M. M. B. G. T. P.

The first book is “ De Hieroglyphicis Egyptiorum.” Diodorus Siculus has an old story that in the Thebaid, after the inundation ot the Nile ceased, a multitude of mice were bred, the precursors of the human race. No trace remains of the most ancient kings, but from the earliest times we find traces of the worship of the sun and moon, Osiris and Isis. In these distant ages the science of the arcanic properties of Nature was taught, and the golden medicine — a thousandfold more precious than the ore ; and philosophic kings and priests knew this secret, hidden under the hieroglyphics of animals, which was the reason and the cause of these animals being held sacred.
Under the types of sun, moon, air, water, earth, the golden medicine was concealed. Masculine Osiris the sun;
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feminine Isis, the moon ; Mercury, and Typhon the malig- nant spirit, were also known and dreaded ; Vulcan-fire and Pallas, son of Thetis; the Nile, the water-land, mother of all. From these gods, celestial and eternal, others were, produced who were in a measure mortal. The first, who reigned as sovereign, was Saturn ; Dionysus and Ceres were equivalents of Osiris and Isis.
The golden temple was dedicated to Ammon. Vulcan and Mercury were greatly respected by the Egyptians for their invention of things most useful in human life. The use of fire — its value, its powers, were personified by Vulcan ; Cain and Abel and Tubalcain, in the ancient stories, knew its powers. Mercury, again, taught men rhetoric, astronomy, geometry, arithmetic, and music. Mercury is Hermes — the oil which softens the hardest substance. Vulcan and Mercury are more subterranean, that is “ chemici.” Osiris has two sons — Anubis the dog, Macedon the wolf. The story of the adventures of Osiris shows really the solution of the great work, first to the Ethiopians— the Black Sea, after to the Red Sea ; and the Story of the Poppy is both necessary and arcane. At death, caused by Typhon, Osiris is divided into twenty-six parts.
Osiris’ expedition was really in search of material for the Golden Medicine — his scattered fragments, collected by Isis and united, showing the completion of the work.
Observe the nature of Typhon. He is a spirit, fiery and furious. Isis and Osiris— brother and sister — are androgyne. Bulls were offered in memory of Osiris. The pudenda were not recovered. This refers to what remains after the completion of the great work. It is “ nigra et inutilis.”
Two columns were erected to the glory of God and in memory of Isis and Osiris. The inscriptions are well known.1
1 Diodorus, in his work on the Egyptians (lib. 1), says that Isis has deserved immortality, for all nations of the earth bear witness to the powers of this goddess to cure diseases by her influence. “ This is proved,” he says, “ not by fable, as among the Greeks, but by authentic facts.” Galen mentions a universal medicine, which in his time was called Isis. — Isis Unveiled, p. 553.
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The secrets of chemical knowledge were kept by the Egyptian priests, who seem to have paid more attention to their own interests than those of their countrymen. This priesthood was by succession from father to son, and the knowledge which they communicated to the learned of other nations was brought to Greece by Orpheus and others.
Menes was the great king who gave Egypt laws. Busiris built Thebes. He was a philosopher and priest to Vulcan. The ancient statues and war stories of the Egyptians are allegorical.
A labyrinth was constructed by Miris, similar to that in Greece. Apis the Sacred Bull, distinguished by a white lunar crescent, was sacred to Osiris. The ancient gods of Egypt were few in number, but were expressed by figures of animals, so that in time these animals became recognised as themselves divine. Those figures under which victoi’ies in war were obtained were reckoned most sacred. Anubis was the keeper of the parts of Osiris. Great secrets were believed to exist, expressed to the illuminated under these animal figures, but they always acknowledged God as the Creator of all. There were four “chemical gods” — Osiris, Isis, Mercury, and Vulcan.
The black work hidden under the figure of Apis — a black bull. Different cities had different animal cults. The Eagle — signifying the white work. These and the others really meant arcane “ physic.” The Crocodile, too, venerated at Crocodilopolis — the only four-footed animal that lays eggs — reference here also to the white work. The Ibis, Cat, and Serpent were sacred to Isis and Mer- cury. The Eagle, one of the most famous of the figures. Ovid, in the “ Song of the Pierides,” refers to these tales : —
“ She sings from earth’s dark womb how Typhon rose,
And struck with mortal fear his heavenly foes :
How the gods Hed to Egypt’s slimy soil,
And hid their heads beneath the Banks of Nile ;
How Typhon, from the conquer’d skies, pursued Their routed godheads to the seven-mouth’d flood ;
Forced every god, his fury to escape,
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Some beastly form to take, or earthly shape.
Jove (so she sung) was chang’d into a ram,
From whence the horns of Libyan Ammon came ;
Bacchus a goat, Apollo was a crow ;
Phoebe a cat, the wife of Jove a cow,
Whose hue was whiter than the falling snow ;
Mercury to a nasty Ibis turned ;
The change obscene, afraid of Typhon, mourned ;
While Venus from a fish protection craves,
And once more plunges in her native waves.” 1
Then Babylon was an Egyptian colony. Belus was Jupiter or Saturn. As to the Jews, the circumcision of boys was practised in Egypt, but whether originated there, or was brought thither by the Jewish nation, is uncertain. Athens derived the mysteries of Eleusis from Egypt. Cadmus, coming from Thebes, wrecked on Rhodes — then devastated by serpents — is an arcane story referring to the whole chemical art ? Who does not know the story of the sowing of the dragon’s teeth ? In short, all arts, religion, and laws came from Egypt. The seven liberal arts were inscribed on the pillars of Mercury. As to the Pyramids, they were wrought “ex lapide duro et difficile.” The temple of Bel at Babylon was decorated with lions and serpents — the solid and volatile, and had a golden table. The Egyptian art was transferred to the temple at Babylon. There were both a stone and a golden sceptre, as Jupiter and Juno were spouses, but also brother and sister — the sun and moon. The famous draught Nepenthes was made in Egypt. The statue of Venus at Memphis was made of gold, and in the sacred rites the adolescent hair of boys was offered in golden vessels to the magi.
The golden medicine for the cure of ailments of body and soul was referred to under all these .figures. The medicine known to both Egyptians and Greeks was held to be comparable to the greatest riches, and is referred to in all antiquity, even onwards past the time of the Emperor Diocletian. Gold, the most noble of all substances, became the vehicle through which not only the greatness of rank
1 “Metam.,”
v.
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was exhibited, but which, too, rightly understood, became the instrument showing forth the Divine glory, in the preservation of the human body in its greatest strength and power, and amid the frailty and shortness of human life, to those who obey the commandments of God, a source of protection from disease, a help in necessity, and a way by which, living still on earth, man was enriched and sustained. “ Idcirco haec ars a nobis appellata Medicina, qiue aureum animi et corporis Medicamentum perfecit.”
The second book of the “Arcana ” treats of the symbols of the Greeks, and the stories of the gods in which the golden legends are found.
Vulcan and Mercury, Osiris and Isis — these four became eight, and then twelve. These twelve gods were trans- ferred to Greece, with the Osiraic mysteries, which are those of Dionysus ; while those of Isis are equivalent to those of Ceres. This took place in the time of King Psammitichus, and was done by Orpheus. Their teaching followed as matters of course. Below all the stories of the gods lay an arcane meaning. The supposed murders, sins, adulteries of these gods were really allegories. These were symbols for the eyes, but had a very different meaning when addressed to the heart. Belief in the one God was really, though perhaps secretly, professed. Orpheus sang :
“ Omnia sunt unam, sint plurimina nornina quamvis.
Pluto, Persephone, Ceres et Venus alma, et Amores,
Tritones, Nereus, Tethys, Neptunus et ipse Mercurius, Iuno, Vulcan us, Iupiter et Pan,
Diana et Phoebus jaculator, sunt Dens unus.”
The history of Jason’s search for the Golden Fleece comes first. He was in possession of the soporific medicine which he gave to the dragon, and was himself carefully anointed to avoid the danger. The story is arcane, and shows the chymic art of gold-making, and, as Natalis informs us, the Philosopher’s Stone was really the object of the search. The story is but an allegory. Even boys,
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not to speak of men, would never believe these tales about bulls vomiting fire, &c. Jason represents the medical art, and it is to be noticed that Medea was born of the sun and the sea. The ship - Argo — represents the element of fire, and the Fleece itself the Philosopher’s Stone— the chief, the great medicine of humanity. Virgil refers to the allegory : —
“ No bulls, whose nostrils breathe a living flame,
Have turned our turf ; no teeth of serpents here Were sown, an armed host and iron crop to bear.”
The second allegory is that of the Golden Apples of the Hesperides : —
“ High rising Atlas, next the falling sun Long tracts of ^Ethiopian climates run ;
There a Massylian Priestess I have found,
Honour’d for aye, for Magick Arts renowned.
Th’ Hesperian Temple was her trusted care ;
’Twas she supplied the wakeful dragon’s fare ;
The poppy-seeds in honey taught to steep ;
Reclaimed his rage, and soothed him into sleep ;
She watched the golden fruit.”
What was this gold ? those apples of golden colour ? the garden ? The twelve labours refer to the celestial signs. Hercules is the labourer, the artificer who from his labours evolves the golden medicine. What is the dragon? The same as Cerberus, the Sphinx, the Chimsera ; the tree, vegetable life in general. It has its roots sunk in the ground, grasping the gold beneath.
The temple of Saturn was the treasure-house where the golden money was guarded. The golden apple thrown hy Eris, the uninvited guest to the marriage of Peleus and Thetis, with the inscription, “ to the fairest,” was the proximate cause of the Trojan war; and then the story of Hippomenes and Atalanta — the three golden apples so beautiful that Atalanta could not forbear from picking them up when she ran in the race, and so was distanced by Hippomenes. On account of their subsequent conduct, they were turned into lions — “ Hoc est in vase noto seu in domo vitrea et vertuntur in leones,”
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“ Aprum occidit, quia altera Diana est, Fontem ex saxo elicit prope fanum iEsculapii ; Quia petne philosophise durissimse dant aquam.”
The stag of Ceryneia had golden horns, but brazen feet. Hercules was ordered to bring it alive. He pursued it a whole year, and caught it wounded. The golden sun. Arnold has said, “ In one stone are the sun and moon in virtue and power. Two horns — the sun neither without the moon, nor the moon without the sun. The stone is invincible, though its powers and virtue are hidden. “ Philosophi dicunt strenue, duo animalia esse in hac sylva, unum laudabile, formosum et alacre ; magnum et robustum Cervum aliud unicornu, monstrat Philosophus.” That thing whose head is red, eyes black, feet white — that is our magisterium. The feet are properly referred to, being “ basis est operis.”
Bacchus, who is Dionysus and Osiris, the first of the golden gods, is the giver of gifts. Midas is a symbol — golden, making gold.
Other symbols then are — the golden age, the golden shower which fell in the Isle of Rhodes, the golden harvest. The golden age, the Saturnian ; the silver, the Jovian. Then the brass and the iron ages.
“And thou, O Argive Juno, golden shod.”
Rhodes — the isle of roses, red-golden — where the shower fell. Vulcan, the “ midwife,” produces Pallas — the wisdom of Jove. That is “ perfecta cognitio rei occultae.” This virgin is perfect and begotten of Jupiter— the golden crown of Pythagoras — melts in golden song.
The third book treats of the genealogy of the gods, the philosophical tree with its innumerable branches — the golden chain.
Homer’s golden chain of gods — the strange puzzle whether the egg or the hen first existed — whether the earth or the gods were first in being. Plato, the divine,
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and the Christian teachers affirm that the Eternal efficient Cause existed eternally, and that the world was made at his will in time. The golden chain of the genealogy of the gods produces them. “ ex coelo et Terra itaque Saturnus et Rhea progenti sunt” ; Ccelum est agens et terra parens.” Saturn was the most ancient of the dieties, the father of the Golden Age. The colour of Saturn is black, the first state of the “ work.” Then he wars with the Titans, “ Idcirco et Saturno amputatas viriles partes dicunt, et cum sal in
aquam tanquam in mare decidat, ex illo sale et sulfure
gignitur Venus.” Was not “the stone” vomited up by Saturn to be seen in Helicon ? Then the symbol of ^Etna in flames — the work proceeding. It is said that Juno, the daughter of Saturn and Ops, was the sister and wife of
Jupiter. This is nothing else but the water of Mercury,
which is called Juno. The very earth distills Jupiter, Juno. It is but the vitrous vessel in which is the salt. In this is concealed the most ancient chemical philosophy, hidden amongst the Egyptians and Greeks, shewn in relics, in hieroglyphic pictures, sung by the different poets.
“Jupiter est idem Pluto, Sol et Dionysus.” All riches are in Juno, held in golden chains. The hundred-eyed peacock, the bird of Juno, refers to the dragon’s tail ; and those Pyrenean mountains, which Pluto inhabits, refer to the mines wherein the metal is sought by the Phoenicians. There is a mystic reason why Pluto and Pallas have a common altar, “Ad Chemarum fluvium rapuit Proser- pinam.” Isis bears horns — referring to Luna. The bees, symbols of the Muses, showing the flying, volant nature of the substance. Fire was among the Romans the sacred symbol, perpetually kept alive by the Vestals.
“ Quid est Venus ? Quod homo materiale corpus.” Did not Cadmus, born of the power of the basilisk, sow the dragon’s teeth ? His wife was Harmonia. He was the founder of Thebes. Fire “ id est draco.” The Sun is the eye of the Universe, the King of the Planets. Of it did not Anaxagoras say that it was a burning red stone ? The
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ancients believed that the eclipses were signs of the passions and diseases of the sun or moon. What was held to be the “apex inundi?” The golden altar in the Temple of Delphi. The symbols of birds under which Orpheus and others appear, from their volatile nature refer to the “ work.”
The story of vEsculapius is well known. The Greeks knew him as Asclepius. He was the descendant of Apollo. A raven (the black work) was associated with his birth. Some say Hermes saved him from the flames. The serpent was his perpetual symbol. The goat and the cock were offered to him. “ Si vero dicatur Mercurius extraxisse v'Esculapium ex cineribus matris, eodem res redit ; Hoc enim est oflicium Mercurii et nil nisi Mercurius est, de quo dicitur.” This is the sum and head of arcane philosophy and medicine. “ Rubedine seu Apolline nato, hie in ipso vase concurnbit cum Coronide, seu instar cornicis nigra nympha, et generat iEsculapium, hoc est, omnis medicime Philosophies? authorem.” The two serpents twined on the rod represent the male and female, the working, the suffer- ing, the liquid and the dry, the cold and the humid. The “stone” is the result of the junction of these two; “ lnee est duplex facies Jani.” The two birds, one with feathers, the other without. Mercury was the producer, the uni- versal ground of the Egyptian religion. Ulysses was initiated in the same Thracian mysteries of the three great gods whom it was turpitude to name — Axioerus, Axiocersa, Axiocersus, “ triceps Deus vocatur, marinus, caelestis et terrestris habitus.” All these ancient and most arcane teachings “ ex Egypto in Phoenicium, et ad Graecos cum sua religione mystica penetravit, ab his ad Romanis ” — Mercury in Egypt was called Theut, hence the Germans, who held his cult very strongly, became known as Theu- tones, or Teutons.
Horace, in his ode, “ ad Maicenatem” (iii. l(j), is pressed into service. The birth of Perseus, son of Danae, preceded by the story of his mother’s seclusion, is an arcane story : —
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“ Of watchful dogs, an odious ward,
Might well one helpless virgin guard,
When in a tower of brass immured,
And by strong gates of oak secured,
Although by mortal gallants lewd With all their midnight arts pursued,
Had not great Jove, and Venus fair,
Laugh’d at her father’s fruitless care,
For well they knew no fort could hold Against a god when chang’d to gold.”
The story continued tells how Perseus, come to age, cut off' the Gorgon’s head, then went to Argos and turned his grandfather Acusius into a “ stone.”
O
Hermes, or Apollo, gave Amphion a lyre. He and his brother Zethus, having taken possession of Thebes, when Amphion played his lyre, the “ stones ” not only moved of their own accord to the place where they were wanted, but fitted themselves together so as to form the wall. Hence Horace in “Arte Poetica ” : —
“ Thus rose the Theban wall : Amphion’s lyre And soothing voice the listening stones inspire.”
The fourth book — as to the Grecian feasts and sacred times, and the plays celebrated in memory of the philosophic work.
When God, the greatest and the best, chose the Israel- ites for his people, through Moses he instituted certain recurring festivals, in addition to that of the seventh day, which had been set apart in memory of Jehovah resting from His works in the creation of heaven and earth — the Pascal, the Pentecostal, and the Feast of Tabernacles. Amongst the Greeks, the Homans, and the Egyptians, the same intention was observed. The feasts of Osiris, Ceres, and Adonis and others similar, were of very ancient date. These were all instituted to keep before the eyes of the people the histories of the gods and heroes. The result as the intention was different. The one set of festivals was to show forth the glory of God ; the others, invented by man, served to keep up a series of fabulous stories, such as that of Apis and Dionysus. Not merely so, but the Phallic
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rites were used “ quibus lignea virilia thyrsis alligantes gestabant.” The Cauephoria were celebrated in honour of Dionysus, in which golden baskets were carried, containing the first fruits ; the Bacchanalia, described by St Augustine ; the death of Orpheus, the celebration of which, an allegory, had an arcane meaning ; the “ Festa Cereris.” Triptolemus “ sub igne nutritus . . . est noster ille foetus philosoph-
icus.” The salamander, an animal which lives in fire, may easily point “ in operibus chymicis.” This opinion is sup- ported from the writings of Avicenna, Lullius, Ripley, and others. Then there were the Eleusinian Mysteries, to the consideration of which a considerable part of the chapter is devoted. The “ Somnium Scipionis ” is largely referred to. In all these we have the “ stone,” the “ Dragon,” and “ Sol et Luna ” ; the very names of the planets referring to our “ medicine ” — the sun, the image of active power ; the moon, the emblem of passivity ; Mercury, “ receptac.ulum utriusque.” This is shown from the Rosary, from Hermes and Lullius. “ They had, Diodorus telleth, a brazen statue of Saturne, of monstrous bigness, whose hands hang down to the earth so knit one within another that the children that were put in them fell into a hole full of fire.” “ Isis, which is all one with Ceres.” 1 Adonis is the sun. Perhaps the Lampadephoria are illustrative of our “ work.” These games were used in this manner. Runners carried a lamp or torch from one point to another in a chain of competi- tors, each of whom formed a successive link. The first, after running a certain distance, handed the lamp or torch to the second, and so on till the point proposed was reached. Heroditus uses the game as a comparison to illustrate the living image of successive generations of men. “The action of carrying an unextinguished light from the Cerameicus to the Acropolis is a lively symbol of the benefit conferred by the Titan [Prometheus] upon man, when he bore fire from the habitations of the gods, and bestowed it upon man.” But the gratitude to the giver of fire passed to 1 L. Vives in Aug. de Civit. Dei, JOIO ; vii. 19, 20.
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Hephaestos, who taught men to apply it to melting and moulding of metal. Other writers hold that the game had an inner significance, “ alluding to the inward fire by which Prometheus put life into man.” 1 One symbol on a coin referring to these games shows a serpent surrounding in a circle. Reference is also made again to the common altar of Vulcan and Pallas, to the fire of Vesta, to the chief place which Vulcan held amid the Egyptian gods, and to the Germanic races.
The Olympic games, the Isthmian and the Nernean games, all come under notice. The Olympic games were celebrated according to the ancient mode of reckoning every four years. It is said on the first full moon after the summer solstice. The fourth day of the festival was the day of the full moon. Sacrifices were continually offered during the time the games were going on. The victor was crowned upon a bronzed tripod, afterwards upon a table made of ivory and gold.'2
The “Pythia” were one of the four great national Greek festivals. These games were celebrated in honour of Apollo, and appear at first as a musical competition —lyre- playing— in honour of the god of song and music. Apollo is Helios, the sun — the Egyptian Horus. Apollo killed the dragon Python on Mount Parnassus. He was the father of Asclepius, the god of the healing art. The lyre and the bow are the emblems of Apollo. He slew the “ dragon ” Typhon. “ De putrefactione hujus Typhonis, unde Python et Pythia nomen acceperunt.” The slaying of the “dragon,” and the use of the putrified black matter is well known in the “ art.” Morien — “ H;ec terra cum aqua sua putresit et mundificatur qme cum mundata fuerit, auxilio dei totum magisterium dirigetur.”
The fifth book, concerning the Labours of Hercules.
The history and the fame of the labours of Hercules are well known throughout the whole world. The}1, have been 1 Smith, in voce. 2 Smith, in voce.
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sung by poets — for who is ignorant of his praises ? All nations unite in this, for he was the most celebrated of all the heroes of antiquity. Orpheus “ horum primus author est.” Hercules was the son of Zeus, by Alcmene of Thebes, in Boeotia. His step-father was Amphitryon. Put to the breast of Hera when an infant, she pushed him away, and the milk thus spilled produced the Milky Way. So strong was he and wise, that in his early childhood he killed two serpents which Hera had sent into his sleeping room. In his labours, successes, and troubles he was typified by Samson among the Israelites, and the Divine Son himself was foreshown by Hercules in his battle with Cerberus and other inhabitants of the infernal regions. This similitude is drawn out to some length by Maier. Hercules, Jason, and Ulysses, in their labours and journeys, have an arcane and chemic reference. Hercules, in his perfection and strength, is an emblem of what is required to “the work.”
“ Completa organa,” a sickly and feeble body is useless. That constancy and perseverance which Hercules showed is an absolute prerequisite. Proficiency in many arts is ascribed to Hercules — poetry, music, astronomy, horseman- ship, chariot-driving, archery, fighting in heavy armour.
The first labour was the fight with the Nemean Lion. He stopped up the lion in its den, and strangled it with his own hands. This has a chemic significance. The “ lion” is well known in our “ work,” “ ex spuma lume natus est.” “ Leo viridis est vitruin.” Many writers — Morienus, Ripley, Senior — the lion the strongest of animals — “ leonem est solem, qui habeat lunarem naturam adjunctam.”
The second labour was the fight with the Lernean Hydra. Like the lion, this creature was the offspring of Typhon and Echidna. Hercules killed this monster by fire. It had, by its poison, infected the air, causing the death of men and animals. A gigantic Crab came to the assistance of the Hydra, referring to the sign of Cancer in the heavens. Geometry has divided the heavens by twelve signs. “ Noster serpens in arte ex aqua concrevit.” This
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is our lizard, serpent, and hydra, which, if not properly killed, will revive again, that is, its life will continue by reason of its volatile nature.
The third labour was in connection with the Stag of Ceryneia, which had golden horns and brazen feet. Her- cules wounded or killed it. He pursued it a whole year. This story has been referred to in the second book of the “Arcana.” Hercules next attacked the Erymanthean Boar. Chasing him through snow, he caught him in a net and carried him to Mycenm. When pursuing this labour, he came upon the Centaur, and in its pursuit wounded Cheiron. The fight with the Centaurs gave rise, it is said, to the institution of mysteries. Two mountains come into these stories. “ Fili, inquit Calid cap. 10 vade ad montes Indirn et ad suas cavernas, et accipe ex iis lapides honoratos.”
The cleansing of the stables of Augeas. This was to be performed in one day. It was done by letting two rivers flow through. The reward being refused, Augeas and his sons weie slain. In memory the Olympian games were instituted by Hercules. Apis is referred to in this tale. The cleansing refers to the purification of the vile material in the philosophic work. “ Duo lapides jacent in stercore, unus foeteus, et alius bene odorans.” “ Merculinus apud Rosar. Est lapis occultus et in imo fonte sepultus, vilis et ejectus simo vel stercore tectus.”
The Stymphalian Birds — voracious creatures which fed on human flesh. Raising them with a brazen rattle, Hercules killed them with arrows. Some say that they were afterwards found by the Argonauts. The rattle was the work of Vulcan. It is of these that Apollonius, in the Argonautics, speaks : —
“ When great Alcides on Arcadia’s soil Pursued the progress of his glorious toil,
From fair Stymphalus’ wide expanse to chase The brooding Ploides, pernicious race,
Most foul and hateful of the. plumy kind,
I saw the chief. His quiver he resign’d ;
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His station on a lofty rock he took,
His mighty hands the brazen cymbals shook,
Far flea the brood abhorr’d, on sounding wings,
And darken’d air with screams of terror rings.”
Naturally viewed, the story is foolish, but viewed philosophically, most beautiful and clear. The birds are the volatile parts of the “ work,” easily dispelled, “ ut et de Crotalo seu tere philosophico, tixo, figenti eas.” “ Constans in turba dicit, nihil alius curate, nisi quomodo duo sunt argenta viva, scilicet fixuni in tere, et volatile fugiens in Mercurio.”
The Wild Bull of Crete, which Hercules caught ; the Mares of the Thracian Diomedes. These latter Hercules had to fetch to Mycenae. They were fed on human flesh. “ Equus noster leo fortis sub pallio coopertus.”
The Girdle of the Amazonian Queen was taken by Hercules, but not till he had killed her. The girdle was adorned with the most precious ornaments, white and red, and has reference to medicines a thousand times more precious than gold.
Then there are the greatly embellished adventures with the Oxen of Geryones, in Erytheia. Geryones was a monster with three bodies, living in the “ reddish island,” under the rays of the setting sun. “ Geryon ille tricorpor, Chrysaoris filius, hos boves habuit.” “Geryon quid?” Hamuel answers, “ Est aqua vitie triplex, quia est unum, in quo sunt, scilicet aer, ignis et aqua, in qua est anima exorta, quam vocant aurum, et vocant earn aquam divinam.” In his adventures, Hercules felt so annoyed at the heat, that he shot at Helios, who, admiring his boldness, presented him with a golden cup or boat, in which he sailed over to Erytheia.
The story of the Golden Apples of the Hespcrides has been referred to in the second book of the “Arcana.”
In all Maier expands the acts, labours, and deeds of Hercules to the number of thirty-six, the fetching of Cerberus from the lower world being the last and the greatest. When Cerberus appeared in the upper world,
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unable to bear the light, “ he spat, and thus called forth the poisonous plant called aconitum” — a potent medicine. Hercules is the picture of perfect philosophic work. He bears in his history the key to the interpretation and intelligent understanding. By fire he destroyed the evil. “ Moneo, caveatis, ne compositum fumiget et fugiat.” By his strength, good fortune, and constancy, through per- severance amid the greatest labours, he teaches us in what way to pursue our studies, that in the most arduous affairs we may gain the crown from men, and immortality from God.
Book sixth — concerning the Trojan Expedition.
Dictys of Crete, said to have been the companion of Idomeneus in the Trojan War, writes his experiences. But the story of the founding of the city is easily seen to be fabulous, because the alleged founders are themselves fabulous. Vulcan is said to have built the walls with his own hands —Vulcan, the god of fire; and Neptune, the god of water. Without these elements, no work could be done. So in the “ work,” “ in medio et in fine.” Trees and stones could not, even at the music of Apollo’s lyre, have fixed them in proper places. The ancient kings of Troy are also fabulous. But the whole story is well known to everyone. It need not be repeated. The Trojan names are Greek. The story of the golden apple thrown by Eris, and which is said to have been the remote cause of the war, is evidently a fable. The whole tale is so mixed up with fictitious gods and heroes as to be impossible of belief. The dates are so indefinite that nothing can be concluded from them. The dates given by Homer were evidently taken out of his own imagination. The Homan story of Romulus is equally confused, Who will believe that he was born of Venus and Mars ? and what matter is it that a she-wolf suckled him ? These foolish stories — c' aquila fuudavit, anser pro- texit gallina gubernavit Romam gentilitiara.” How could there be gods of whom the poets make comedies and
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dishonour with foul imputations ? King Midas’ story is well known, and has been already referred to. The lust of gold, the horrible power achieved, the prayer for delivery. The happy release was gained : —
“ The King instructed to the fount retires,
But with the golden charm the stream inspires,
For while this quality the man forsakes,
An equal power the limpid water takes —
Informs with veins of gold the neighbouring land,
And glides along a bed of golden sand ”
Six reasons are given why Troy could not be taken But it was Discord that really threw the golden apple, which, she cried, was for the most beautiful. This evil was then the beginning of all the Trojan misfortunes. The overthrow of Troy -town is, under the philosophic and arcane story, the most arcane of all ; and the highest points — the very “ arcanissima ” — relate to the great and noble Achilles, beloved of gods and men. “ Hoc sit clavis totius artis.” It can never be, and has never been, expressed in words by the philosophic workers. This son of Peleus, by the Nereid Thetis, is educated by Phoenix, and by the centaur (dragon) Cheiron taught the art of healing. To make her son immortal, Thetis anoints him with ambrosia by day, and holds him in the fire at night to destroy his mortal elements. His father sees him baking in the tire, makes an outcry, whereupon Thetis returns to the Nereids, taking the form of a cuttle-fish (the “ black work”). “Locus est Magnesia.” Pythagoras says — “ Et sciendum quod nihil aliud est hujus artis scientia, quam vapor et aquae sublimatio, argenti vivi Magnesiaeque corpori con- juncto.” Achilles trained in the fire, “ ut vere Pyrisous et salamandra nostra fiat,” is slain at Troy and reduced to ashes. “ Nihil aliud, ab Homero mystice et occulte intel- lectum est, quam vasis philosophi, in quo Helena et Paris, materia principalis continetur arete conclusa, ab igne suo circumeunte, vaporoso et digerente periodus et ambitio.” From the ashes the Phoenix arises, iEneas, and others, who build a new city and found new kingdoms. This is the
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summary and total of Homer’s story. Achilles and Pyrrhus “ noster laton est, nostra Magnesia, noster ignis.” The whole was the “ philosophic work,” thus determined and explained long ago, in 1548, by Dionysius Zacharius Gallus.
What, then, was the Palladium which was taken from the Trojan citadel ? There have been various opinions as to this. It was afterwards placed in the temple of Vesta, at Rome.
Under all these old stories and hieroglyphics an arcane, hidden meaning lies. Rut we Christians have revealed to us what was hidden — the benefits and blessings given to the world by God Omnipotent, through whose power these old allegories have been made plain. So to him, the Triune God, with all the devotion of our minds and hearts, we render thanks, who, through His most tender mercy, has delivered us from the idolatry of these ancient nations, delivered us from their darkness and errors, and brought us into the true light, shining in full splendour ; and who has brought to us medicine for both soul and body, being precious and golden, once by Trismegistus, now by our “ medicus,” Jesus Christ, to whose name be now ascribed all honour, and from whom we may at last receive eternal life, “ qui ut Lapis ex alto monte sine manibus revulsus, et lapis angularis a potiori mundi parte seu gentibus rejectus nobis appropriatus, sit benedictus in secula. Amen.”
DE CIRCULO PHYSICO, QUADRATO : Hoc est, Auro, ejus que virtute medicinali sub duro cortice instar nuclei latente ; an et qualis inde petenda sit, Tractatus haud inutilis : Authore Michaele Majero Com. P. Med.