BOOK VIL

Concerning the Trankmltation of Natural Objects.
IF we are to write concerning the transmutalion of all natural objects, it is just and necessary that, in the first place and before ail else, we should point out what transmutation is ; in the second place, w^hat are the successive steps thereto ; and, thirdlyt by what means, and in what manner, it is broug-ht about. Transmutation, then, takes place when an object loses its own form, and is so changed that it bears no resemblance to its anterior shape, but assumes another guise, another essence, another colour, another virtue, another nature or set of properties : as if a metal becomes glass or stone ; if stone or wood becomes coal ; if clay becomes stone and slate ; hide, glue ; rag", paper ; and many such things. All these are transmutations of natural objects. After this it is most necessary to know the steps to transmutation, how^ many there are. There are not more than seven. For although some persons reckon a greater number, there are, of a truth, only seven principal steps ; the rest which may be included among the steps are comprised in these seven. They are the following :
Calcination, Sltblimation, Solution, Putrefaction, Distillation, coagl'lation, tinctlre.
If anyone ascends that ladder, he will arrive at so wonderful a place that he w^ill see and experience many secrets in the transmutation of natural objects.
The first step, then^ is Calcination,* under which are comprised Rever- beration and Cementation. Among these three there is little diflTerence so far as relates to Calcination. Here, therefore, Calcination is the principal step, for by Reverberation and Cementation many corporeal objects are calcined and reduced to ashes, especially metals. What is calcined is not on that account reverberated or cemented. By Calcination all metals, minerals, stones, glasses, and all corporeal objects, become carbon and ashes ; and this is done ill a naked fire, strong, and exposed to the air. By means of this all
• Due of the Ft^^mfntn Mrdkn coritairicd in the ftrnt vrrlumc: of tli« t^eiieva folio, Mcberj explaining iIm; ^txxss uf calcioaikm frutn ihc standpoint of Kemictjc Medkine, otMerve» thAl it i«.eiiunc]itly nec«»iMii> for ih« [thy^ddn Mhocon- oerr» himftclf with Alchemy lo ufidrr«(fu»dl culdniittoh arid Ihe virtue »hlch rc%idvi» lh«rcin.
toJLv (K*j[Ua'
152 The Hermetic and Alchemical WHtings of Paracelsus.
tenacious, soft, and fat earth is hardened into stone ; but all stones are reduced to lime, as we see in the kiln of the lime burner and the potter respectively.
Sublimation* is the second step, also very important for the transmutation of many natural objects. Under this are included Exaltation* Elevation, and Fixationt ; and it is not altogether unlike Distillation. For» as from all phleg- matic and watery objects, water ascends in distillation, and is separated from its body, so, in the process of Sublimation, in dr)^ substances such as minerals, the spiritual is raised from the corporeal, subtilised, and the pure separated from the impure. For in Sublimation many excellent virtues and wonderful qualities are found in minerals, and many things are fixed and become per- manent, so that they remain in the fire in the following way : Let the body which is sublimated be ground again and mixed with its own dregs. Let it be again sublimated as before, and let this be repeated until it sublimates no longer, but all remains in the bottom and is fixed. Thus it will afterwards become a stone and an oil when and as often as you wish. For if, having refrigerated it, you put it in the air, or in a glass vessel, it is there immediately resolved into an oil. If you once more put it in the fire it is again coagulated into a stone, which is of great and wonderful powers. But this consider a great secret and mystery of Nature, and do not disclose it to sophists. More- over, as in Sublimation many corrosives become sweet by the conjunction of the two natures, so, on the other hand, many sweet substances become sour or bitter \ whilst many bitter things are made sweet as sugar. Here it shoidd be remarked, too, that every metal which is brought to a state of Sublimation by means of sal ammoniac may afterwards be dissolved into an oil in the cold^ or in the air, and, contrariwise, may be coagulated to a stone in the fire. This is one of the greatest and most complete transmuta- tions in all natural objects, namely, to transmute a metal into a stone.
The third step is Solution, under which term are comprised Dissolution and Resolution. This step frequently follows after Sublimation and Distillation, as, for instance^ when you dissolve the matter which remains at the bottom. Solution, however, is twofold : one by cold» another by heat ; one out of the fire, the other in the fire. The cold process of Solution dissolves all salts, corrosives, and calcined bodies. Whatever salt and corrosive quality there may be it resolves into an oil» a liquid, or water ; and this takes place in a damp and cold chamber, or otherwise in the air only, in marble or glass. For everything that is dissolved in the cold contains the sharp spirit of salt, which it often acquires and assumes in Sublimation or Distillation. And everything which is dissolved in the cold or in the air is again by the heat of fire changed
• By sublimalion the lower minci-als .arc jwjiar^teil Trora llio^e elcmcni"* which are ihe source of tltcir poverty ttnd boAcn^Sf btit in addition to ihis* lh« prote»> h^a* many other viriues^ For cx;»inplc» the •i.uhlim^itbii of qukkiiKcr ha& this operation, tliat even the air in it> vicinity has a recreative efTcct. Ym in the air perraeaied hy iuercur>- nil the nr- tueaof mercury arc present. In hke manner, the sublinuiilon of ftn»enjc rekn!>«:j» a fervid spirit into the atmosipherti which cures quartan fever and other acute dl».civscs — i?*- ^Sortis M^tatluis, Tract III.* c, 5.
f ExaltAiion. conjttnction. oppo^itiop, and kindred proccsi*^ are not malcrially |tcrfortii««l i* altogether ^^r\i\\s.\.—Paranih'nm, Tr^ict 1 1 T. . c 6,
Concerning the Nature of Things.
153
into dust or stone. But the Solution of heat dissolves all fat and sulphurous bodies ; and whatever the heat of fire dissolves this the cold coagulates into a mass, and whatever the heat coagulates, this the air and the co!d again dissolve. This also should be known, that whatever the air or the cold chamber dissolves, is of great drj^ness^ and holds concealed within itself acorrosive fire. So what- ever is dissolved In fire, and by its heat, has in itself sweetness and cold, but not fire. Thus, and in no other way, is Solution to be understood*
Putrefaction* is the fourth step, under which are comprised Digestion t and Circulation, Now Putrefaction is a very important step which might deservedly stand firsts only that would be contrary to the just order and to the mystery which lies concealed here, and is known to very few. For these steps should follow one another in turn, as has been said, like the links in a chain, or the rounds of a ladder. For if one of the links of the chain were taken away, the chain would be broken and the captive would escape. And so, too, if one of the rounds of the ladder should be removed from the middle and put in the highest or the lowest place, the ladder too would be broken, and many would fall headlong from it and endanger their lives. So understand here that these steps follow one another in a just order; otherwise the whole work of our mystery would be perverted, and all our toil and pains frustrated and rendered void. Putrefaction is of so great efficacy that it blots out the old nature and transmutes everything into another new nature, and bears another new fruit. .^11 living things die in it, all dead things decay, and then all these dead things regain life. Putrefaction takes away the acridity from all corrosive spirits of salt, renders them soft and sweet, transmutes their colours, separates the pure from the impure, and places the pure higher, the impure lower, each by itself.
Distillation is the fifth step to the transmutation of all natural objects. Under it are understood Ascension, Lavation, Imbibition, Cohobation, and Fixation, By Distillation all waters, liquids, and oils are subtilised, the, oil is extracted from all fat substances, the water from all liquids, and in all phlegmatic substances the oil and the water are separated.
Moreover, many things in Distillation are fixed by Cohobation, especially if the substances to be fixed contain water within them, as %'itriol does. When this is fixed it is called colcotar. Alum, if it is fixed with its own water, is
• Putrefaction U the handmaui of tcporation.— ^Afiix/'A4ir3ivarAN generation. — Dt Mods PkarvHiumudiy Tract IIL The firmiiuient produces cotour3>i corruptions, and digestions of
nutximent, of nature, etc And putrefac lion produces a fucceuion of coloun^ rapidly.— /^/
e^^ntLilly and ex€csi\-ely cold.— /7# Tartarp, Lib. II., Tract 11., c 7. Putrefaction h the jtcporatton of virtuei and at the loine tiniie U almost a con^r\*ation. — D* SatmraiituM Agnth, Lib. ]V,, Tract 3*
f Digestion i* putrefaction- — Z?* PfitUitaie^ Tract I. By the process of dij^e&tioii, what u bad and unproAtabIc in a tubataikce i^ separated so that the substance rciuaiiu in itjk es^nce, as it was created. In »o far a& it h.-i» become vitiiitedi digestion cause» it to purge kitelf, «o that it labours to return into its es^nce^—£)^ Tmrittrit^ Lib. IL, Tract IL, c. 3. Between digestion performed in the earth and the digestion which take* pUice in the body of man. thert: i* thi» difference, that the earth sepaj^itcs nothing, iJi the sen^sc that it does not cajst otft anything excretnentittously ; it dige^vts, putrefies^ generates, and augment.^ by the power and inini'*lr>' of the «>tar^. There i* tui excrctnent^l ^{jiaraLton. Wt Uicre \a a *cparaijoJi of seed into sail, sulphur, ;uid mercury'. Vet tlitb iiv not precL»ely a deprtvalton of the earth, li«cau«e Uie earth contain* in it»eJlf iah, sulphur, and mercury'- The etutbumureover, requires no nutrimental siipptm after (he manner of human t>eing», but the Aeed h ^wn in it just as the maile leecl U sown in the female wooib. The earth gcneralia, augments, ajad multiplier try metuin of its own indwetlmg Archetu^.— /7r P$tiiUtaie^ Tract \\.
154 T^^ Hcrmeiic and Akhemual Writings of Paracelsus,
called Zuccari. This, too, Is resolved into a liquid, and if it be putrefied for a month it produces a water as sweet as sugar, which, indeed, is of great power luid an excellent arcanum in medicine for exting-yishingthe microcosmic fire in men of a metallic temperament^ as we write more at length in our books on Metallic Diseases.* And just as you have heard of vitriol and alum, so also salt nitre and other watery minerals can be fixed by cohobation.
The process of Cohobation is that a caput mortuum is frequently imbibed with its own watefi and this is again drawn oflf by means of Distillation. Moreover, in Distillation many bitter, sharp, and acrid things become very sweet, like honey, sugar, or manna ; and» on the other hand, many sweet things, such as honey, sugar, or manna, become sharp, as oil of vitriol or vinegar, or bitter, as gall or gentian, or sharp, as corrosive. Many excrementitious things lose their excessive stench in distillation, since it passes out into the water. Many aromatic things lose their pleasant odour. And just as Sublimation alters things in their quality and nature, so does Distillation*
Coagulation is the sixth step. There is, however, a twofold process of Coagulation, one by cold, another by heat ; that is, one of the air, another of the fire. Each of these, again, is twofold, so that there are really four pro- cesses of Coagulation, two by cold, and two by fire. The Coagulations by fire are fixed, the others by cold are not fixed. One, indeed, is produced only by common air, or without fire. Another is produced by the upper firmament of winter stars, which coagulate all waters into snows and ice. The Coagu- lation by fire is produced by the artificial and graduated fire of the alchemist, and is fixed and permanent. For whatever such a fire coagulates, that becomes permanent. .'Another Coagulation is produced by the /Etnean and mineral fire in mountains, which, indeed, the Archeus of the earth rules and graduates in much the same way as the alchemist ; and whatever is coagulated by such a fire is also ^^yi^^. and constant, though originally its matter was mucilaginous, and it is coagulated by the Archeus of the earth and by the work of Nature into metals, stones, flints, and other bodies. But it should also be known that fire coagulates no water or moisture, but only the liquids and juices of all natural things. For this reason no phlegm can be coagulated, unless it was originally a corporeal matter, whereto^ indeed, it can be again restored by the in dust rj^ of an experienced alchemist. So every mucilaginous matter or spermatic lentor caJi, by the heat of fire, be coagulated into a body and corporal material, but cannot again be resolved
• Medicines arc ihtrcFort: chfwcti which are free from cuaguUntiaiii such ai alunu Id wlucb hiimittily iititl co;i,guUUun MiiiulUfieoiiaty cxi»t. irilieic Imo be !>«piUtLted one from another, the quality wiihdraw^ into one ptacu, and the elemcjiU in like manner, into another. Now, the element of alum \% mosit akin to ibc clement of water For the element of water ntivo cunsihta in lU Hylc^ ;i^ alum after \\% cxcoction., and when it Has been vrporatcd from its coagulates, it [>a!»cs into its purt .-itul proper elenicnt, de>ipoiIcdt however, of iu medicinal arcana. But alum does not ftuflfer this privation. For water alrme prevail against the microcoMOtc fire. Whence the matter standi thus, tlial the aquobity rauit be jtcparatcd from the alum, and must l>c reciilied therein till it 1% almost like liie elcmtntary' disease again prc^nt themselves, they mui»t be again exlingui.shed as before* There arc many such arcana, which I leave to the experience of the school of Vulcatt, as it \s trnpcwihle to emunerale them iti this place. -/V Mitr^ii MttiMilkU^ Lib. II.. Tract IV., c 6-
Concerning the Nature of Things. 155
into water. And as you have heard concerning Coagulation, so know also concerning Solution, namely, that no corporeal matter can be resolved into water unless it originally xvas water, and such is the case with all mineral substances.*
Tincture is the seventh and last step, which concludes the work of our mystery, with reference to transmutation, makes all imperfect things perfect, transmutes them into their noblest essence and highest state of health, and changes them to another colour. TtncfufCs thervjore^ is the noblest matter with which bodies^ metallic and hutnan^ are tinged^ translated into a better and far more noble essence, and info their supreme health and purity. For a Tincture colours all things according to its own nature and its own colour. But there are many and various Tinctures, and not only lor metallic and human bodies, since everything which penetrates another matter, or tinges it with another colour or essence, so that it is no longer like what it was before, may be called a Tincture, So then there are manifold tinctures, that is to say, of metals, minerals, human bodies, waters, liquids, oils, salts, all fat substances— in a word, of all things which, with or without fire, can be brought or reduced to a state of fluxion. For if the tincture is to tinge, it is necessary that the body or material which is to be tinged should be open, and in a state of flux ; for unless this were so, the tincture could not operate. For it w^ould be just as though one were to cast saffron, or some other colour, into coagulated water or ice ; it would not tint the ice so quick ly with its colour as if one were to put it into other water. And, although it might tinge the ice, it would at the same time reduce it into water. Wherefore, metals also, which we wish to tinge, must he liquefied by fire, utid freed from their coagulation. And here it should be known that the more hotly they are liquefied the more rapidly the tincture runs through them, just as fermentation penetrates the whole mass and imparls acidity to it, and the better it is covered up, and the warmer the mass is kept, the more perfectly it ferments, and the better bread it gives; for fermentation is a Tincture of the farinaceous mass and of the bread. t
• All created tlii[i£» proceed from a coagulate, and aTierward^ iMs cooguhite must pa»s Into a Tuiuld, From a liquid, thcDi all procreated thing^^ proceed, irvhcther these be li solid can never be «) perfcctJy liquefied a* ttal lo strive to return lo it** -Kjlidity. Yk^x example : salt* inrhen it bdi««clvcd in water, seeks to revert into its oriKtnj^l iiate. It Is the sasxm. w kh idl olbcr *.uJ pletety (fisaolved but that it will actuatty return into it* original *hape, by mean?; of the nature it retains. Understand that any *olid proceed* from one of the three principle*' sulphur* mercury, and salt whichsoever it may Ue. Sulphur u never liquerted ao completely as not to leave some Mj'tidity adhering to it, Thi^ is also the C2ue with salt aiul iticfcui^'. Great attention must be paid to tbi* *olidific*iti other. . . . Understand. tlicreforCt of things in general, that they proceed from three priiiciplcji ; but that fraiti* which tt«y proceed is a solid, ivv for examplet seed, earth, all fruits, and all growing things. Nothing exiaLs which is not a ^olid. Hut thi« U not the solidification of which mention i?i made here, but is above it aud was before it« For fruits were produced from that liquids and were again solidified. The result i» that here n certain Liiid of generation lakeii pbu.e, aj>d if it be not followed again by a Mfconti digeiitioti, ^is in tht: digestion wliich endued after the first dtvsoUuiou into fmtts that which finally remaios becoinci die principle of tartiir,— W//»i/ Ffiagmen^nn* tic Tnrtafv,
t The brutes tbems>elvi^ have an intuite knowledge, good and liad. No>ne the les , hxtk tinctured knowlcdgCf which ia bad *ind good^ being tinctured from the »tar?i ais rcgartis his earthy nature and condition. In con- »ei}iicncc t>f tViLs nature a most supreme ami exhaustive iniestjgaiion «"f ptiilnwpby i.s pemusstili^le. The right and |iroper itndcri>randing of tht uniinal condition of bumiin nature is contiiincti iti an tmder^tanding of the tincture of the Animal man, Man ha* two liuctures^ one* ai» regard*. bt> jnfrri,>r l« log, fntni ibe ».t.ir». ,tral the *>lher, supematurab from God,— Z>r t'tuUitutt, Tract I.
156 The Hermetic and Alchemical Writings of Paracelsus.
It is also to be remarked that some dregs are of a more fixed substance than their liquid, of a sharper aJso and more penetrating' nature, as you see in the case of vinum ardens, which is made from the dregs of wine, and in the case oi cercvisia ardens, which is distilled from the dregs of cerevtsia; and just as vinttm ardens burns, and as sulphur is kindled, so, if from the dregs of iiceium another aceiam should be distilled, as vinum ardins is commonly dis- tilled, there will be produced thence an acetum of so fiery and acrid a nature, that it would consume al! metals, stones, and other substances, like aquafortis.
Moreover, tincture must be of a fixed nature, fluxible, and incombustible, so that if a little of it be thrown on an ignited plate of metal it will presently float like wax, and that without any smoke, and will penetrate the metal as oil penetrates paper, or water a sponge, and tinge all metals to white and red, that is, in the case of Luna and Sol * These are now the Tinctures of the metals^ which must first of all be turned to alcohol by the step of Calcina- tion, Afterwards, by the second step of Sublimation, their own easy and gentle flux must be produced \ lastly, by the step of Putrefaction and Dis- tillation the Tincture is evoh'ed, fixed, incombustible, and of changeless colour*
But the Tinctures of human bodies^whereby those bodies may be tinged into their supreme state of health, and all diseases may be expelled, that their lost powers and colours may he restored, and they themselves invigorated and renewed — are these : Gold, pearls, antimony, sulphur, vitriol, and the like, the preparations whereof w^e give in many other books, so it does not seem necessary for us to repeat them here.
But concerning Tinctures nothing more need be written, seeing that every extracted colour may be called a Tincture, w^hich, indeed » tinges with a per- manent colour things which do not enter the fire, or keep their colours fixed in the fire, Alt these things are in the hand and power of the dyer or the painter, who prepares them according to his own pleasure*!
It is especially necessary, too, in this book to know the degrees of fire, which can be graduated and intensified in many ways, and each degree has its own peculiar operation, while no one gives the same result as another, as every skilful alchemist finds from his daily experience and the practice of his art. One is the live flaming fire w^hich reverberates and calcines all bodies.
• t call the tbcture of gold the colour of the body itself, ^vhich, ifseparaicd from the body, so that a while body reinaliiSi will l>e a perfect wofk. For colour and body a« two different ibings. and for thw reason admit of separation, that is to sjiy, the pure (tbc colour) i* &cparated front the impiarc (ihe body). Unit-??.* Ihi* be done, all the latxitir will mm out useless. When, accordingly, this separation is accompUiihed, wc niuM immediately Uastcn to the clarification of the colour, and to the highest grade of cxaltatian. But the grade to wblcli the tincture can be exalted U f)vc time-^ double, that Is, fi\'