to human sense are necessarily belonging to the domain of faith.

Man can only adore and be silent, but if he wishes to demonstrate matters which cannot be manifested objectively, he necessarily falls into error.

Man should adore and be silent, therefore, until such time arrives when these objects in the domain of faith become clearer, and, therefore, more easily recognized. Everything proves itself by itself as soon as we have acquired the interior experience of the truths revealed through faith, so soon as we are led by faith to vision, that is to say, to full cognizance.

In all time have there been men illuminated of God who had this interior knowledge of the things of faith demonstrated objectively either in full or partly, according as the truths of faith passed into their understanding or their hearts. The first kind of vision was called divine illumination. The second was entitled divine inspiration.

The inner sensorium was opened in many to divine and transcendental vision, called ecstasy because this inner sensorium was so enlarged that it entirely dominated the outer physical senses.

But this kind of man is always inexplicable, and he must remain such always to the man of mere sense who has no organs receptive to the transcendental and supernatural, “the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him and he cannot know them, because they are spiritually judged,” I. Cor; xi., 14, i.e., because his spiritual senses are not open to the transcendental world, so that he can have no more objective cognizance of such world than a blind man has of color; thus the natural man has lost these interior senses, or rather, the capacity for their development is neglected almost to atrophy.

Thus mere physical man is, in general, spiritually blind, one of the further consequences of the Fall. Man then is doubly miserable; he not only has his eyes blindfolded to the sight of high truths, but his heart also languishes a prisoner in the bonds of flesh and blood, which confine him to animal and sensuous pleasures to the hurt of more elevated and genuine ones. Therefore, are we slaves to concupiscence, to the domination of tyrannical passions, and, therefore, do we drag ourselves as paralyzed sufferers supported on crutches; the one crutch being the weak one of mere human reason, and the other, sentiment- the one daily giving us appearance instead of reality, the other making us constantly choose evil, imagining it to be good. This is, therefore, our unhappy condition.

Men can only be happy when the bandage which intercepts the true light falls from their eyes, and when the fetters of slavery are loosened from their hearts. The blind must see, the lame must walk, before happiness can be understood. But the great and all-powerful law to which the felicity or happiness of man is indissolubly attached is the one following- “Man, let reason rule over your passions!”

For ages has man striven to teach and to preach, with, however, the result, after so many centuries, of but the blind always leading the blind; for in all the foolishness of misery into which we have fallen, we do not yet see that man wants more than man to raise us from this condition.

Prejudices and errors, crimes and vices, only change from century to century; they are never extirpated from humanity; reason without illumination flickers faintly in every age, in the heavy air of spiritual darkness; the heart, exhausted with passions, is also the same century after century.

There is but One who can heal these evils, but One who is able to open our inner eyes, but One who can free us from the bonds of sensuality.

This One is Jesus Christ, the Savior of Man, the Savior because He wishes to obliterate from us all the consequences which follow as result from the blindness of our natural reason, or the errors arising from the passions of ungoverned hearts.

Very few men, beloved brothers, have a true and exact conception of the greatness of the idea meant by the Redemption of Man; many suppose that Jesus Christ the Lord has only redeemed or re-bought us by His Blood from damnation, otherwise the eternal separation of man from God; but they do not believe that He could also deliver all those who are bound in Him and confide in Him, from all the miseries of this earth plane!

Jesus Christ is the Savior of the World ; He is the deliverer from all human wretchedness, and He has redeemed us from death and sin; how could He be all that, if the world must languish perpetually in the shades of ignorance and in the bonds of passions? It has been already very clearly predicted in the Prophets that the time of the Redemption of His people, the first Sabbath of time, will come. Long ago ought we to have acknowledged this most consolatory promise; but the want of the true knowledge of God, of man, and of nature has been the real hindrance which has always obstructed our sight of the great Mysteries of the faith.

You must know, my brothers, that there is a dual nature, one pure, spiritual, immortal, and indestructible, the other impure, material, mortal, and destructible. The pure nature was before the impure. This latter originated solely through the disharmony and disproportion of substances which form destructible nature. Hence nothing is pertinent until all disproportions and dissonances are eradicated, so that all remains in harmony.

The incorrect conception regarding spirit and matter is one of the principal causes which prevent many verities of faith from shining in their true lustre.

Spirit is a substance, an essence, an absolute reality. Hence its properties are indestructibility, uniformity, penetration, indivisibility, and continuity. Matter is not a substance, it is an aggregate. Hence it is destructible, divisible, and subject to change.

The metaphysical world is one really existing, perfectly pure and indestructible, whose Center we call Jesus Christ, and whose inhabitants are known by the names of Angels and Spirits.

The physical world is that of phenomena, and it possesses no absolute truth, all that we call truth here is but relative, the shadow and phenomena only of truth.

Our reason here borrows all its ideas from the senses, hence they are lifeless and dead. We draw everything from external objectivity, and our reason is like an ape who imitates what nature shows him outwardly. Thus the light of the senses is the principle of our earthly reason, sensuality the motive for our will, tending therefore to animal wants and their satisfaction. It is true, however, that we feel higher motives imperative, but up to the present we do not know either where to seek or where to find.

In this world everything is corruptible; it is useless to seek here for a pure principle of reason and morality or motive for the Will. This must be sought for in a more exalted world- there, where all is pure and indestructible, where there reigns a Being all wisdom and all love. Thus the world neither can nor will become happy until this Real Being can be received by humanity in full and become its All in All.

Man, dear brothers, is composed of indestructible and metaphysical substance, as well as of material and destructible substance, but in such a manner that the indestructible and eternal is, as it were, imprisoned in the destructible matter.

Thus two contradictory natures are comprehended in the same man. The destructible substance enchains us to the sensible, the other seeks to deliver us from these chains, and to raise us to the spiritual. Hence the incessant combat between good and evil.

The fundamental cause of human corruption is to be found in the corruptible matter from which man is formed. For this gross matter oppresses the action of the transcendental and spiritual principle, and is the true cause, hence, of the blindness of our understanding, and the errors of our inclinations.

The fragility of a china vessel depends upon the clay from which it is formed. The most beautiful form that clay of any sort is able to receive must always remain fragile because the matter of which it is formed is also fragile. Thus do men remain likewise frail notwithstanding all our external culture.

When we examine the causes of the obstacles keeping the natural man in such deep abasement, they are found in the grossness of the matter in which the spiritual part is, as it were, buried and bound.

The inflexibility of fibers, the immovability of temperaments, that would wish to obey the refined stimulation of the spirit, are, as it were, the material chains which bind them, preventing in us the action of the sublime functions of which the spirit is capable.

The nerves and fluidity of the brain can only yield us rough and obscure notions derived from phenomena, and not from truth and the things themselves; and as we cannot, by the strength of our thinking powers alone, have sufficient balance to oppose representations strong enough to counteract the violence of external sensation, the result is that we are governed by our sensations, and the voice of reason which speaks softly internally is deafened by the tumultuous noise of the elements which keep our mechanism going.

It is true that reason strains to raise itself above this uproar, and wishes to decide the combat, seeking to restore order by the light and force of its judgment. But its action is only like the rays of the sun constantly hidden by clouds.

The grossness of all the matter in which material man consists, and the tissue of the whole edifice of his nature, is the cause of that disinclination which holds the soul in continual imperfection.

The heaviness of our thinking power in general is consequent upon dependence upon gross and unyielding matter, this same matter forming the true bonds of the flesh, and is the true source of all error and vice. Reason, which should be an absolute legislator, is continually slave to sensuality, which raises itself as regent and, governing the reason that is drooping in chains, follows its own desires.

This truth has been felt for long, and it has always been taught that reason should be sole legislator. It should govern the will and never be governed itself.

Great and small feel this truth; but no sooner is it desired to put it in execution than the animal will vanquishes reason, and then the reason subjugates the animal will; thus in every man the victory and defeat are alternate, hence this power and counter-power are the cause of this perpetual oscillation between good and evil, or the true and the false.

If man wishes to be led to the true in such manner that we can only act after the laws of reason, and from the purified will, it is absolutely necessary to constitute the pure reason sovereign in man.

But how can this be done when the matter out of which many men is formed is more or less brutal, divisible and corruptible, hence misery, illness, poverty, death, want, prejudices, errors, and vices, the necessary consequence of the limitation of the immortal spirit in the bonds of brute and corruptible matter. Sensuality is bound to rule if reason be fettered.

Yes, friends and brothers, such is the general fate of man, and as this state of things is propagated from man to man, it may in all justice be called the hereditary corruption of man.

We observe, in general, that the powers of reason act upon the heart, but in relation only to the specific constitution of the matter of which man is made. Thus it is extremely remarkable when we think that the sun vivifies this animal matter according to the measure of the distance from this terrestrial body, that it makes it suitable to the functions of animal economy, but at one degree more or less raised from spiritual influence. Diversity of nations, their properties with regard to climate, the variety of character, passions, manners, prejudices and customs, even their virtues and their vices, depend entirely upon the specific constitution of the matter from which they are formed, and in which the imprisoned spirit operates accordingly.

Man’s capacity for culture is modified to this constitution, likewise his science, which can only affect people as far as there is matter present, susceptible to such modification, and in this modification consists the capacity for culture suitable to such people, which suitability depends partly on climate, partly on descent.

Generally, we find in each zone man much the same everywhere, weak and sensual, wise just in so far as his physical matter allows reason to triumph over the sensuous or foolish if the sensuous obtains mastery over the more or less fettered spirit. In this lies the evil and the good specially belonging to each nation, as well as to each isolated individual. We find in the world at large the same corruption

inherent in the matter from which man is made, only under various forms and modifications.

From the lowest animal condition of savage nature man rises to the idea of the social state, primarily through his wants and desires, strength and cunning; qualities especially animal, inherently his as the animal develops thence gradually into other forms.

The modifications of these fundamental animal tendencies are endless; and the highest degree to which human culture, as acquired by the world, has attained, up to the present has not carried things further than the putting of a finer polish on the substance of his animal instincts. This means to say we are raised from the rank of the brute to that of the refined animal.

But this period was necessary, because on its accomplishment begins a new era, when the animal instincts being fully developed, there commences the stage of evolution of the more elevated desires towards light and reason.

Jesus Christ has written in our hearts in exceedingly beautiful words this great truth, that man must seek in his common clay for the cause of all his sorrows. When He said, “The best man, he who strives the most to arrive at truth, sins seven times a day,”[1] He wished to say by this; in the man of the finest organization, the seven powers of the spirit are still closed, therefore the seven sensuous actions surmount them daily after their respective fashions.

Thus the best man is exposed to error and passions; the best man is weak and sinful; the best man is not a free man, and, therefore, exempt from pain and trouble; the best man is subject to sickness and death, and why? Because all these are the natural inevitable consequences incidental to the qualities of the corrupt matter of which he is formed.

Therefore, there could be no hope of higher happiness for humanity so long as this corruptible and material forms the principal substantial part of his being.

The impossibility of mankind to transport itself, of itself, to true perfection, is a despairing thought, but, at the same time, one full of consolation, because, in consequence of this radical impossibility, and because of it, a more exalted and perfect being than man permitted himself to be clothed in this mortal and destructible envelope in order to make the mortal immortal, and the destructible indestructible; and in this object is to be sought the true reason for the Incarnation of Jesus Christ.

Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the actual substantial Word by which all is made, and which existed from the beginning, Jesus Christ, the Wisdom of God working in everything, was as the center of Paradise of the world and of light. He was the only real organism by which alone Divine strength could be communicated, and this organism is of immortal and pure nature, that indestructible substance which gives new life and raises all things to happiness and perfection. This pure incorruptible substance is the pure element in which spiritual man lived.

From this perfect element, which God only can inhabit, and the substance out of which the first man was formed, from it was the first man separated by the Fall. By the partaking of the Tree of Good and Evil, of the mixture, the good and incorruptible principle with the bad and corruptible one, he was self-poisoned, so that his immortal essence retreated interiorly, and the mortal, pressing forward, clothed him externally. Thus, then, disappeared immortality, happiness, and life, and mortality and death were the results of this change.

Many men cannot understand the idea of the Tree of Good and Evil; this tree was, however, the product of moveable but central matter, but in which destructibility had somewhat the superiority over the indestructible. The premature use of this fruit was that which poisoned Adam, robbing him of his immortality and enveloping him in this material and mortal clay, and thenceforward he fell a prey to the Elements which originally he governed. This unhappy event was, however, the reason why Immortal Wisdom, the pure metaphysical element, clothed itself with a mortal body and voluntarily sacrificed himself; so that the Interior Powers could penetrate into the center of the destruction, and could then ferment gradually, changing the mortal to the immortal.

Thus, when it came about quite naturally that immortal man became subject to mortality through the enjoyment of mortal matter, it also happened quite naturally that mortal man could only recover his former dignity through the enjoyment of Immortal Matter.

All passes naturally and simply under God’s Reign, but in order to understand this simplicity it is requisite to have pure ideas of God, of nature, and of man. And if the sublimest Truths of faith are still, for us, wrapped in impenetrable obscurity, the reason for this is because we have up to the present dissolved the connection between God, nature, and man.

Jesus Christ has spoken to His most intimate friends when He was still on this earth, of the grand mystery of Regeneration, but all that He said was obscure to them, they could not then receive it; thus the development of these great Truths was reserved for latter days, for it is the greatest and the last Mystery of Religion, in which all the others retreat as to a Unity.

Regeneration is no other than a dissolution of, and a release from this impure and corruptible matter, which enchains our immortal essence, plunging into deathly sleep its obstructed vital force.

Therefore, there must necessarily be a real method to eradicate this poisonous ferment which breeds so much suffering for us, and thereby to liberate the obstructed vitality.

There is, however, no other means to find this excepting by religion, for religion looked at scientifically being the doctrine which proclaims the re-union with God, it must of necessity show us how to arrive at this re-union.

Is not Jesus the life giving Intelligence? He gives us the principal object of the Bible and of all the desires, hopes, and efforts of the Christians. Have we not received from our Lord and Master while still He walked with His disciples, the

profoundest solutions of the most hidden truths? Did not our Lord and Master when He was with them in His glorified Body after His resurrection give them the highest revelation with regard to His Person, and did He not lead them still more deeply into central knowledge of truth?

Will He not realize that which He said in His Sacerdotal prayer, St. John xvii., 22, 23: “And the glory which thou hast given to me I have given unto them, that they may be one, even as We are one: I in them, and they in Me, that they may be perfected into one.”

As the disciples of the Lord could not comprehend this great mystery of the new and last alliance, Jesus Christ transmitted it to the latter days, of the future now arriving, when He said, “And the glory which Thou hast given Me, I have given unto them, that they may be one even as We are One,” St. John xvii. 22. This alliance is called the Union of Peace. It is then that the law of God will be engraven in the heart of our hearts; we shall all know the Lord; and we shall be

His people, and He will be our God.

All is already prepared for this actual possession of God, this union with God really possible here below; and the holy element, the efficacious medicine for humanity, is revealed by God’s Spirit. The table of the Lord is ready and everyone is invited; the “true bread of Angels” is prepared.

The holiness and the greatness of the Mystery which contains within itself every mystery here obliges us to be silent, and we are not permitted to speak more than concerning its effects.

The corruptible and destructible is destroyed, and replaced by the incorruptible and by the indestructible. The inner sensorium opens and links us on to the spiritual world. We are enlightened by wisdom, led by truth, and nourished with the torch of love. Unimagined strength develops in us wherewith to vanquish the world, the flesh and the devil. Our whole being is renewed and made suitable for the actual dwelling-place of the Spirit of God. Command over nature, intercourse with the upper worlds, and the delight of visible intercourse with the Lord are granted also!

The hoodwink of ignorance falls from our eyes, the bonds of sensuality break, and we rejoice in the liberty of God’s children.

We have told you the chiefest and most important fact, if your heart having the thirst for truth has laid hold on the pure ideas that you have gathered from all this, and have received in its entirety the grandeur and the blessedness of the thing itself as object of desire, we will tell you further.

May the Glory of the Lord and the renewing of your whole being be meanwhile the highest of your hopes!

TRANSLATOR’S NOTE.

It is of course evident that Eckartshausen is addressing two orders of mind- the reference to the Christian Mysteries implying this.

It is, therefore, as well to follow his advice and be silent, lest premature opinions might not only be useless, but misleading. It is abundantly clear, however, with regard to “Faith,” the cultivation of which he so much urges, that he cannot mean the lower Faith which does duty so much as the greater gift. I mean the Faith which cannot discern what is mere current opinion from superstition, a vast quantity of which pertinaciously clings round all “religions.” By Faith Eckartshausen means (I infer) agreeing to the great primal doctrines he enunciates as being beyond the solution of reason (but NOT in consequence to be discarded); for he urges zealously the necessity of reason. It is abundantly clear, therefore, that Eckartshausen is advocating the cause, not of a blind superstition, as many people now imagine this religion of his to be, but of the highly philosophical, profoundly reasoned, and self- demonstrating system of Theosophy experimentally understood by the higher minds of more advanced grade, but to the others still a matter of faith, that is, of future knowledge, if the proper means for acquiring it are duly followed.

ISABEL DE STEIGER.

1. I do not know to what text, if any, this refers, but I translate as I find for the sake of the context.

LETTER V

Scanned from “The Unknown World”, Vol. II. – No. 4, May 15, 1895, and corrected by hand.

In our last letter, my dear brothers (and sisters), you granted me your earnest attention to that highest of mysteries, the real possession of God; it is therefore necessary to give you fuller light on this subject.

Man, as we know, is unhappy in this world because he is made out of destructible matter that is subject to trouble and sorrow.

The fragile envelope- i.e., his body- exposes him to the violence of the elements, pain, poverty, suffering, illnesses. This is his normal fate; his immortal spirit languishing in the bonds of sense. Man is unhappy, because he is ill in body and soul, and he possesses no true panacea either for his body or for his soul.

Those whose duty it is to govern and lead other men to happiness, are as other men, also weak and subject to the same passions and prejudices.

Therefore, what fate can humanity expect? Must the greater part of it be always unfortunate? Is there no salvation for all ?

Brothers, if humanity as a whole is ever capable of being raised to a condition of true happiness, such state can only be possible under the following conditions:-

First, poverty, pain, illness and sorrow must become much less frequent.

Secondly, passions, prejudices and ignorance must diminish.

Is this at all possible with the nature of man, when experience proves that, from century to century, suffering only assumes fresh form; that passions, prejudices and errors always cause the same evils; and when we realize that all these things only change shape, and that man in every age remains much the same weak man?

There is a terrible judgment pronounced upon the human race, and this judgment is- men can never become happy so long as they will not become wise; but they will never become wise, while sensuality governs reason, while the spirit languishes in the bonds of flesh and blood.

Where is the man that has no passions? Let him show himself. Do we not all wear the chains of sensuality more or less heavily? Are we not all slaves? All sinners?

This realization of our low estate excites in us the desire to be raised beyond it, and we lift up our eyes on high, and an angel’s voice says- the sorrows of man shall be comforted.

Man being sick body and soul, this mortal sickness must have a cause, and this cause is to be found in the very matter out of which man is made.

The destructible imprisons the indestructible, the ferment of sin is in us, and in this ferment is human corruption, and its propagation and consequences form the perpetuation of original sin.

The healing of humanity is only possible through the destruction of this ferment of sin, hence we have need of a physician and a remedy that really can cure us. But an invalid cannot be cured by another; the man of destructible matter cannot re- make himself of indestructible matter; dead matter cannot awake other dead, the blind cannot lead the blind.

Only the Perfect can bring anything to perfection; only the Indestructible can make the destructible likewise; only the Living can wake the dead.

This Physician and this active Medicine cannot be found in death and destruction, only in superior nature where all is perfection and life!

The lack of the knowledge of the union of Divinity with nature, nature with man, is the true cause of all prejudice and error. Theologians, philosophers, moralists, all wish to regulate the world, and they fill it with endless contradictions.

Theologians do not see the union of God with nature and fall therefore into error.

Philosophers study only matter, and not the connection of pure nature with divine nature, and therefore announce the falsest opinions.

Moralists will not recognize the inherent corruption of human nature, and they expect to cure by words, when means are absolutely necessary.

Thus the world, man and God, continue in permanent dissension; one opinion drives out another; superstition and incredulity take turn about in dominating society, separating man from the word of truth when he has so much dire need of approaching her.

It is only in the true Schools of Wisdom that one can learn to know God, nature, and man; and in these, for thousands of years, has work been done in silence to acquire to the highest degree this knowledge,- the union of man with pure nature and with God.

This great object, God and Nature, to which everything tends, has been represented to man symbolically in every religion ; and all the symbols and holy glyphs are but the letter by which man can gradually, step by step, recover the highest of all divine mysteries, natural and human, and learn the means of healing his unhappy condition, and of the union of his being with pure nature and with God.

We have attained this epoch solely under God’s guidance. Divinity, next remembering its covenant with man, has given forth the means of cure for suffering mankind, and shown thereby how to raise man to his original dignity, uniting him to God, the Source of his happiness.

The knowledge of this method ensuring recovery is the science of Saints and of the Elect, and its possession the inheritance promised to God’s children.

Now, my beloved brothers, I want you to grant me your most earnest attention to what I am about to say.

In our blood there is lying concealed a slimy matter (called the gluten) which has a nearer kinship to animal than to spiritual man. This gluten is the body of sin.

This material, this matter, can be modified in various manners, according to the stimulus of sense; and according to the kind of modification and change occurring in this body or matter of sin, so also vary the diverse sinful tendencies of man.

In its most violent expansion this matter produces pride; in its utmost contraction, avarice, self-will and selfishness; in its repulsion, rage and anger; in its circular movements levity and incontinence in its eccentricity, greediness and drunken-ness; in its concentricity, envy; in its essence, sloth.

This ferment of sin, as original sin, is more or less working in the blood of every man, and is transmitted from father to son, and the perpetual propagation of this baneful material everlastingly hinders the simultaneous action of spirit with matter.

It is quite true that man by his will power can put limits to the action of this body of sin, and can dominate it so that it becomes less active, but to destroy and annihilate it altogether is beyond his power. This then is the cause of the combat we are constantly waging between the good and the evil in us.

This body of sin which is in us, forms the ties of flesh and blood which, on the one side, bind us to our immortal spirit, and, on the other, to the tendencies of the animal man. It is as it were the allurements of the animal passions that smolder and take fire at last.

The violent reaction of this body of sin in us, on sensuous stimulation, is the reason why we choose, for the want of calm and tranquil judgment, rather the evil than the good, because the active fermentation of this matter impedes the quiet action of the spirit necessary to instruct and sustain the reason.

This same evil matter is also the cause of our ignorance, because, as its thick and inflexible substance surcharges the fine brain fibers, it prevents the co-action of reason, which is required to penetrate the objects of the understanding.

Thus falseness and all evils are the properties of this sinful matter, this body of sin, just as the good and the true are the essential qualities of the spiritual principle within us.

Through the recognition and thorough understanding by us of this body of sin we learn to see that we are beings morally ill, that we have need of a physician who can give us a medicine which will destroy and eradicate the evil matter always fermenting banefully within us, a remedy that will cure us and restore us to moral health.

We learn also clearly to recognize that all mere moralizing with words is of little use when real means are necessary.

We have been moralizing in varied words for centuries, but the world remains pretty much the same. A doctor would do but little good in talking only of his remedies, it is necessary for him actually to prescribe his medicines; he has, however, first to see the real state of the sick person.

The condition of humanity- the moral sickness of man- is a true case of poisoning, consequent upon the eating of the fruit of the tree in which corruptible matter had the superiority.

The first effect of this poison resulted thus: the incorruptible principle, the body of life as opposed to the body of sin or death, whose expansion caused the perfection of Adam, concentrated itself inwardly, and the external part was abandoned to the government of the elements. Hence a mortal matter gradually covered the immortal essence, and the loss of this central light was the cause subsequently of all man’s sufferings.

Communication with the world of light was interrupted, the interior eye which bad the power of seeing truth objectively was closed, and the physical eye opened to the plane of changing phenomena.

Man lost all true happiness, and in this unhappy condition he would have for ever lost all means of restoration to health were it not that the love and mercy of God, who had no other object in creation but the greatest happiness for its creatures, immediately afforded to fallen man a means of recovery. In this means, he, with all posterity, had the right to trust, in order that while still in his state of banishment, he might support his misfortune with humility and resignation, and, moreover, find in his pilgrimage the great consolation, that every corruptible thing in man could be restored perfectly through the love of a Savior.

Despair would have been the fate of man without such revelation.

Man, before the Fall, was the living Temple of Divinity, and at the time when this Temple was destroyed, the plan to rebuild the Temple was already projected by the Wisdom of God; and at this period begin the Holy Mysteries of every religion, which are all and each in themselves, after a thousand varying modes, according to time and circumstances, and method of conception of different nations, but symbols repeated and modified of one solitary truth, and this unique truth is- regeneration, or the re-union of man with God.

Before the Fall man was wise, he was united to Wisdom; after the Fall he was no longer one with Her, hence a true science through express Revelation became absolutely necessary.

The Revelation was the following:-

The condition of immortality consists in immortality permeating the mortal.

Immortal substance is divine substance, and is no other than the magnificence of the Almighty throughout nature, the substance of the world and spirits, the infinity, in short, of God in whom all things move and have their being.

It is an immutable law, no creature can be truly happy when separated from the source of all happiness. This source, this in whom, is the magnificence of God Himself.

Through the partaking of destructible nourishment, man himself became destructible and material; matter, therefore, as it were places itself between God and man, that is to say, man is not directly penetrated and permeated by divinity, and,

in consequence, he is thenceforth subject to, and falls under the dominion of, the laws regulating matter.

The divine in man, imprisoned by the bonds of this matter, is his immortal part, the part that should be at liberty, in order that its development should once again rule the mortal. Then once more does man regain his original greatness.

But a means for his cure, and a method to externalize what is now hidden and concealed within, is requisite. Fallen and unwise man of himself can neither know nor grasp this expedient; he cannot even recognize it, because he has lost pure knowledge and the light of true wisdom; he cannot take hold of it, because this remedy is infolded in interior nature, and he has neither the strength or power to unlock this hidden force.

Hence Revelation to learn this means, and strength to acquire this power are necessary to man.

This necessity for the salvation of man was the cause of the determination of Wisdom, or the Son of God, to give Himself to be known by man, being the pure substance out of which all has been made. In this pure substance all power is reserved to vivify all dead substance, and to purify all that is impure.

But before that could be done, and the inmost part of man, the divine in him, be once more penetrated and re-opened again, and the whole world be regenerated, it was requisite that this divine substance should incarnate in humanity and become human, and therein transmit the divine and regenerative force to humanity; it was necessary also that this divine human form should be killed, in order that the divine and incorruptible substance contained in the blood should penetrate into the recesses of the earth, and thenceforth work a gradual dissolution of corruptible matter, so that in due time a pure and regenerated earth will be presented to man, with the Tree of Life growing once more, so that by partaking of its fruit, containing the true immortal essence, mortality in us will be once more annihilated, and man healed by the fruit of the Tree of Life, just as he was once poisoned by the partaking of the fruit of death.

This fact is the first and most important revelation and it embraces all, and it has been carefully preserved from mouth to mouth among the Chosen of God up to this time.

Human nature required a Savior, this Savior was Jesus Christ, the Wisdom of God itself, reality from God. He put on the envelope of humanity, to communicate directly the divine and immortal substance once more to the world, which was nothing else but Himself.

He offered himself voluntarily, in order that the pure essential force in His blood could penetrate directly, bringing with it the potentiality of all perfection to the hidden recesses of the earth.

Himself, both as High Priest and as Victim at the same time, entered into the Holy of Holies, and after having accomplished all that was necessary, he laid the foundation of the Royal Priesthood of

His Elect, and taught these through the knowledge His person and of His powers; now they should lead, as the first born of the spirit, other men, their brethren, to universal happiness.

And here begin the Sacerdotal Mysteries of the Elect and of the Inner Church.

The Royal and Priestly Science is that of Regeneration. It is called Royal Science

because it leads man to power and the dominion over Nature.

It is called Sacerdotal, because it sanctifies and brings all to perfection, spreading blessing and goodness everywhere.

This Science owes its immediate origin to the verbal revelation of God, it is always the Science of the Inner Church of Prophets and of Saints, and it recognized no other High Priest but Jesus Christ the Lord.

This Science has a triple object; first, regenerating the individual and isolated man, or the first of the Elect; second, many men; thirdly, all humanity.

Its exercise consists in the highest perfecting of itself and of everything in Nature.

This Science was never taught otherwise than by the Holy Spirit of God, and by those who were in unison with this Spirit, and it is beyond all other sciences, because it can alone teach the knowledge of God, of nature, and of man in a perfect harmony; while other sciences do not understand truly either God or nature, neither man nor his destination.

The capabilities of this Science are the powers to know God in man, and divinity in nature; these being, as it were, the Divine impression or seals, by which our inner selves can be opened and can arrive at union with Divinity.

Thus the re-union was the most exalted aim, and hence the Priesthood derived its name religio, clerus regenerans.

Melchizedek was the first Priest King; all true Priests of God and of Nature descend from him, and Jesus Christ himself was united with him as “priest” after the order of Melchizedek. This word is literally of the highest and widest significance and extent- [qoph][daleth] [tsadhe][kaph][lamedh][yod][mem] (MLKIZDQ). It means literally the introducing of the true substance of vital life, and the separation of this true vital substance from the mortal envelope which encloses it.

A Priest is one who separates that which is pure nature from that which is of impure nature, a separator of the substance which contains all from the destructible matter which occasions pain and misery. The sacrifice or that which has been separated consists in bread and wine.

Bread means literally the substance which contains all; wine the substance which vitalizes everything.

Therefore, a priest after the order of Melchizedek is one who knows how to separate the all-embracing and vitalizing substance from impure matter, one who knows how to employ it as a real means of reconciliation and of re-union for fallen humanity, in order to communicate to him his true and royal privilege of power over nature, and the Sacerdotal dignity or the ability to unite himself by grace to the upper worlds.

In these few words is contained all the mystery of God’s Priesthood, and the occupation and aim of the Priest.

But this royal Priesthood was only able to reach perfect maturity when Jesus Christ Himself as high Priest had fulfilled the greatest of all sacrifices, and had entered into the Holy Sanctuary.

Here we are now entering on new and great mysteries worthy, I entreat you, of your most earnest attention.

When, according to the wisdom and justice of God, it was resolved to save the fallen human race, the Wisdom of God had to choose the method which afforded in every aspect the most efficacious means for the consummation of this great object.

When man became so thoroughly poisoned by the fruit of evil, carrying in himself henceforth the ferment of death, all around him became subject to death and destruction, therefore, divine mercy was bound to establish a counter remedy, which could be partaken of, containing within itself the divine and revitalizing substance, so that by taking this immortal food, poisoned and death-stricken man could be healed and rescued from his suffering. But in order that this Tree of Life could be replanted; it was requisite beyond all things that the corruptible material in the center of the earth should be first regenerated, resolved and made capable of being again one day a universally vitalizing substance.

This capacity for new life, bringing about the dissolution of corruptible essence which is inherent in the center of the earth, was, however, possible to no other matter than divine vital substance enveloped in flesh and blood which could transmit the hidden forces of life to dead nature. This was done through the death of Jesus Christ.

The tinctural force which flowed from His shed blood penetrated to the innermost parts of the earth, raised the dead, rent the rocks, and caused the total eclipse of the sun when it pressed from the center of the earth where the light penetrated the central darkness to the circumference, and there laid the foundation of the future glorification of the world.

Since the death of Jesus Christ, the divine force, driven to the earth’s center by the shedding of His blood, works and ferments perpetually to press outward, and to fit and prepare all substances gradually for the great cataclysm which is destined for the world.

But the rebuilding of the world’s edifice in general was not only the aim of Redemption. Man was the principal object for the shedding of Christ’s blood, and to procure for him already in this material world the highest possible perfection by the amelioration of his being, Jesus Christ submitted to infinite suffering.

He is the Savior of the world and of man. The object and cause of His Incarnation was to rescue us from sin, misery, and from death.

Jesus Christ has delivered us from all evil by His flesh, which He sacrificed, and by His blood, which He shed for us.

In the clear understanding of what consists this flesh and this blood of Jesus Christ lies the true and pure knowledge of the real regeneration of man.

The mystery of being united with Jesus Christ, not only spiritually but also corporeally, is the greatest aim of the Inner Church. Become one with Him in spirit and in being is the fulfilling and plenitude of the efforts of the Elect.

The means for this real possession of God is hidden from the wise of this world, and revealed to the simplicity of children.

Vain philosopher, bend thyself before the grand and Divine Mysteries that thou in thy wisdom canst not understand, and for the penetration of whose secrets the feeble light of human reason darkened by sense can give thee no measure!

TRANSLATOR’S NOTE.

I am well aware that many readers of this fifth (the last but one) letter and the preceding ones, will think that the mystic who writes them was but a half-instructed philosopher, and had he known the Bibles of other nations would never have taught what will seem to some, bigoted and sectarian doctrines. But before such dictum be decided, is it not as well to remember that Eckartshausen and other mystics of his school especially say that all religions in their infinitely various manners of expressing themselves have the same object? Eckartshausen recognizes and does not even hint at condemnation of any of the various religions, he seems to respect all for he says that the aim and object of all is the Regeneration of Man. The stumbling block and difficulty to most students, certainly to those who are students only of the neo-Buddhism of the day, is the re-introduction of what is considered by such as exploded and narrow ideas, and that is the need of man for Salvation, his inability to help himself, and the Redemption of man by the Sacrifice of the Jewish Savior. It is neither in my province or power to enter with ability into this discussion, but I would respectfully suggest these two things- first are we quite sure as Buddhist students that we do understand the true hidden teaching of the Way of Salvation as known to their Initiates; secondly, do we all understand it either in Christianity? It is true, exoteric Buddhism even when called esoteric repudiates such doctrines, Christianity admits them, but has taught them in such fashion that a large

proportion of people born under Christianity repudiate them also. It is clear the outer schools all repudiate them, so it would seem that the Mystic Initiates preach doctrine no longer agreeable to our “sense of justice.”

It is thought by many that these new (?) doctrines of Karma and re-incarnation are much more satisfactory than Christian doctrines. Perhaps so, as modern Christianity is understood. But is evil Karma aught else but original sin in its works and consequences?

All knowledge is requisite, and it matters not so much how we get knowledge, so long that we do get it, therefore we owe a vast and great debt of gratitude to the Eastern school for refreshing ours by proving from another aspect the truth of our own, and one must recognize the great value of the recovery, not discovery of these doctrines (as our able thinker Mr. Maitland would say). But I take my stand upon the ground that knowledge even of true doctrine is not always directly helpful.

Indeed, as a most respected thinker says, “the doctrine of Karmic re-incarnation is in truth a terrible one in point of FACT, and hopeless for the individual.” The law of Karma is, in fact, the law entailed on destructible matter, the law under which we are all born as “sinners,” that law, which Christ who fulfilled all the law, which we can never do, but out of whose power it is henceforth possible for us to raise ourselves through his perfection. But this is a long subject and must now not be entered into, as it is unwise as useless to profane great subjects by inaccurate statement and mere polemics. Unhappily, owing to much vaporous and non- experimental discourse on the mysteries of Regeneration, more particularly the result of the Calvinist school, there was no doubt much profanation; and the re- action that many thoughtful and earnest minds feel still, even to the very words, is due to the inner terror that they felt, though not understood, at this profanation.

The mystics put to us the great question: Can man work out his own salvation? They say, No. The Eastern school, as we know it, which is not in its entirety, says Yes. It appears to me the mere observation of life and society in the West says, No. This may not apply to others.

The “Raja-yoga” may be a perfect means of “salvation” to some nations. Is it to ours?

With regard to the text quoted in the last letter, “For a just man falleth seven times and riseth up again,” it is referable to Proverbs xxiv., i6. The number seven is important.

We must carefully bear in mind all throughout these letters, just as in the Bhagavad-Gita, two orders of minds are addressed. The latter, however, being a Sacred Book from Catholic source, has universal as well as particular application, whereas mystics write as a rule particularly but to the Initiate as well as to the Neophyte.

ISABEL DE STEIGER.

LETTER VI AND LAST

Scanned from “The Unknown World”, Vol. II. – No. 5, June 15, 1895, and corrected by hand.

God made Himself man to deify man. Heaven united itself with earth to transform earth into heaven.

But in order that these divine transformations can take place, an entire change, a complete and absolute overturning and upsetting of our being, is necessary.

This change, this upsetting, is called re-birth. To be born, simply means to enter into a world in which the senses dominate, in which wisdom and love languish in the bonds of individuality.

To be re-born means to return to a world where the spirit of wisdom and love governs, and where animal-man obeys.

The re-birth is triple; first, the re-birth of our intelligence; second, of our heart and of our will; and, finally, the re-birth of our entire being.

The first and second kinds are called the spiritual, and the third the corporeal re- birth.

Many pious men, seekers after God, have been regenerated in the mind and will, but few have known the corporeal rebirth. This last has been attained to but by few men, and those to whom it has been given have only received it that they might serve as agents of God, in accordance with great and grand objects and intentions, and to bring humanity nearer to felicity.

It is now necessary, my dear brothers, to lay before you the true order of rebirth.

God, who is all strength, wisdom, and love, works eternally in order and in harmony.

He who will not receive the spiritual life, he who is not born anew from the Lord, can not enter into heaven.

Man is engendered through his parents in original sin, that is to say, he enters into the natural life and not the spiritual.

The spiritual life consists in loving God above everything, and your neighbor as yourself. In this double-love consists the principle of the new life.

Man is begotten in evil, in the love of himself and of the things of this world. Love of himself! Self interest! Self gratification! Such are the substantial properties of evil. The good is in the love of God and your neighbor, in knowing no other love but the love of mankind, no interest but that affecting every man, and no other pleasure but that of the well-being of all.

It is by such sentiments that the spirit of the children of God is distinguished from the spirit of the children of this world.

To change the spirit of this world into the spirit of the children of God is to be regenerated, and it means to despoil the old man, and to re-clothe the new.

But no person can be re-born if he does not know and put in practice the following principle- that of truth becoming the object for our doing or not doing; therefore, he who desires to be re-born ought first to know what belongs to re-birth. He ought to understand, meditate, and reflect on all this. Afterwards he should act according to his knowledge, and the result will be a new life.

Now, as it is first necessary to know, and to be instructed in all that appertains to re-birth, a doctor, or an instructor is required, and if we know one, faith in him is also necessary, because of what use is an instructor if his pupil have no faith in him?

Hence, the commencement of re-birth is faith in Revelation.

The disciple should begin by believing that the Lord, the Son, is the Wisdom of God, that He is from all Eternity from God, and that He came into the world to bring happiness to humanity. He should believe that the Lord has full power in heaven and on earth, and that all faith and love, all the true and the good, come from Him alone; that He is the Mediator, the Savior, and Governor of men.

When this most exalting faith has taken root in us, we shall think often of the Savior, and these thoughts turned towards Him develop, and by His grace re-acting in us, the seven closed and spiritual powers are opened.

The way to happiness.- Do you wish, man and brother, to acquire the highest happiness possible? Search for truth, wisdom, and love. But you will not find truth, wisdom, and love, save in the unity of the Lord Jesus Christ, the Anointed of God.

Seek, then, Jesus Christ with all your strength, search Him from the fullness of your heart.

The beginning of His Ascension is the knowledge of His absence, and from the recognition of this knowledge is the desire for increased power to seek Him, which desire is the beginning of faith.

Faith gives confidence, but faith has also its order of progress. First comes historic faith, then moral, then divine, and finally living faith. The progression is as follows: Historical faith when we learn to believe the history of Jesus of Nazareth, and through this simple historical faith in the existence of Jesus, will evolve moral faith, whose development consists in the acquirement of virtue by its search and practice, so that we see and find real pleasure in all that is taught by this Man; we find that His simple doctrine is full of wisdom and His teaching full of love; that His intentions towards humanity are straight and true, and that He willingly suffered death for the sake of justice. Thus, faith in His Person will be followed by faith in His Divinity.

This same Jesus Christ tells us now that He is Son of God, and he emphasizes His words by instructing His disciples in the sacred mysteries of nature and religion.

Here natural and reasonable faith changes into divine faith, and we begin to believe that he was God made man. From this faith it results that we hold as true all that we do not yet understand, but which He tells us to believe. Through this faith in the Divinity of Jesus, and by that entire surrender to Him, and the faithful attention to His directions, is at last produced that living faith, by which we find within ourselves and TRUE through our own experience, all that hitherto we have until now believed in merely with the confidence of a child; and this living faith proved by experience is the highest grade of all.

When our hearts, through living faith, have received Jesus Christ into them, then this Light of the World is born within us as in a humble stable.

Everything in us is impure, surrounded by the spider-webs of vanity, covered with the mud of sensuality.

Our will is the ox that is under the yoke of its passions. Our reason is the Ass who is bound through the obstinacy of its opinions, its prejudices, its follies.

In this miserable and ruined hut, the home of all the animal passions, can Jesus Christ be born in us through faith.

The simplicity of our souls, is as the shepherds who brought their first offerings, until at last the three principal powers of our royal dignity, our reason, our will, and our activity[1] prostrate themselves before Him and offer Him the gifts of truth, wisdom, and love.

Little by little, the stable of our hearts changes itself into an exterior Temple, where Jesus Christ teaches, but this Temple is still full of Scribes and Pharisees.

Those who sell, Dives and the money changers, are still to be found, and these should be driven out, and the Temple changed into a House of Prayer.

Little by little Jesus Christ chooses all the good powers in us to announce Him. He heals our blindness, purifies our leprosy, raises the dead powers into living forces within us; He is crucified in us, He dies, and He is gloriously raised again Conqueror with us. Afterwards His personality lives in us, and instructs us in exalted mysteries, until He has made us complete and ready for the perfect Regeneration, when He mounts to heaven and thence sends us the Spirit of Truth.

But before such a Spirit can act in us, we experience the following changes:- First, the seven powers of our understanding are lifted up within us; afterwards,

the seven powers of our hearts or of our will, and this exaltation takes place after the

following manner. The human understanding is divided into seven powers; the first is that of looking at abstract objects- intuitus. By the second we perceive the objects abstractedly regarded- apperceptio. By the third, that which has been perceived is reflected upon- reflexio. The fourth is that of considering these objects in their diversity- fantasia, imaginatio. The fifth is that of deciding upon some thing-

judicium. The sixth co-ordinates all these according to their relationships- ratio. The seventh and last is the power of realizing the whole intellectual intuition- intellectus.

This last contains, so to say, the sum of all the others.

The will of man divides itself similarly into seven powers, which, taken together as a unit, form the will of man, being, as it were, its substantial parts.

The first is the capacity of desiring things apart from himself- desiderium. The second is the power to annex mentally things desired for himself- appetitus. The third is the power of giving them form, realizing them so as to satisfy his desire- concupiscentia. The fourth is that of receiving inclinations, without deciding upon acting upon any, as in the condition of passion- passio. The fifth is the capacity for deciding for or against a thing, liberty- libertas. The sixth is that choice or a resolution actually taken- electio. The seventh is the power of giving the object chosen an existence- voluntas. This seventh power also contains all the others in one figure.

Now the seven powers of the understanding, like the seven powers of our heart and will, can be ennobled and exalted in a very special manner, when we embrace Jesus Christ, as being the wisdom of God, as principle of our reason, and His whole life, which was all love, for motive power of our will.

Our understanding is formed after that of Jesus Christ; First, when we have Him in view in everything, when He forms the only point of sight for all our actions- intuitus. Second, when we perceive His actions, His sentiments, and His spirit everywhere- apperceptio. Third, when in all our thoughts we reflect upon

His sayings, when we think in everything as He would have thought- reflexio. Fourth, when we so comfort ourselves in such wise, that His thoughts and His wisdom are the only object for the strength of our imagination- fantasia. Fifth, when we reject every thought which would not be His, and when we choose every thought which could be His- judicium. Sixth, when in short we co-ordinate the whole edifice of our ideas and spirit upon the model of His ideas and spirit- ratio. Seventh, It is then will be born in us a new light, a more brilliant one, surpassing far the light of reason of the senses- intellectus. Our heart is also reformed in like manner, when in everything,- First, We lean on Him only- desidare. Second, We wish for Him only- appetere. Third, We desire only Him- concupiscere. Fourth, We love Him only- amare. Fifth, We choose only that which He is, so that we avoid all that He is not- eligere. Sixth, We live only in harmony with Him after His commandments and His institutions and orders- subordinare. By which in short, Seventh, is born a complete union of our will with His, by which union man is with Jesus Christ but as one sense, one heart; by which perfect union the new man is little by little born in us, and Divine wisdom and love unite to form in us the new spiritual man, in whose heart faith passes into sight, and in comparison to this living faith the treasures of India can be considered but as ashes.

This actual possession of God or Jesus Christ in us is the Centre towards which all the mysteries converge like rays to the circle eye; the highest of the mysteries is this consummation.

The Kingdom of God is a kingdom of truth, morality, and happiness. It operates in the saints from the innermost to the outside, and spreads itself gradually by the Spirit of Jesus Christ into all nations, to institute everywhere an Order by means of which the individual can reach as well as the race; our human nature can be raised to its highest perfection, and sick humanity be cured from all the evils of its weakness.

Thus the love and spirit of God Will one day alone vivify all humanity; they will awake and rekindle all the strength of the human race, will lead it to the goals of Wisdom and place it in suitable relationships.

Peace, fidelity, domestic harmony, love between nations, will be the first fruits of this Spirit. Inspiration of good without false similitudes, the exaltation of our souls without too severe a tension, warmth in the heart without turbulent impatience, will approach, reconcile, and unite all the various parts of the human race, long separated and divided by many differences, and stirred up against each other by prejudices and errors, and in one Grand Temple of Nature, great and little, poor and rich, all will sing the praise of the Father of Love.

TRANSLATOR’S NOTE.

I can but fear that, especially in this latter part, our noble teacher Eckartshausen may displease, even disgust, some of his readers. To the natural man the things of God are foolishness, and the intellect that is only equipped with the opinions of this modern nineteenth century world will probably feel even resentment at what he or she may think is surrendering their whole natures in an ignoble manner, and that to follow out teachings which some may consider savor of the meeting-house or Roman Catholic Chapel- as the ending suggests both- is really quite unsuitable for the intellectual religious student of the various religions, Theosophical or Occult present times, and to these objections, which one feels come rather from the head than the heart, I would like respectfully to suggest a few thoughts.

In the first place, Eckartshausen is addressing himself to the Elect, these last also including all who desire to know the things of the Spirit. Many are called but few chosen, many have the desires but are not strong enough to carry them through; now, Eckhartshausen does not consider these, he speaks to steady students, and he leads them up to a point which we all feel few can attain, and that sense of resentment is not altogether blamable, because it proceeds from an intuition of our own shortcomings and the magnitude of the whole. In very simple words the author puts before us the achievement of the individual man in the greatest work that can be done on earth, the conscious possession of God- known and taught in the Eastern School, equally, that of the entering in of finite mortal man into Omniscience, Immortality, and Infinity. Because we have by too common use of such phrases lowered and profaned our own ideals, it does not alter the fact that this possibility and the hope of mankind is of all things the most superb. Neither, because we feel as ordinary men and women that these things are too high for us, and our souls faint within us at the bare notion of such achievement, need we despair. We must reflect that the whole purpose of Creation is the ultimate full manifestation of God in Man that though we as mere individuals can but make small headway, yet we belong to humanity, and it is humanity that is to be restored to its pristine glory, and for which the superlative work of Christ’s Incarnation was done. Man, the greatest of

God’s works; this Catholic soul of man, when regenerated brings about the great Redemption. Few as individuals can attain, save those holy Priests of the Mysteries, those Saints, those Masters of the Rosy Cross, those first men made perfect, who lead the way for us to follow each as best he can; remembering, to our everlasting comfort, that we are now in the Kingdom, that our Faith keeps us there, and so that we hold on, as it were by the fringe of His garments, we are in the Fold with our Shepherd. Faith is the substance of things hoped for, so our Faith is a proof of the substance to which we are annexed.

As to the objection that there are no masters and doctors, now- are there not? God has left no one without them. Every one of us according to his merits and requirements has some teacher of some sort. Doubtless very few have arrived at the point when what is called occult knowledge is either given or required; but, when any mind is able to know the important things of the spirit, it does not matter in what outward religion he may be placed the doctor and master will surely come.

Experience proves this. In these days there is an unfortunate idea afloat, that “information” in the things of the Spirit means mainly clairvoyance, clairaudience, etc. Certainly there is much, very much, to learn about these matters, which can only be learned correctly in special manners and under authorized teachers; but most students are in these matters only impelled by very shallow curiosity or vanity, and have no intention of real work. These will not find- otherwise than what they seek. They will find but the apparitions created by the passions of their soul, having no substance, therefore, not signifying anything true, which they will not have the knowledge to understand. The vaporous estate of universal being will, as under the Satiric form of “Pan,” conceal all truth from them, and they run the risk of losing themselves away from the Kingdom.

To readers of intellect who are dissuaded from the idea of the “Quest” as being derogatory to their intellect to have faith in that of which they know nothing, I would also venture to suggest that the plan should be tried, for nowhere does Eckartshausen or any mystic at all imply that the intellect is to be stultified. On the contrary, they assert that the objects for the intellect are so great and noble, that the intellect naturally, when really honorable to itself, humbles itself because of the nobility of the objects contemplated. In everything the intellect is regarded with respect, and it is only humbled by the comparison it must make when it sees the vast difference opening for it, when it leaves the small issues of the sense-life to the great and catholic ones of the new life of man. All this is not mere words; it is meant precisely as said, not as figment of the imagination, which has no root in itself- but as the recorded experience of the wise ones; which we simple ones would do well to respect.

Now with regard to the last letter a friend suggests some valuable thoughts which I will quote. With reference to the word gluten, lest any one should place too gross an interpretation on the word, it may be as well to bear in mind that a similar term has been used by others who lead up thence and from every vulgar interpretation, by showing that what is referred to by Eckartshausen is our sensorial life, the sensuous spirit in the blood, which having departed from the Image of its principle needs conversion to and co-ordination with it- not that the body of sin- the wicked man- should die absolutely, but that he should be converted and live, by which process he becomes indeed the body of the divine Image by which he is re- capitulated. If he repent, he lives with a new whole sensorium.

Thus Dante, among others, speaks in the Paradiso of the double garment, the spiritual body, and the glorified earthly body. Refer, moreover, to Isaiah xi. 7, “Therefore their land shall possess the double, and everlasting joy shall be unto them,” and hence it is that the greatest and humblest of all earthly creatures, viz., the re-created pure humanity, the Rosy-Cross of the Regeneration, has been honored, by such as have known the handmaid of the Lord, the Servant- Form not yet glorified which He vouchsafed to take upon Him.

Thus the angels will be seen in the same aspect after the Judgment as before, being true emanations, but the souls of the Saints will bear “the two-fold garment” spoken of in Canto xxv., viz., the spiritual and the glorified terrestrial or paradisiacal body, that is to say, our sensorium being recapitulated by its Principle, i.e., in Christ, reigneth with Him in glory, a perfect manifestation of Deity which is the Omega of all Creation.[2]

These admirable thoughts will surely help to raise ours to a hopeful belief that such a magnificent future is worthy of all our highest aspiration and endeavor. Each in our own small way is of use, we must remember that every stone is wanted by the Master Builder that He Himself chisels and points to one great End. Surely we should have infinite patience in all clash of opinions, knowing that opinions matter nothing.

This little work of Eckartshausen is, as it were, his last Swans Song. It was greatly esteemed by many, and still holds its own, stamping the author as a man who wrote from experimental knowledge. Doubtless he was understood thoroughly only by minds in his own grade of office, and to such he still speaks principally. It is a mistake to suppose that his period of history was very different from our own in these matters; for in all generations there are minds in certain processes of re-birth, and from time to time these speak with no uncertain sound; each, as he departs hence, opening another door for a new aspirant. The work is not a selfish one, it can never be individual only. It is not our petty individual immortality that is the aim of such writers as Eckartshausen, but each individual swells the multitude of the Elect, and so hastens the time of the great, even the supreme, Consummation.

ISABEL DE STEIGER.

1. The Three Magi.
2. It may be observed that Mystics uniformly respect the Historic Tradition, if but as in a secondary sense, as it were a husk for the safe keeping of the invaluable kernel, and as the bark protects the vitality of the tree.. Thus Dean Colet, in his Introduction to Dionysus, quoting him says- “We have heard as a mystery that Jesus Christ was made in substance as a man, but we know not how He was fashioned of the Virgin’s substance by a law other than natural, nor how with feet bearing a corporeal mass and weight of matter He passed dry-shod over this watery and fleeting existence. The understanding of this bow has not been considered essential to Salvation.”

It is now more than ten years since I met, for the last time, Michael Robartes, and for the first time and the last time his friends and fellow students; and witnessed his and their tragic end, and endured those strange experiences, which have changed me so that my writings have grown less popular and less intelligible, and driven me almost to the verge of taking the habit of St. Dominic. I had just published Rosa Alchemica, a little work on the Alchemists, somewhat in the manner of Sir Thomas Browne, and had received many letters from believers in the arcane sciences, upbraiding what they called my timidity, for they could not believe so evident sympathy but the sympathy of the artist, which is half pity, for everything which has moved men’s hearts in any age. I had discovered, early in my researches, that their doctrine was no merely chemical phantasy, but a philosophy they applied to the world, to the elements and to man himself; and that they sought to fashion gold out of common metals merely as part of an universal transmutation of all things into some divine and imperishable substance; and this enabled me to make my little book a fanciful reverie over the transmutation of life into art, and a cry of measureless desire for a world made wholly of essences.

I was sitting dreaming of what I had written, in my house in one of the old parts of Dublin; a house my ancestors had made almost famous through their part in the politics of the city and their friendships with the famous men of their generations; and was feeling an unwonted happiness at having at last accomplished a long-cherished design, and made my rooms an expression of this favourite doctrine. The portraits, of more historical than artistic interest, had gone; and tapestry, full of the blue and bronze of peacocks, fell over the doors, and shut out all history and activity untouched with beauty and peace; and now when I looked at my Crevelli and pondered on the rose in the hand of the Virgin, wherein the form was so delicate and precise that it seemed more like a thought than a flower, or at the grey dawn and rapturous faces of my Francesca, I knew all a Christian’s ecstasy without his slavery to rule and custom; when I pondered over the antique bronze gods and goddesses, which I had mortgaged my house to buy, I had all a pagan’s delight in various beauty and without his terror at sleepless destiny and his labour with many sacrifices; and I had only to go to my bookshelf, where every book was bound in leather, stamped with intricate ornament, and of a carefully chosen colour: Shakespeare in the orange of the glory of the world, Dante in the dull red of his anger, Milton in the blue grey of his formal calm; and I could experience what I would of human passions without their bitterness and without satiety. I had gathered about me all gods because I believed in none, and experienced every pleasure because I gave myself to none, but held myself apart, individual, indissoluble, a mirror of polished steel: I looked in the triumph of this imagination at the birds of Hera, glowing in the firelight as though they were wrought of jewels; and to my mind, for which symbolism was a necessity, they seemed the doorkeepers of my world, shutting out all that was not of as affluent a beauty as their own; and for a moment I thought as I had thought in so many other moments, that it was possible to rob life of every bitterness except the bitterness of death; and then a thought which had followed this thought, time after time, filled me with a passionate sorrow. All those forms: that Madonna with her brooding purity, those rapturous faces singing in the morning light, those bronze divinities with their passionless dignity, those wild shapes rushing from despair to despair, belonged to a divine world wherein I had no part; and every experience, however profound, every perception, however exquisite, would bring me the bitter dream of a limitless energy I could never know, and even in my most perfect moment I would be two selves, the one watching with heavy eyes the other’s moment of content. I had heaped about me the gold born in the crucibles of others; but the supreme dream of the alchemist, the transmutation of the weary heart into a weariless spirit, was as far from me as, I doubted not, it had been from him also. I turned to my last purchase, a set of alchemical apparatus which, the dealer in the Rue le Peletier had assured me, once belonged to Raymond Lully, and as I joined the alembic to the athanor and laid the lavacrum maris at their side, I understood the alchemical doctrine, that all beings, divided from the great deep where spirits wander, one and yet a multitude, are weary; and sympathized, in the pride of my connoisseurship, with the consuming thirst for destruction which made the alchemist veil under his symbols of lions and dragons, of eagles and ravens, of dew and of nitre, a search for an essence which would dissolve all mortal things. I repeated to myself the ninth key of Basilius Valentinus, in which he compares the fire of the last day to the fire of the alchemist, and the world to the alchemist’s furnace, and would have us know that all must be dissolved before the divine substance, material gold or immaterial ecstasy, awake. I had dissolved indeed the mortal world and lived amid immortal essences, but had obtained no miraculous ecstasy. As I thought of these things, I drew aside the curtains and looked out into the darkness, and it seemed to my troubled fancy that all those little points of light filling the sky were the furnaces of innumerable divine alchemists, who labour continually, turning lead into gold, weariness into ecstasy, bodies into souls, the darkness into God; and at their perfect labour my mortality grew heavy, and I cried out, as so many dreamers and men of letters in our age have cried, for the birth of that elaborate spiritual beauty which could alone uplift souls weighted with so many dreams.

II

My reverie was broken by a loud knocking at the door, and I wondered the more at this because I had no visitors, and had bid my servants do all things silently, lest they broke the dream of my inner life. Feeling a little curious, I resolved to go to the door myself, and, taking one of the silver candlesticks from the mantlepiece, began to descend the stairs. The servants appeared to be out, for though the sound poured through every corner and crevice of the house there was no stir in the lower rooms. I remembered that because my needs were so few, my part in life so little, they had begun to come and go as they would, often leaving me alone for hours. The emptiness and silence of a world from which I had driven everything but dreams suddenly overwhelmed me, and I shuddered as I drew the bolt. I found before me Michael Robartes, whom I had not seen for years, and whose wild red hair, fierce eyes, sensitive, tremulous lips and rough clothes, made him look now, just as they used to do fifteen years before, something between a debauchee, a saint, and a peasant. He had recently come to Ireland, he said, and wished to see me on a matter of importance: indeed, the only matter of importance for him and for me. His voice brought up before me our student years in Paris, and remembering the magnetic power he had once possessed over me, a little fear mingled with much annoyance at this irrelevant intrusion, as I led the way up the wide staircase, where Swift had passed joking and railing, and Curran telling stories and quoting Greek, in simpler days, before men’s minds, subtilized and complicated by the romantic movement in art and literature, began to tremble on the verge of some unimagined revelation. I felt that my hand shook, and saw that the light of the candle wavered and quivered more than it need have upon the Maenads on the old French panels, making them look like the first beings slowly shaping in the formless and void darkness. When the door had closed, and the peacock curtain, glimmering like many-coloured flame, fell between us and the world, I felt, in a way I could not understand, that some singular and unexpected thing was about to happen. I went over to the mantlepiece, and finding that a little chainless bronze censer, set, upon the outside, with pieces of painted china by Orazio Fontana, which I had filled with antique amulets, had fallen upon its side and poured out its contents, I began to gather the amulets into the bowl, partly to collect my thoughts and partly with that habitual reverence which seemed to me the due of things so long connected with secret hopes and fears. ‘I see,’ said Michael Robartes, ‘that you are still fond of incense, and I can show you an incense more precious than any you have ever seen,’ and as he spoke he took the censer out of my hand and put the amulets in a little heap between the athanor and the alembic. I sat down, and he sat down at the side of the fire, and sat there for awhile looking into the fire, and holding the censer in his hand. ‘I have come to ask you something,’ he said, ‘and the incense will fill the room, and our thoughts, with its sweet odour while we are talking. I got it from an old man in Syria, who said it was made from flowers, of one kind with the flowers that laid their heavy purple petals upon the hands and upon the hair and upon the feet of Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane, and folded Him in their heavy breath, until He cried against the cross and his destiny.’ He shook some dust into the censer out of a small silk bag, and set the censer upon the floor and lit the dust which sent up a blue stream of smoke, that spread out over the ceiling, and flowed downwards again until it was like Milton’s banyan tree. It filled me, as incense often does, with a faint sleepiness, so that I started when he said, ‘I have come to ask you that question which I asked you in Paris, and which you left Paris rather than answer.’

He had turned his eyes towards me, and I saw them glitter in the firelight, and through the incense, as I replied: ‘You mean, will I become an initiate of your Order of the Alchemical Rose? I would not consent in Paris, when I was full of unsatisfied desire, and now that I have at last fashioned my life according to my desire, am I likely to consent?’

‘You have changed greatly since then,’ he answered. ‘I have read your books, and now I see you among all these images, and I understand you better than you do yourself, for I have been with many and many dreamers at the same cross-ways. You have shut away the world and gathered the gods about you, and if you do not throw yourself at their feet, you will be always full of lassitude, and of wavering purpose, for a man must forget he is miserable in the bustle and noise of the multitude in this world and in time; or seek a mystical union with the multitude who govern this world and time.’ And then he murmured something I could not hear, and as though to someone I could not see.

For a moment the room appeared to darken, as it used to do when he was about to perform some singular experiment, and in the darkness the peacocks upon the doors seemed to glow with a more intense colour. I cast off the illusion, which was, I believe, merely caused by memory, and by the twilight of incense, for I would not acknowledge that he could overcome my now mature intellect; and I said: ‘Even if I grant that I need a spiritual belief and some form of worship, why should I go to Eleusis and not to Calvary?’ He leaned forward and began speaking with a slightly rhythmical intonation, and as he spoke I had to struggle again with the shadow, as of some older night than the night of the sun, which began to dim the light of the candles and to blot out the little gleams upon the corner of picture-frames and on the bronze divinities, and to turn the blue of the incense to a heavy purple; while it left the peacocks to glimmer and glow as though each separate colour were a living spirit. I had fallen into a profound dream-like reverie in which I heard him speaking as at a distance. ‘And yet there is no one who communes with only one god,’ he was saying, ‘and the more a man lives in imagination and in a refined understanding, the more gods does he meet with and talk with, and the more does he come under the power of Roland, who sounded in the Valley of Roncesvalles the last trumpet of the body’s will and pleasure; and of Hamlet, who saw them perishing away, and sighed; and of Faust, who looked for them up and down the world and could not find them; and under the power of all those countless divinities who have taken upon themselves spiritual bodies in the minds of the modern poets and romance writers, and under the power of the old divinities, who since the Renaissance have won everything of their ancient worship except the sacrifice of birds and fishes, the fragrance of garlands and the smoke of incense. The many think humanity made these divinities, and that it can unmake them again; but we who have seen them pass in rattling harness, and in soft robes, and heard them speak with articulate voices while we lay in deathlike trance, know that they are always making and unmaking humanity, which is indeed but the trembling of their lips.’

He had stood up and begun to walk to and fro, and had become in my waking dream a shuttle weaving an immense purple web whose folds had begun to fill the room. The room seemed to have become inexplicably silent, as though all but the web and the weaving were at an end in the world. ‘They have come to us; they have come to us,’ the voice began again; ‘all that have ever been in your reverie, all that you have met with in books. There is Lear, his head still wet with the thunder-storm, and he laughs because you thought yourself an existence who are but a shadow, and him a shadow who is an eternal god; and there is Beatrice, with her lips half parted in a smile, as though all the stars were about to pass away in a sigh of love; and there is the mother of the God of humility who cast so great a spell over men that they have tried to unpeople their hearts that he might reign alone, but she holds in her hand the rose whose every petal is a god; and there, O swiftly she comes! is Aphrodite under a twilight falling from the wings of numberless sparrows, and about her feet are the grey and white doves.’ In the midst of my dream I saw him hold out his left arm and pass his right hand over it as though he stroked the wings of doves. I made a violent effort which seemed almost to tear me in two, and said with forced determination: ‘You would sweep me away into an indefinite world which fills me with terror; and yet a man is a great man just in so far as he can make his mind reflect everything with indifferent precision like a mirror.’ I seemed to be perfectly master of myself, and went on, but more rapidly: ‘I command you to leave me at once, for your ideas and phantasies are but the illusions that creep like maggots into civilizations when they begin to decline, and into minds when they begin to decay.’ I had grown suddenly angry, and seizing the alembic from the table, was about to rise and strike him with it, when the peacocks on the door behind him appeared to grow immense; and then the alembic fell from my fingers and I was drowned in a tide of green and blue and bronze feathers, and as I struggled hopelessly I heard a distant voice saying: ‘Our master Avicenna has written that all life proceeds out of corruption.’ The glittering feathers had now covered me completely, and I knew that I had struggled for hundreds of years, and was conquered at last. I was sinking into the depth when the green and blue and bronze that seemed to fill the world became a sea of flame and swept me away, and as I was swirled along I heard a voice over my head cry, ‘The mirror is broken in two pieces,’ and another voice answer, ‘The mirror is broken in four pieces,’ and a more distant voice cry with an exultant cry, ‘The mirror is broken into numberless pieces’; and then a multitude of pale hands were reaching towards me, and strange gentle faces bending above me, and half wailing and half caressing voices uttering words that were forgotten the moment they were spoken. I was being lifted out of the tide of flame, and felt my memories, my hopes, my thoughts, my will, everything I held to be myself, melting away; then I seemed to rise through numberless companies of beings who were, I understood, in some way more certain than thought, each wrapped in his eternal moment, in the perfect lifting of an arm, in a little circlet of rhythmical words, in dreaming with dim eyes and half-closed eyelids. And then I passed beyond these forms, which were so beautiful they had almost ceased to be, and, having endured strange moods, melancholy, as it seemed, with the weight of many worlds, I passed into that Death which is Beauty herself, and into that Loneliness which all the multitudes desire without ceasing. All things that had ever lived seemed to come and dwell in my heart, and I in theirs; and I had never again known mortality or tears, had I not suddenly fallen from the certainty of vision into the uncertainty of dream, and become a drop of molten gold falling with immense rapidity, through a night elaborate with stars, and all about me a melancholy exultant wailing. I fell and fell and fell, and then the wailing was but the wailing of the wind in the chimney, and I awoke to find myself leaning upon the table and supporting my head with my hands. I saw the alembic swaying from side to side in the distant corner it had rolled to, and Michael Robartes watching me and waiting. ‘I will go wherever you will,’ I said, ‘and do whatever you bid me, for I have been with eternal things.’ ‘I knew,’ he replied, ‘you must need answer as you have answered, when I heard the storm begin. You must come to a great distance, for we were commanded to build our temple between the pure multitude by the waves and the impure multitude of men.’

III

I did not speak as we drove through the deserted streets, for my mind was curiously empty of familiar thoughts and experiences; it seemed to have been plucked out of the definite world and cast naked upon a shoreless sea. There were moments when the vision appeared on the point of returning, and I would half-remember, with an ecstasy of joy or sorrow, crimes and heroisms, fortunes and misfortunes; or begin to contemplate, with a sudden leaping of the heart, hopes and terrors, desires and ambitions, alien to my orderly and careful life; and then I would awake shuddering at the thought that some great imponderable being had swept through my mind. It was indeed days before this feeling passed perfectly away, and even now, when I have sought refuge in the only definite faith, I feel a great tolerance for those people with incoherent personalities, who gather in the chapels and meeting-places of certain obscure sects, because I also have felt fixed habits and principles dissolving before a power, which was hysterica passio or sheer madness, if you will, but was so powerful in its melancholy exultation that I tremble lest it wake again and drive me from my new-found peace.

When we came in the grey light to the great half-empty terminus, it seemed to me I was so changed that I was no more, as man is, a moment shuddering at eternity, but eternity weeping and laughing over a moment; and when we had started and Michael Robartes had fallen asleep, as he soon did, his sleeping face, in which there was no sign of all that had so shaken me and that now kept me wakeful, was to my excited mind more like a mask than a face. The fancy possessed me that the man behind it had dissolved away like salt in water, and that it laughed and sighed, appealed and denounced at the bidding of beings greater or less than man. ‘This is not Michael Robartes at all: Michael Robartes is dead; dead for ten, for twenty years perhaps,’ I kept repeating to myself. I fell at last into a feverish sleep, waking up from time to time when we rushed past some little town, its slated roofs shining with wet, or still lake gleaming in the cold morning light. I had been too pre-occupied to ask where we were going, or to notice what tickets Michael Robartes had taken, but I knew now from the direction of the sun that we were going westward; and presently I knew also, by the way in which the trees had grown into the semblance of tattered beggars flying with bent heads towards the east, that we were approaching the western coast. Then immediately I saw the sea between the low hills upon the left, its dull grey broken into white patches and lines.

When we left the train we had still, I found, some way to go, and set out, buttoning our coats about us, for the wind was bitter and violent. Michael Robartes was silent, seeming anxious to leave me to my thoughts; and as we walked between the sea and the rocky side of a great promontory, I realized with a new perfection what a shock had been given to all my habits of thought and of feelings, if indeed some mysterious change had not taken place in the substance of my mind, for the grey waves, plumed with scudding foam, had grown part of a teeming, fantastic inner life; and when Michael Robartes pointed to a square ancient-looking house, with a much smaller and newer building under its lee, set out on the very end of a dilapidated and almost deserted pier, and said it was the Temple of the Alchemical Rose, I was possessed with the phantasy that the sea, which kept covering it with showers of white foam, was claiming it as part of some indefinite and passionate life, which had begun to war upon our orderly and careful days, and was about to plunge the world into a night as obscure as that which followed the downfall of the classical world. One part of my mind mocked this phantastic terror, but the other, the part that still lay half plunged in vision, listened to the clash of unknown armies, and shuddered at unimaginable fanaticisms, that hung in those grey leaping waves.

We had gone but a few paces along the pier when we came upon an old man, who was evidently a watchman, for he sat in an overset barrel, close to a place where masons had been lately working upon a break in the pier, and had in front of him a fire such as one sees slung under tinkers’ carts. I saw that he was also a voteen, as the peasants say, for there was a rosary hanging from a nail on the rim of the barrel, and I saw I shuddered, and I did not know why I shuddered. We had passed him a few yards when I heard him cry in Gaelic, ‘Idolaters, idolaters, go down to Hell with your witches and your devils; go down to Hell that the herrings may come again into the bay’; and for some moments I could hear him half screaming and half muttering behind us. ‘Are you not afraid,’ I said, ‘that these wild fishing people may do some desperate thing against you?’

‘I and mine,’ he answered, ‘are long past human hurt or help, being incorporate with immortal spirits, and when we die it shall be the consummation of the supreme work. A time will come for these people also, and they will sacrifice a mullet to Artemis, or some other fish to some new divinity, unless indeed their own divinities, the Dagda, with his overflowing cauldron, Lug, with his spear dipped in poppy-juice lest it rush forth hot for battle. Aengus, with the three birds on his shoulder, Bodb and his red swineherd, and all the heroic children of Dana, set up once more their temples of grey stone. Their reign has never ceased, but only waned in power a little, for the Sidhe still pass in every wind, and dance and play at hurley, and fight their sudden battles in every hollow and on every hill; but they cannot build their temples again till there have been martyrdoms and victories, and perhaps even that long-foretold battle in the Valley of the Black Pig.’

Keeping close to the wall that went about the pier on the seaward side, to escape the driving foam and the wind, which threatened every moment to lift us off our feet, we made our way in silence to the door of the square building. Michael Robartes opened it with a key, on which I saw the rust of many salt winds, and led me along a bare passage and up an uncarpeted stair to a little room surrounded with bookshelves. A meal would be brought, but only of fruit, for I must submit to a tempered fast before the ceremony, he explained, and with it a book on the doctrine and method of the Order, over which I was to spend what remained of the winter daylight. He then left me, promising to return an hour before the ceremony. I began searching among the bookshelves, and found one of the most exhaustive alchemical libraries I have ever seen. There were the works of Morienus, who hid his immortal body under a shirt of hair-cloth; of Avicenna, who was a drunkard and yet controlled numberless legions of spirits; of Alfarabi, who put so many spirits into his lute that he could make men laugh, or weep, or fall in deadly trance as he would; of Lully, who transformed himself into the likeness of a red cock; of Flamel, who with his wife Parnella achieved the elixir many hundreds of years ago, and is fabled to live still in Arabia among the Dervishes; and of many of less fame. There were very few mystics but alchemical mystics, and because, I had little doubt, of the devotion to one god of the greater number and of the limited sense of beauty, which Robartes would hold an inevitable consequence; but I did notice a complete set of facsimiles of the prophetical writings of William Blake, and probably because of the multitudes that thronged his illumination and were ‘like the gay fishes on the wave when the moon sucks up the dew.’ I noted also many poets and prose writers of every age, but only those who were a little weary of life, as indeed the greatest have been everywhere, and who cast their imagination to us, as a something they needed no longer now that they were going up in their fiery chariots.

Presently I heard a tap at the door, and a woman came in and laid a little fruit upon the table. I judged that she had once been handsome, but her cheeks were hollowed by what I would have held, had I seen her anywhere else, an excitement of the flesh and a thirst for pleasure, instead of which it doubtless was an excitement of the imagination and a thirst for beauty. I asked her some question concerning the ceremony, but getting no answer except a shake of the head, saw that I must await initiation in silence. When I had eaten, she came again, and having laid a curiously wrought bronze box on the table, lighted the candles, and took away the plates and the remnants. So soon as I was alone, I turned to the box, and found that the peacocks of Hera spread out their tails over the sides and lid, against a background, on which were wrought great stars, as though to affirm that the heavens were a part of their glory. In the box was a book bound in vellum, and having upon the vellum and in very delicate colours, and in gold, the alchemical rose with many spears thrusting against it, but in vain, as was shown by the shattered points of those nearest to the petals. The book was written upon vellum, and in beautiful clear letters, interspersed with symbolical pictures and illuminations, after the manner of the Splendor Solis.

The first chapter described how six students, of Celtic descent, gave themselves separately to the study of alchemy, and solved, one the mystery of the Pelican, another the mystery of the green Dragon, another the mystery of the Eagle, another that of Salt and Mercury. What seemed a succession of accidents, but was, the book declared, the contrivance of preternatural powers, brought them together in the garden of an inn in the South of France, and while they talked together the thought came to them that alchemy was the gradual distillation of the contents of the soul, until they were ready to put off the mortal and put on the immortal. An owl passed, rustling among the vine-leaves overhead, and then an old woman came, leaning upon a stick, and, sitting close to them, took up the thought where they had dropped it. Having expounded the whole principle of spiritual alchemy, and bid them found the Order of the Alchemical Rose, she passed from among them, and when they would have followed she was nowhere to be seen. They formed themselves into an Order, holding their goods and making their researches in common, and, as they became perfect in the alchemical doctrine, apparitions came and went among them, and taught them more and more marvellous mysteries. The book then went on to expound so much of these as the neophyte was permitted to know, dealing at the outset and at considerable length with the independent reality of our thoughts, which was, it declared, the doctrine from which all true doctrines rose. If you imagine, it said, the semblance of a living being, it is at once possessed by a wandering soul, and goes hither and thither working good or evil, until the moment of its death has come; and gave many examples, received, it said, from many gods. Eros had taught them how to fashion forms in which a divine soul could dwell, and whisper what they would into sleeping minds; and Ate, forms from which demonic beings could pour madness, or unquiet dreams, into sleeping blood; and Hermes, that if you powerfully imagined a hound at your bedside it would keep watch there until you woke, and drive away all but the mightiest demons, but that if your imagination was weakly, the hound would be weakly also, and the demons prevail, and the hound soon die; and Aphrodite, that if you made, by a strong imagining, a dove crowned with silver and had it flutter over your head, its soft cooing would make sweet dreams of immortal love gather and brood over mortal sleep; and all divinities alike had revealed with many warnings and lamentations that all minds are continually giving birth to such beings, and sending them forth to work health or disease, joy or madness. If you would give forms to the evil powers, it went on, you were to make them ugly, thrusting out a lip, with the thirsts of life, or breaking the proportions of a body with the burdens of life; but the divine powers would only appear in beautiful shapes, which are but, as it were, shapes trembling out of existence, folding up into a timeless ecstasy, drifting with half-shut eyes, into a sleepy stillness. The bodiless souls who descended into these forms were what men called the moods; and worked all great changes in the world; for just as the magician or the artist could call them when he would, so they could call out of the mind of the magician or the artist, or if they were demons, out of the mind of the mad or the ignoble, what shape they would, and through its voice and its gestures pour themselves out upon the world. In this way all great events were accomplished; a mood, a divinity, or a demon, first descending like a faint sigh into men’s minds and then changing their thoughts and their actions until hair that was yellow had grown black, or hair that was black had grown yellow, and empires moved their border, as though they were but drifts of leaves. The rest of the book contained symbols of form, and sound, and colour, and their attribution to divinities and demons, so that the initiate might fashion a shape for any divinity or any demon, and be as powerful as Avicenna among those who live under the roots of tears and of laughter.

IV

A couple of hours after Sunset Michael Robartes returned and told me that I would have to learn the steps of an exceedingly antique dance, because before my initiation could be perfected I had to join three times in a magical dance, for rhythm was the wheel of Eternity, on which alone the transient and accidental could be broken, and the spirit set free. I found that the steps, which were simple enough, resembled certain antique Greek dances, and having been a good dancer in my youth and the master of many curious Gaelic steps, I soon had them in my memory. He then robed me and himself in a costume which suggested by its shape both Greece and Egypt, but by its crimson colour a more passionate life than theirs; and having put into my hands a little chainless censer of bronze, wrought into the likeness of a rose, by some modern craftsman, he told me to open a small door opposite to the door by which I had entered. I put my hand to the handle, but the moment I did so the fumes of the incense, helped perhaps by his mysterious glamour, made me fall again into a dream, in which I seemed to be a mask, lying on the counter of a little Eastern shop. Many persons, with eyes so bright and still that I knew them for more than human, came in and tried me on their faces, but at last flung me into a corner with a little laughter; but all this passed in a moment, for when I awoke my hand was still upon the handle. I opened the door, and found myself in a marvellous passage, along whose sides were many divinities wrought in a mosaic, not less beautiful than the mosaic in the Baptistery at Ravenna, but of a less severe beauty; the predominant colour of each divinity, which was surely a symbolic colour, being repeated in the lamps that hung from the ceiling, a curiously-scented lamp before every divinity. I passed on, marvelling exceedingly how these enthusiasts could have created all this beauty in so remote a place, and half persuaded to believe in a material alchemy, by the sight of so much hidden wealth; the censer filling the air, as I passed, with smoke of ever-changing colour.

I stopped before a door, on whose bronze panels were wrought great waves in whose shadow were faint suggestions of terrible faces. Those beyond it seemed to have heard our steps, for a voice cried: ‘Is the work of the Incorruptible Fire at an end?’ and immediately Michael Robartes answered: ‘The perfect gold has come from the athanor.’ The door swung open, and we were in a great circular room, and among men and women who were dancing slowly in crimson robes. Upon the ceiling was an immense rose wrought in mosaic; and about the walls, also in mosaic, was a battle of gods and angels, the gods glimmering like rubies and sapphires, and the angels of the one greyness, because, as Michael Robartes whispered, they had renounced their divinity, and turned from the unfolding of their separate hearts, out of love for a God of humility and sorrow. Pillars supported the roof and made a kind of circular cloister, each pillar being a column of confused shapes, divinities, it seemed, of the wind, who rose as in a whirling dance of more than human vehemence, and playing upon pipes and cymbals; and from among these shapes were thrust out hands, and in these hands were censers. I was bid place my censer also in a hand and take my place and dance, and as I turned from the pillars towards the dancers, I saw that the floor was of a green stone, and that a pale Christ on a pale cross was wrought in the midst. I asked Robartes the meaning of this, and was told that they desired ‘To trouble His unity with their multitudinous feet.’ The dance wound in and out, tracing upon the floor the shapes of petals that copied the petals in the rose overhead, and to the sound of hidden instruments which were perhaps of an antique pattern, for I have never heard the like; and every moment the dance was more passionate, until all the winds of the world seemed to have awakened under our feet. After a little I had grown weary, and stood under a pillar watching the coming and going of those flame-like figures; until gradually I sank into a half-dream, from which I was awakened by seeing the petals of the great rose, which had no longer the look of mosaic, falling slowly through the incense-heavy air, and, as they fell, shaping into the likeness of living beings of an extraordinary beauty. Still faint and cloud-like, they began to dance, and as they danced took a more and more definite shape, so that I was able to distinguish beautiful Grecian faces and august Egyptian faces, and now and again to name a divinity by the staff in his hand or by a bird fluttering over his head; and soon every mortal foot danced by the white foot of an immortal; and in the troubled eyes that looked into untroubled shadowy eyes, I saw the brightness of uttermost desire as though they had found at length, after unreckonable wandering, the lost love of their youth. Sometimes, but only for a moment, I saw a faint solitary figure with a Rosa veiled face, and carrying a faint torch, flit among the dancers, but like a dream within a dream, like a shadow of a shadow, and I knew by an understanding born from a deeper fountain than thought, that it was Eros himself, and that his face was veiled because no man or woman from the beginning of the world has ever known what love is, or looked into his eyes, for Eros alone of divinities is altogether a spirit, and hides in passions not of his essence if he would commune with a mortal heart. So that if a man love nobly he knows love through infinite pity, unspeakable trust, unending sympathy; and if ignobly through vehement jealousy, sudden hatred, and unappeasable desire; but unveiled love he never knows. While I thought these things, a voice cried to me from the crimson figures: ‘Into the dance! there is none that can be spared out of the dance; into the dance! into the dance! that the gods may make them bodies out of the substance of our hearts’; and before I could answer, a mysterious wave of passion, that seemed like the soul of the dance moving within our souls, Alchemica took hold of me, and I was swept, neither consenting nor refusing, into the midst. I was dancing with an immortal august woman, who had black lilies in her hair, and her dreamy gesture seemed laden with a wisdom more profound than the darkness that is between star and star, and with a love like the love that breathed upon the waters; and as we danced on and on, the incense drifted over us and round us, covering us away as in the heart of the world, and ages seemed to pass, and tempests to awake and perish in the folds of our robes and in her heavy hair.

Suddenly I remembered that her eyelids had never quivered, and that her lilies had not dropped a black petal, or shaken from their places, and understood with a great horror that I danced with one who was more or less than human, and who was drinking up my soul as an ox drinks up a wayside pool; and I fell, and darkness passed over me.

V

I awoke suddenly as though something had awakened me, and saw that I was lying on a roughly painted floor, and that on the ceiling, which was at no great distance, was a roughly painted rose, and about me on the walls half-finished paintings. The pillars and the censers had gone; and near me a score of sleepers lay wrapped in disordered robes, their upturned faces looking to my imagination like hollow masks; and a chill dawn was shining down upon them from a long window I had not noticed before; and outside the sea roared. I saw Michael Robartes lying at a little distance and beside him an overset bowl of wrought bronze which looked as though it had once held incense. As I sat thus, I heard a sudden tumult of angry men and women’s voices mix with the roaring of the sea; and leaping to my feet, I went quickly to Michael Robartes, and tried to shake him out of his sleep. I then seized him by the shoulder and tried to lift him, but he fell backwards, and sighed faintly; and the voices became louder and angrier; and there was a sound of heavy blows upon the door, which opened on to the pier. Suddenly I heard a sound of rending wood, and I knew it had begun to give, and I ran to the door of the room. I pushed it open and came out upon a passage whose bare boards clattered under my feet, and found in the passage another door which led into an empty kitchen; and as I passed through the door I heard two crashes in quick succession, and knew by the sudden noise of feet and the shouts that the door which opened on to the pier had fallen inwards. I ran from the kitchen and out into a small yard, and from this down some steps which descended the seaward and sloping side of the pier, and from the steps clambered along the water’s edge, with the angry voices ringing in my ears. This part of the pier had been but lately refaced with blocks of granite, so that it was almost clear of seaweed; but when I came to the old part, I found it so slippery with green weed that I had to climb up on to the roadway. I looked towards the Temple of the Alchemical Rose, where the fishermen and the women were still shouting, but somewhat more faintly, and saw that there was no one about the door or upon the pier; but as I looked, a little crowd hurried out of the door and began gathering large stones from where they were heaped up in readiness for the next time a storm shattered the pier, when they would be laid under blocks of granite. While I stood watching the crowd, an old man, who was, I think, the voteen, pointed to me, and screamed out something, and the crowd whitened, for all the faces had turned towards me. I ran, and it was well for me that pullers of the oar are poorer men with their feet than with their arms and their bodies; and yet while I ran I scarcely heard the following feet or the angry voices, for many voices of exultation and lamentation, which were forgotten as a dream is forgotten the moment they were heard, seemed to be ringing in the air over my head.

There are moments even now when I seem to hear those voices of exultation and lamentation, and when the indefinite world, which has but half lost its mastery over my heart and my intellect, seems about to claim a perfect mastery; but I carry the rosary about my neck, and when I hear, or seem to hear them, I press it to my heart and say: ‘He whose name is Legion is at our doors deceiving our intellects with subtlety and flattering our hearts with beauty, and we have no trust but in Thee’; and then the war that rages within me at other times is still, and I am at peace.

Q. What is the chief study of a Philosopher?

A. It is the investigation of the operations of Nature.

Q. What is the end of Nature?

A. God, Who is also its beginning.

Q. Whence are all things derived?

A. From one and indivisible Nature.

Q. Into how many regions is Nature separated?

A. Into four palmary regions.

Q. Which are they?

A. The dry, the moist, the warm, and the cold, which are the four elementary qualities, whence all things originate.

Q. How is Nature differentiated?

A. Into male and female.

Q. To what may we compare Nature?

A. To Mercury.

Q. Give a concise definition of Nature.

A. It is not visible, though it operates visibly; for it is simply a volatile spirit, fulfilling its office in bodies, and animated by the universal spirit-the divine breath, the central and universal fire, which vivifies all things that exist.

Q. What should be the qualities possessed by the examiners of Nature?

A. They should be like unto Nature herself. That is to say, they should be truthful, simple, patient, and persevering.

Q. What matters should subsequently engross their attention?

A. The philosophers should most carefully ascertain whether their designs are in harmony with Nature, and of a possible and attainable kind; if they would

accomplish by their own power anything that is usually performed by the power of Nature, they must imitate her in every detail.

Q. What method must be followed in order to produce something which shall be developed to a superior degree than Nature herself develops it.

A. The manner of its improvement must be studied, and this is invariably operated by means of a like nature. For example, if it be desired to develop the intrinsic virtue of a given metal beyond its natural condition, the chemist must avail himself of the metallic nature itself, and must be able to discriminate between its male and female differentiations.

Q. Where does the metallic nature store her seeds?

A. In the four elements.

Q. With what materials can the philosopher alone accomplish anything?

A. With the germ of the given matter; this is its elixir or quintessence, more precious by far, and more useful, to the artist, than is Nature herself. Before the philosopher has extracted the seed, or germ, Nature, in his behalf, will be ready to perform her duty.

Q. What is the germ, or seed, of any substance?

A. It is the most subtle and perfect decoction and digestion of the substance itself; or, rather, it is the Balm of Sulphur, which is identical with the Radical Moisture of Metals.

Q. By what is this seed, or germ, engendered?

A. By the four elements, subject to the will of the Supreme Being, and through the direct intervention of the imagination of Nature.

Q. After what manner do the four elements operate?

A. By means of an incessant and uniform motion, each one, according to its quality, depositing its seed in the centre of the earth, where it is subjected to action and digested, and is subsequently expelled in an outward direction by the laws of movement.

Q. What do the philosophers understand by the centre of the earth?

A. A certain void place where nothing may repose, and the existence of which is assumed.

Q. Where, then, do the four elements expel and deposit their seeds?

A. In the ex-centre, or in the margin and circumference of the centre, which, after it has appropriated a portion, casts out the surplus into the region of excrement, scoriae, fire, and formless chaos.

Q. Illustrate this teaching by an example.

A. Take any level table, and set in its centre a vase filled with water; surround the vase with several things of various colours, especially salt, taking care that a proper distance intervenes between them all. Then pour out the water from the vase, and it will flow in streams here and there; one will encounter a substance of a red colour, and will assume a tinge of red; another will pass over the salt, and will contract a saline flavour; for it is certain that water does not modify the places which it traverses, but the diverse characteristics of places change the nature of water. In the same way the seed which is deposited by the four elements at the centre of the earth is subject to a variety of modifications in the places through which it passes, so that every existing substance is produced in the likeness of its channel, and when a seed on its arrival at a certain point encounters pure earth and pure water, a pure substance results, but the contrary in an opposite case.

Q. After what manner do the elements procreate this seed?

A. In order to the complete elucidation of this point, it must be observed that there are two gross and heavy elements and two that are volatile in character. Two, in like manner, are dry and two humid, one out of the four being actually excessively dry, and the other excessively moist. They are also masculine and feminine. Now, each of them has a marked tendency to reproduce its own species within its own sphere. Moreover, they are never in repose, but are perpetually interacting, and each of them separates, of and by itself, the most subtle portion thereof. Their general place of meeting is in the centre, even the

centre of the Archeus, that servant of Nature, where coming to mix their several seeds, they agitate and finally expel them to the exterior.

Q. What is the true and the first matter of all metals?

A. The first matter, properly so called, is dual in its essence, or is in itself of a twofold nature; one, nevertheless, cannot create a metal without the concurrence of the other. The first and the palmary essence is an aerial humidity, blended with a warm air, in the form of a fatty water, which adheres to all substances indiscriminately, whether they are pure or impure.

Q. How has this humidity been named by Philosophers?

A. Mercury.

Q. By what is it governed?

A. By the rays of the Sun and Moon.

Q. What is the second matter?

A. The warmth of the earth -otherwise, that dry heat which is termed Sulphur by the Philosophers.

Q. Can the entire material body be converted into seed?

A. Its eight-hundredth part only-that, namely, which is secreted in the centre of the body in question, and may, for example, be seen in a grain of wheat.

Q. Of what use is the bulk of the matter as regards its seed?

A. It is useful as a safeguard against excessive heat, cold, moisture, or aridity, and, in general, all hurtful inclemency, against which it acts as an envelope.

Q. Would those artists who pretend to reduce the whole matter of any body into seed derive any advantage from the process, supposing it were possible to perform it?

A. None; on the contrary, their labour would be wholly unproductive, because nothing that is good can be accomplished by a deviation from natural methods.

Q. What, therefore, should be done?

A. The matter must be effectively separated from its impurities, for there is no metal, how pure soever, which is entirely free from imperfections, though their

extent varies. Now all superfluities, cortices, and scoriae must be peeled off and purged out from the matter in order to discover its seed.

Q. What should receive the most careful attention of the Philosopher?

A. Assuredly, the end of Nature, and this is by no means to be looked for in the vulgar metals, because, these having issued already from the hands of the fashioner, it is no longer to be found therein.

Q. For what precise reason?

A. Because the vulgar metals, and chiefly gold, are absolutely dead, while ours, on the contrary, are absolutely living, and possess a soul.

Q. What is the life of metals?

A. It is no other substance than fire, when they are as yet imbedded in the mines.

Q. What is their death?

A. Their life and death are in reality one principle, for they die, as they live, by fire, but their death is from a fire of fusion.

Q. After what manner are metals conceived in the womb of the earth?

A. When the four elements have developed their power or virtue in the centre of the earth, and have deposited their seed, the Archeus of Nature, in the course of a distillatory process, sublimes them superficially by the warmth and energy of the perpetual movement.

Q. Into what does the wind resolve itself when it is distilled through the pores of the earth?

A. It resolves itself into water, whence all things spring; in this state it is merely a humid vapour, out of which there is subsequently evolved the principiated principle of all substances, which also serves as the first matter of the Philosophers.

Q. What then is this principiated principle, which is made use of as the first matter by the Children of Knowledge in the philosophic achievement?

A. It is this identical matter, which, the moment it is conceived, receives a permanent and unchangeable form.

Q. Are Saturn, Jupiter, Mars, Venus, the Sun, the Moon, etc., separately endowed with individual seed?

A. One is common to them all; their differences are to be accounted for by the: locality from which they are derived, not to speak of the fact that Nature completes her work with far greater rapidity in the procreation of silver than in that of gold, and so of the other metals, each in its own proportion.

Q. How is gold formed in the bowels of the earth?

A. When this vapour, of which we have spoken, is sublimed in the centre of the earth, and when it has passed through warm and pure places, where a certain sulphureous grease adheres to the channels, then this vapour, which the Philosophers have denominated their Mercury, becomes adapted and joined to this grease, which it sublimes with itself; from such amalgamation there is produced a certain unctuousness, which, abandoning the vaporous form, assumes that of grease, and is sublimised in other places, which have been cleansed by this preceding vapour, and the earth whereof has consequently been rendered more subtle, pure, and humid; it fills the pores of this earth, is joined thereto, and gold is produced as a result.

Q. How is Saturn engendered?

A. It occurs when the said unctuosity, or grease, passes through places which are totally impure and cold.

Q. How is Venus brought forth?

A. She is produced in localities where the earth itself is pure, but is mingled with impure sulphur.

Q. What power does the vapour, which we have recently mentioned, possess in the centre of the earth?

A. By its continual progress it has the power of perpetually rarefying whatsoever is crude and impure, and of successively attracting to itself all that is pure around it.

Q. What is the seed of the first matter of all things?

A. The first matter of things, that is to say, the matter of principiating principles is

begotten by Nature, without the assistance of any other seed; in other words, Nature receives the matter from the elements, whence it subsequently brings forth the seed.

Q. What, absolutely speaking, is therefore the seed of things?

A. The seed in a body is no other thing than a congealed air, or a humid vapour, which is useless except it be dissolved by a warm vapour.

Q. How is the generation of seed comprised in the metallic kingdom?

A. By the artifice of Archeus the four elements, in the first generation of Nature, distil a ponderous vapour of water into the centre of the earth ; this is the seed of metals, and it is called Mercury, not on account of its essence, but because of its fluidity, and the facility with which it will adhere to each and every thing.

Q. Why is this vapour compared to sulphur?

A. Because of its internal heat.

Q. From what species of Mercury are we to conclude that the metals are composed?

A. The reference is exclusively to the Mercury of the Philosophers, and in no sense to the common or vulgar substance, which cannot become a seed, seeing that, like other metals, it already contains its own seed.