CHAPTER VI.

Concerning the Different Errors as to its Discovery and Knowledge.
The philosophers have prefixed most occult names to this matter of the Stone, grounded on mere similitudes. Arnold » observing this, says in his " Rosary " that the greatest difficulty is to find out the material of this Stone ; for they have called it vegetable, animal, and mineral* but not according to the literal sense, which is well known to such wise men as have had experience of divine secrets and the miracles of this same Stone, For example, Raymond Lully's **Lunaria" may be cited. This gives flowers of admirable virtues familiar to the philosophers themselves ; but it was not the intention of those philosophers that you should think they meant thereby any projection upon metals, or that any such preparations should be made ; but the abstruse mind of the philosophers had another intention. In like manner, they called their matter by the name of Martagon, to which they applied an occult alchemical 'operation ; when, notwithstanding that name, it denotes nothing more than a hidden similitude. Moreover, no small error has arisen in the liquid of vegetables, w^ith which a good many have sought to coagulate Mercury,* and afterwards to convert it with fixatory waters into Luna, since they supposed that he who in this way could coagulate it without the aid of metals would succeed in becoming the chief master. Now, although the liquids of some vegetables do effect this^ yet the result is due merely to the resin, fat, and earthy sulphur with which they abound. This attracts to itself the moisture
esAcnce of wiidom, art^ and reason out of ihc »ta», Atul tbu twofold essence He congested into one ma&s : which cnaikA Scripture csdU the sUme of the earth. From that mas* two bodies were made— the sidereal and the elementary. These, accckrding lo iht; light of Kaiure, are called the ^mntnm tsw. The ina&» wa« exlractvd, and tliiaeii> the ftmia- ment aiid the elements were condciucd. What was extracted from the four After this maimer con&tituletl a fiflli. The Quintessence is the nucleus and the place of the es^encet and properties of atl things in the universal world. Ail nature came into the hand of God -all potency, all property, all esietice of the superior and inferior globe. All these had God joined in His hand, and G?om tliese He focroed num acconiing to His ima^e. — /'^V^^^/Am S«£ttx, Lib. L, c. 9,
* All created things proceed from the coagulated, and aAcr coagulation intiat go oo to resoluttoa* From resolution proceed all procreated i\x\ns^—Dt Tariurv (fragiDenl). Alt bodies of minerals are coagulated by iolu—Di j^ttSmrafiittj Aquis^ Lib. 111., Tract j.
54 The Hermetic and Alchemical Writings of Paracelsus,
of the Mcrcui*y which rises with the substance in th*2 process of coagulation, but without any advantage resulting. 1 am w^ell assured that no thick and external Sulphur in vegetables Is adapted for a perfect projection in Alchemyi as some have found out to their cost. Certain persons have, it is true, coagu- lated Mercur>^ with the while and milky juice of tittinal, on account of the intense heat which exists therein j and they have called that liquid ** Lac Virginis ** j yet this Is a false basis. The same may be asserted concerning the juice of celandine, although it coli^-urs just as though it were endowed with gold. Hence people conceived a vain idea. At a certain fixed time they rooted up this vegetable, from which they sought for a soul or quintessence, wherefrom they might make a coagulating and transmuting tincture. But hence arose nothing save a foolish error.