Part IJ-, Tract II L,c.».

t TinctuTM operate approximately oi follows ; Ju»t as you *ee fire complelely coiisutne firewood and similar |jodie», which, as gold, etc., have no figure of man, so wc must believe that tlnciures operate. Thuft, ju Mittmony purges away iitt the drosA of gold, perfects it, and rallies it dj the bighesi grade by cementation, in like manner it become* manifest thai tfic tincture:! thert» plelcly similar to thoste of the latter tuvd of fire* The ancient arti»t.'« manrelinu->kly wearied theDiselvcs at conjoining lincturca mitb fire, for the^' anticipated a medicine in their idm^t sacred conjanctiont but all in rain. — /^/V.^ c, 8.
Concerning the Nature of Things.
15;
Another is the fire of the candle and lamp, which fixes all volatile bodies. Another is the coal fire, which cements, colours, and purges metals from their scoriae, graduates more highly Sol and Lunai takes the whiteness from Venus, and, in a word, renovates all the metals. Another is the fire of an ignited iron plate, on %vhich the tinctures of metals are probed, which also is useful for other purposes. In another way, scobs (i>., alkali) of iron produces heat, in another way» sand ; in another, ashes ; in another, the balneum maris, by which many distillations, sublimations, and coagulations are produced. In yet another way operates the balneum ron's^ in which take place many solu- tions of corporeal things. Otherwise, again, z.cts thQ itenfer cquinNS, In which the principal putrefactions and digestions take place, and in another way operates the invisible fire, by which we understand the rays of the sun, which also is shewn by a mirror, or steel plate, or crystal^ and displays its operation and effect, concerning which fire the ancients wTote scarcely anything. By this fire, indeed, the three principles in any corporeal substance can be separated on a table. Of so wonderful a virtue is this fire» that by means of it metals are liquefied, and all fat and fluxible things — all combustible things, indeed — can be reduced to carbon and ashes on a table, and without fire.
Since, then, I have placed before yoo and disclosed the steps of Alchemical Art, and the degrees of alchemical fire, I will, moreover, point out to you, and describe generically* the various transmutations of natural objects. Before all, one should speak of the metals ; secondly, of stones ; thirdly, of various objects after their kind. The transmutation of metals, then, is the great secret in Nature, and can only be produced with difficulty, on account of the many hindrances and difficulties. Yet it is not-n^t- contrary to Nature or the will of God, as many falsely say. But in order to transmute the five lower and baser metals, Venus, Jupiter, Saturn, Mars, and Mercury, into the two perfect metals, Sol and Luna, you must have the Philosophers* Stone. But since we have already, in the seven steps, sufficiently unveiled and described the secrets of the Tinctures, it is not necessary to labour further about this, but rather rest satisfied with what we have written in other books on the Transmutations of Metals.
But there are further transmutations of imperfect and impure metals, as, for instance, of Mars into Venus. This may be effected in diflferent ways : Firstly* if iron filings are heated in water of vitriol ; or, secondly, if iron plates are cemented with calcined vitriol ; thirdly, if glowing iron plates are ex* tinguished with oil of vitriol In these three ways iron is transmuted into the best, natural, and heavy copper, which, indeed, flows V'ery well, and has its own weight as well as any native copper. Iron filing can also be reduced and transmuted as if into lead, so that it becomes entirely soft, like native lead, but it does not flow easily. Therefore proceed thus : Take some iron filing, and the same quantity of the best liquefying powder. Mix them ; place them on a tigiilum in a blast furnace, make a strong fire, not so much as to melt the iron, but let it stand as if in a cement a whole hour. .Afterwards increase the
1 58 The Hermetic and Alchemical Writivgs of Paracelsus.
fire vigorously, so that the iron may glow and melt. Lastly, let the tigillum cool of itself, and you will find a regulus of lead on the tigillum, as soft and ductile as native lead can be.
But in order to transmute Venus into Saturn proceed thus : First of all, sublimate copper, and reduce it by fixed arsenic to a white substance, as white as Luna. Then granulate. Of this, and of good reduced powder, take the same quantity ; first cement, and, lastly pour into the regulus, when you will have the true leaden regulus.
On the other hand, it is very easy to turn lead into copper, nor is any great skill required. This is the process : Calcine plates of lead in vitriol, or stratify with the crocus of Venus, cement, and, lastly, liquefy. Then you will see as much native lead as you please transmuted into good, heavy, and ductile copper.
If, now, such copper, or any other copper, be made into plates and stratified with tutia and calamine, cemented, and if, lastly, it be cast, it is changed into a splendid amber or red colour, like gold.
If you wish to change Saturn into Jupiter, take plates of Saturn, and stratify with sal ammoniac, cement, and, lastly, cast, as above. So all its blackness and darkness are taken away from the lead, and it becomes in whiteness like the best English tin.
As you have now heard in brief a summary of some transmutations of metals, so, moreover, know concerning the transmutations of gems, which, indeed, are various and by no means alike. For you see how great a trans- mutation of gems lies hid in oil of sulphur. Any crystal can be tinged and transmuted in it, and in course of time graduated with distinct colours so as to become like a grained jacinth or ruby.
Understand in like manner concerning the magnet. It can be transmuted into ten times its power and virtue in the following way : Take a magnet, and heat it in the coals to such a degree that it may be at a high temperature, but still not red hot. Extinguish this immediately in the oil of the crocus of Mars, which is made of the best Carinthian steel, so that it may imbibe as much as it can take. Thus you will make a magnet so powerful that with it you can pull out the nails from a wall, and do other wonderful things which a common magnet could never accomplish.
Moreover, in the transmutations of gems, it must be known that the world is situated in the two grades of tincture and coagulation. For as the white of an ^^^ can be tinged with saffron, and afterwards coagulated into a beautiful yellow amber, with the dye of a pine into black amber, with verdigris into green amber, like the cyanean or Turkish stone, with green juice into the like- ness of an emerald, with lazuleum into a cerulean amber like sapphire, with Brazilian wood into a red amber like the grained jacinth or ruby, with a purple colour like amethyst, or with ceruse made to resemble alabaster — so all other liquids, and especially metals and minerals, can be tinged with fixed colours, afterwards coagulated, and transmuted into gems.
Concerning the Nature of Things.
159
Similarly pearls^ too, can be made entirely like true ones in appearance so that by means of their brightness and beauty they can scarcely be distinguished from genuine ones. Proceed thus: Purify as much as possible the white of eggs with a sponge. Into this put and mix some fair white talc, or pearl shell, or Mercury coagulated with Jupiter and reduced to alcohol. At the same time pound it in marble very fine^ so that it becomes a thick amalgam* which must be dried in the sun or behind a warm furnace until it becomes like cheese or hepan Lastly » from this mass make as many pearls as you wish, and fix them ow hog bristles. Having thus bored them, dry them as you did the amber, and you have prepared them. If they do not shine sufficiently anoint them externally with the white of an ^%^^ and again dry them. Thus they will become most beautiful pearls, like true ones in form though not in virtue.
Almost in the same way corals are made by those who wish to deceive people as wnth the pearls just spoken of. Proceed thus : Pound cinnabar with white of eggs in a marble mortar for an hour. Afterwards dry it like potter's earth. TheQ form from thence pilules or small branches* as you will j lastly, dry them thoroughly, and anoint them externally, as you did the pearls, with white of ^^^^ Dry them again, and thus they will become like native coral in appearance, but not in virtue- It should also be known that the white of eggs by itself can"be coagulated into a very fine varnish, into which coagulation Luna or Sol may be put.
There are many other and various transmutations, whereof I will tell you briefly, and by the way. those which I know and have experimented on. First, learn that any wood, if at a particular time it be put in the water of the salt of a gem, is converted Into stone in a manner calculated to cause wonder. So, too* stones are transmuted into coals by ^tnean fire, and these are called stone coal.
In the same way glue is made from hides, paper from linen rag, and silk is produced out of linen with a very sharp lixivium made from lime and the ashes of woad. If the downy parts are taken from feathers and dressed with this lixivium, they can be spun and woven like cotton. Any oil or spermatic mucilage can be coagulated into varnish ; any liquid into gum. All these are transmutations of natural objects : whereof we have now said enough, and therefore write our finis.
CONCERNING THE NATURE OF THINGS.
BOOK THE EIGHTH.
CON'CERXING THE SEPARATIONS OF NATURAL THINGS.
IN the creation of the world, the first separation began with the four elements, when the first matter of the world was one chaos. From that chaos God built the Greater World, separated into four distinct elements. Fire, Air, Water, Earth. Fire was the warm part. Air only the cold, Water the moist, and, lastly. Earth was but the dry part of the Greater World.
Now, that you may learn our method in this Eighth Book as briefly as possible, you must know that we do not propose to treat herein concerning the Separation of the Elements in all natural things, since we have fully and perfectly taught concerning these arcana in our Archidoxa on the Separations of the Elements. But here we touch only on the separation of natural things,* where some one thing is singly, and by itself, materially and sub- stantially separated and segregated, when two, three, four, or more have been mingled in one body, and yet only a single matter is touched and seen. And here it frequently happens that corporeal matter of this kind can be known by nobody, nor be designated by an express name, until the process of separation is instituted. Then sometimes from a single matter two, three, four, five, or more, proceed, as by daily experience in Alchemy is made evident. By way of example for you, there is electrum, which by itself is not a metal, but still conceals all the metals in one metal and body. If this, by alchemical art, be anatomised and separated, all the seven metals, and these pure and unmixed, proceed from it, namely, gold, silver, copper, tin, lead, iron, quicksilver, etc.
But in order to understand what separation is, you should know that it is nothing else but the segregation of one thing from another, whether two, three, four, or more have been mixed : I mean the segregation of three principles, as mercury, sulphur, salt, and the extraction of the pure from the impure, or of the pure and noble spirit and quintessence from the dense and
* Separation is grotmded in heat, as in a faculty of digestion, whence, sometimes in one way, and sometimes in another, the ultimate matter b formed. —Modus Pharmacaudi, Tract III. The office of the Archeus is the sequestra- tion of the pure from the impure.— Dt Moritis Tartareis. c. 5. For unless there be separation in the greater world, there can be no metal, and unless there be separation in the smaller world, that b, in the microcosmos, which is man, there can be neither health nor dixeane. but an equable and perpetual disposition of all things.— CA/r»ryrtf Afagna^ Partlll., Lib. a.
Concetfting the Nature of Tkifigs,
i6i
nental body ; and the preparation of two, three, four, or more from one : or the dissolution and liberation of things linked and bound together, which are by nature adverse, and perpetually act contrariwise one to the other* and gfo on doing so until they mutually destroy each other.
There are many and various modes of separation! all of which are not known to us ; but those among the soluble natural elements which have been investigated by us shall here be set down and described according to their species.
The first Separation of which we speak should begin from man, since he is the Microcosm* the lesser world, and for his sake the Macrocosm, the greater world, was founded, that he might be its Separator* But the separation of the Microcosm begins from death.* For in death the two bodies of man separate from each other, that is to say, the Celestial and the Terrestial, the Sacramental and the Elemental One of these soars on high, like an eagle ; the other sinks down to the earth, like lead^f
The elemental body decays and is consumed. It becomes a putrid corpse, which, being buried in the earth, never again comes forth or appears, But the Sacramental body, that is, the sidereal and celestial body, does not decay, is not buried, occupies no place. This body appears to men, and is seen even after death. Hence we have spectres, visions, and supernatural apparitions. From these the Cabalistic Art was elaborated by the ancient Magi, which is treated of more at length in the books on the Cabala.J
After this separation has been made, then, by the death of the man, the three substances separate one from the other, that is to say, the body, the soul, and the spirit, each wending its way to its own place, as to the ark from
• There arc Iwo kinds of death -one from the YU;iiJus, and one from ihc Ens. With tliat which comH from the Y1U(lu& medicine may oitempi to do bftllle ; with ihai which comes from the En* it is u&ele^s to attempt to copc.—Dt Tarinre, comment, in Ljh. M^
t It \\^s, therefore, laeemcd good to me that man should hrsi of all Ife described according to hU nature and con> dition, so that it m^iy become more clearly ■ntcttlgible what is to Ijc sought in the mortal body, that i& to &ay, mere mortality, and wh*t oIao i* to l»e sought jn ihe .sidereal Ixxly, forsooth mere mortality. Afterwards wc must become acquainted with the squK which U by no means mortal, but {% the eiemal maiu Vou must further know thai the ^oul \% flesh and bloody and that it con^isLs of flesh and bloxl, but that there i:s a twofold flesh, namely ^ inurliit ;ind elernAJ* The mortal take* it^ c«ucnce from mortal flesh ; the eternal is perfect fleOi ;ind bhxxl unto life eternal. Therefore if man coniidcr*. within bini^lf who and what he i.v, and what will be his future candiiion^ he will thence readily under* stand that in this ^*odyt incaruatc from the Holy Spirit, he shfttl *ec God* hts Redeemer, and that whatsoever G our Redeemer operates^, in us, He does through the man of new generation, becau^ that Is not of a mortal hut un eternal body. Only this body is s*curc from the devil. The second is from Adam, and i* like a seed in wnler^ Tlic other body is suitable for the jjcrformance of works Divine^ for a niort&l body can accomplish nothing of tho«^ thing-^ which are cele&ttab It care« only for things enrthly and things of the firmament, and it produce* men skilled only in natural light. Hence God ordains man to gain a wider experience from that which is nalitrdlly formed, to pass from one to the other, and to emuliate N.tture. For in a new body and a celestial philosophy is hTe eternal. Death b inherent in natural strength, but life, on the contrary, consists in eternal s>trength. The instruction of Nature is from the earth) and she kno\%'5 not God, except that she admires ihe Creator in man. Nor yet docs man recognise God according to Nature or in Nature. But he who i.-* bom from on high is aoiuainted wiih supernal things. Ttte first of the5« is Christ. All who are reborn in flesh and bloody conceived and incarnate from the Holy Ghost, do follow Hira, and these same have the knowledge of things above. For they arc from Him who Cometh from on high. Hence there are two insintctionSt one of the earth earthy, thr other from on high, which He imi^irts who ai*o is from on high, from whom wc derive, whose flesh and blood we are, etc» "Phihuf^km Sagaje^ Lib* 11., c a,
« The sole work on the cabala which h^s been preser^'ed in the name of Paracelsus, b a short treatise, which forms a detached portion of the book entitled £?* Fettiiiitite. It is not cabalistical in the sense which properly attaches lo that term, nor does it exhibit any special aoi^uainiancc with that section of Jewish trMJitional literature to which it is referred in name. In it* general outline it srrms to Ije fairly in harmony with the great body of cabatistical cosmogony.
1 62 The Hemutic and Alchemical Writings of Paracelsus,
which it first of all came forth : the body to the earth, as the first matter of the elements j the soul to the first matter of the sacrameats ; and, lastly, the spirit to the first matter of the aerial chaos.
What has now been said concerning the separation ot the Microcosm should also be understood of the g-reater world, which the mighty ocean has separated into three parts, so that the universal world is thus divided into three portions, Europe, Asia, and Africa. This separation is a sort of pre- figii ration of the three principles, because they, too, can be separated from every terrestrial and elemental thing. These principles are Mercury, Sulphur, and Salt. Of these three the world is built up and composed.
From this should be known the separation of the metals from their mountains, that is to say, the separation of metals and minerals. By the separation which is instituted in these, many come forth from one matter. You see that from minerals come forth metal, scoriae, glass, sand, pyrites, mar- chasite, granite, cobalt* talc, cachimia, zinctum, bismuth, antimony, litharge, sulphur, vitriol, verdigris, chrj^socolla, cceruleum or lazulum, auripigment, arsenic, realgar, cinnabar, fireclay, spathus, g)'phus, tripolis, red earth, and other like things ; and then of each one of these the water, the oils, the resins, the calx or ash, the Mercur>% Sulphur, Salt, etc.
Vegetables in their separation give waters, oils, juices, resins, gums, electuaries, powders, ashes, Mercur}% Sulphur, Salt, etc.
Animals in their separation give water, blood, flesh, fat, bones, skin, body, hair, Mercun»', Sulphur, Salt, etc.
Whoever, therefore, boasts to be a separator of such natural things, needs long experience, and perfect knowledge of all natural objects. Besides this, he must be a skilled and practised alchemist, to know what is or is not
and It U bneAy as followv Earth, water, air^ and iu« have their origio Grtan three lhkig>» which, howevcrt are not to be regarded as of prior creatioo« for they xr^ and have b«eo fire, air, wmteTt earth. Tlie three hav« all proceeded from one mother. This mother was water. When ihe whol« world was tbnaed the Spirit of God was borne over the waters, for by the word fittl water was fir»t created, and thence all other creatures, antnwleand inan lin ate, Thei« three are called, truly, »utphur. mercury, ialu The*e, therefore, axe the true principle, these the true matter, out of which all animals and man himself are formed. Thus for perfect generation in all things there are three things required — spring, sutIltner^ and autumn. This is especially the csu^ in man bimseir Now, sulphur, mcrctiry, and salt recognire two rulers. Salt ha» the Moon, :ind is thereby governed. It i« aXv> a subject of water. In which it \a dissolved and liquefied. It is of aatuntn and wtater. But the Sun is king and lord of sulphur, which is fervid, igneous, and dUsolved in dre. Now, the Sun U ibe ruler of spiii^ and autumn. But all things are nothing else save sulphur, mercury, and salt, which, further, are the most certain mark of every true phy)dciafl« Salt is the body of autumn and winter, and sulphur of spring and summer. Salt give« form and colour to all creatures ; sulphur gives body, increase, and digestion. These two are fiuher and mother, from which mediating stai% all crealtues are produced. But mercury needs daily nourtshmetit^ and also continual augmentation from sulphur and salt. Know also that God has put much sulphur and salt into earth and water, and every oeature, animate ojkI inanimate, in water and earth, have their proper sulphur and salt, whence they receive nourishment jutd savour. Salt gives savour and form, sulphur odour and the power of putrefaction. The Sun and Moon a^isiduotisly labour to generate these three things copiously, and also to mature the same^ The Sun and Moon are the poreitts of alt creatures, while sulphur and salt are the seed. The seed is brought by the porenu. and the fceius, which is mercury, fcs born. The manner of the nativity of everything has its aimlogies in the great world. When the death of winter has paiaedt »11 things that are capable of receiving life are set in motion by the amenity of May, and all creatures are trans* ported with siagular delight, even as a pregnant woman who desires to bnng forth. Now, every individual being has Assigned lo it its own May for its conception and birth, its respective autumn, and its peculiar har>esi> So are there various springs, summers, and autumns, according to the tnllnile varieties of creatures. The doctrine of the three prime principles recurs conrinually in the writings of Paracelsus, and ts elsewhere treated at considerable length in the text of this translation. At the same lime, the obscurity which involves the subject seems to warrant the citation of passages such as the above, not ejtactly to cast light upon the question, but to exhibit the prime^-al my^ter>' of Raracelsican philosophy with all its available variations.
Concerning (he Nature of Things. 163
combustihie, what is fixed and what volatile^ what does or docs not pass into flux, and what thing" is hea\^ier than another. He must also have investigated in every object its natural colour^ odour, acidit\% austerity, acridity » bitter- ness, sweet nesSi Its grade, complexion^ and quality*
Moreover, it is necessary to know the grades of separation, that they consist of distillation, resolutioni putrefaction, extraction, calcination, rever- beration, sublimation, reduction, coagulationi pulverisation, lavation. By distillation, water and oil are separated from all corporeal substances. By resolution, metals are separated from minerals, and one metal from another, salt and fatness from others, and the light is separated from the heavier. By putrefaction, the fat is separated from the lean, the pure from the impure, the decayed from the undecayed. By extraction, the pure is separated from the impure, the spirit and the quintessence from their body, and the pearl from its dense body. By calcination are separated water)' moisture, fatness, natural colour, odour, and whatever is otherwise combustible. By reverberation are separated colour, odour, inflammability, all moisture and wateriness, fat, whatever, in a word, there is in the substance w^hich is fluxible or inconstant, and so on* By sublimation are separated from each other the fixed and the volatile, the spiritual and the corporeal, the pure from the impure, the Sulphur from the Salt, the Mercury from the Salt ; and the rest. By reduction, the fluxible is separated from the solid, the metal from its mineral ore, one metal from another, metal from ash, the fat from that which is not fat. By coagulation is separated moisture from mere humidity, water from earth. By pulverisa- tion are separated one from the other dust and sand^ ashes and Hme, the mineral from the animal and vegetable substance. All powders which are of unequal w^eight are separated by the process of jaculation. just as the chaff from the corn. By washing or ablution, ashes and sand are separated, the mineral from its metal, the heavy from the lighter substance, the vegetable and animal portion from the mineral. Sulphur from Mercury and Salt, Salt from Mercury.
But now, discarding mere theor)*, let us approach the practical work of separation, and come down to special details. It must be remarked that the separation of metals is rightly the first of all. For this reason, therefore, we will treat of that first.
Concerning the Separation of Metals from their Minerals.
The separation of metals from their mineral ores can be effected in many
ways, for instance, by ebullition or excoction, or by liquefaction with certain
liquefying powders, as salt oi alkali, litharge, sa! Jlttxum^ fei vitn\ ash, sal
gemmae, saltpetre, etc. Put them into a vessel or dish, and let them liquefy in
a furnace. Then the metal as a regulus will subside to the bottom of the
vessel, but the matter of the mineral will float on the surface and will become
ash. You must then work this metallic regulus in a furnace by means of a
reverberatory, until all the pure metal is liberated without any dirt or ash. In
M2
MW4 27/tf Hernutic and Alchemical IVritings of Paracelsus.
this way, the metal is thoroug^hly digested and (so to say) refined or purged from all its dirt and scoria. Mineral ores of this kind will sometimes contain more than one metal, as is very often the case : for example, copper and silver, copper and gold, lead and silver, tin and silver, etc, may be found in one mineral ore ; and the sign of this circumstance will be apparent if the metallic regtilus, after being dealt with in the reverberatory, be resolved in a small vat after the proper fashion and mode. All the imperfect metals in it are separated, such as copper, iron, tin» lead, and so they pass away in smoke together with the lead (of which there should be added twice as much as of the regulus), and then only fine silver and gold remain in the vat. A similar result Is attained, too, if the metallic rex is liquefied and poured upon the lumps. By that method of fusion the intermixed metals are separated. That which is best and weightiest alw^ays sinks to the bottom, while the lighter mounts above.
Two or three metals in admixture can also be separated in acrid and strong water, and one can be extracted from the other, and extended and resolved. But if both metals are resolved together^ one of them in that resolution, as sand or calx, can be diverberated and depressed with salt according to the usual method, and so separated.
Besides this, metals can also be separated by fluxion according to the following process. Reduce the metals to a state of flux. When this has been done» throw in for every pound of the metal one ounce of the most perfectly sublimated and refined sulphur. It will there be burnt, and in the course of that operation it will attract to itself, on the surface, one metal j the lightest, whilst it will leave the heavier at the bottom. Let them stand in this way until cool. So in the one regulus two metals will be found, not, as before, mixed together, but opposed to each other, and separated by the sulphur as if by a wall, even as oil cuts off two bodies oi water, so that that they cannot join and be com- mingled. In the same way sulphur acts w'lth these metals. Sulphur, there- fore, is an arcanum, worthy of the highest esteem.
Volatile and fugitive metals^ such as gold and silver, if they are to be separated from their minerals, since they can neither be treated in the fire nor with strong waters, should be amalgamated, separated, and extracted by means of Mercurius vhms, .'Xfterwards the Afcrctirtiis virus must be abstracted and separated from the calx of the gold or silver by the grade of distillation.
In this way, other metals, too, as gold, silver, copper, iron, tin, lead, and substances prepared from these, as red electrum, white magnesia, aurichalcum, lead ashes, laton, casting brass, part with part, etc., and whatever trans- muted metals of this kind there are, must be abstracted and separated from their extraneous substances by means of AfercHrius rivus. For this is the nature and quality of Merctmus vivus^ that it is amalgamated with metals and wholly united with them, but more quickly or more slowly with one than with another, according as the metal is more or less akin to its nature.
In this scale the principal is fine gold, then fine silver, the third lead, the
Concerfiing the Nature of Things. 165
fourth tin, the fifth copper, and the last iron. So amongf transmuted metals the first is part with part, then lead ashes, next latoii, afterwards casting brass, then red metal, and lastly white. Mercury^ for its part, does not take more than one metal with which it is amalg"amated. Afterwards, that amalgam must always be vigorously pressed out by means of goat *s skin or a cotton rag, of which a strip is to be inserted, by which means nothing but Mercurius vivus alone will pass over. The metal which was attracted will remain on the skin or the rag like lime, and you can afterwards reduce it to a metallic body, by liquefying it with salt of alkali, or some other substance. By this device Mvrcun'us vhms is separated from all the metals more quickly and conveniently than by the method of distillation. By this process w*ith Ale re urius vivus, m the hands of a skilled and active alchemist, all metals can be extracted and separated on^ from another in turn, after their calcination and pulverisation* In the same manner, with very small outlay of labour, tin^ too, and lead can be separated from copper, or from copper vessels, from iron and steel covered with tin, and this without any fire or water, solely by the amalgam of Mercurius vivus^ as we have said. Again, gold and silver leaf, as also every metal after being ground or pounded, and written with pen or pencil on cloth, parchment, paper, leather, wood, stone, or other material, can be resolved with Mercurius vivHs^ but so that afterwards the Mercttritts vivus can again be separated ;ind segregated from these metals.
The separation of metals in aqua fort is, aqua regis, and similar strong corrosives, is effected in the following manner : Let the metal which is mixed and joined to another be taken and reduced into very thin plates, or most mmute portions. Let it be put into a separating vessel, and a sufficient quantity of common aquafortis be poured upon it. Let these stand, and both be macerated until all the metal is resolved into a transparent water. If it be silver, and contains gold in it, all the silver will be resolved Into water, while the gold will be calcined and sink down to the bottom In the form of black sand. By this method the two metals, gold and silver, will be separated. But if you wish to separate the silver alone without distillation, and to drive that to the bottom like black sand, and to bring it back to calcination from its state of resolution, then put into that resolution a small copper plate, and thereupon the silver will sink in the water, and occupy the bottom of the glass vessel like snow, while it will begin gradually to consume the copper plate*
The separation of silver and copper by means of common aquafortis is accomplished in the following way : Reduce the copper which contains silver, or the silver which contains copper within itself. Into very thin plates, or into grains ; put it into a glass vessel, and add as much common aquafortis as necessary. In this way the silver will be calcined, and will go to the bottom in the form of white VrniQ, while the copper will be resolved and converted into transparent water. If this water, together with the resolved copper, be abstracted through a glass funnel from the silver calx into a separate glass vessel, then the resolved copper can be reverberated with common rain or
1 66 The Hermetic and AUhemical Wriiings of ParauJsus.
nver water, or with hot salt water, so that it will occopr the bo tt om of the glass vessel like sand.
The separation of hidden gold from any metal is effected by the degree o( extraction through aqua regis ; for this water does not approach for the purpose of resoUing any metal but fine gold alone.
This same aqua regis also separates fine gold from gilded denodia. If it be smeared over these, it wipes away and sunders the gold.
Moreo%'er, also, two metals mixed tc^ether can be separated one from the other with a cement b}- the degree of reverberation, especially if they are not in a similar d^^ee of fixation, as iron and copper, h metal which has very little fixation, such as tin and lead, is altogether consumed in the cement by the degree oi reverberation. The more fixed any metal is the less is it affected or consumed by the cement.*
It should be known, too, that fine gold is the most fixed and perfect of all metals, and can be consumed \yy no cement. Next to this is fine silver. But if gold and silver be mixed together in one body, which is generally called ** part with part," or if silver contains gold, or gold silver, in itself — if these mixtures, I say, be cemented and reverberated together, then the gold always remains entire and inviolate, while the silver is consumed by the cement, and is extracted from the fine gold ; and so is copper from silver or iron, or tin from copper and iron, or lead from tin ; and so on in order with the others.
Concerning the Separation of Minerals.
So far we have explained the separation of metals from their earth and matter, and oi one metal from another ; and have shewn how it was to be done, using the greatest brevity consistent with accurac>', and follow^ing the alchemical art and practical experience. Now, next in order, it will be necessary also that we treat of those things out of which metals grow and are generated, such as are the three principles. Mercury, Sulphur, and Salt, and other minerals, among which is found the first essence of metals, that is, the spirit of metals, as is evident in marchasites, granites, cachimise, red talc, lazurium, and the like. In these the first essence of gold is found by the degree of sublimation. So, too, in white marcasite, white talc, auripigment, arsenic, litharge, etc., the first essence of silver is found. In cobalt, zinctum, etc., the first essence of iron. In zinctum, vitriol, atramentum, verdigris, etc., the first essence of copper. In zinctum, bismuth, etc., the first essence of tin. In antimony, minium, etc., the first essence of lead. In cinnabar is found the first essence of silver.
Concerning this first essence, it should be known that it is a fugitive spirit, still existing in a volatile state, as a child lies hidden in the womb of its mother. It is sometimes assimilated to a liquid, sometimes to alcohol. Whoever, therefore, is anxious to have the prime essence of any body, and to separate it, needs great experience and knowledge of the Spagyric Art.
Concerning the Nature of Things.
167
If he has not diligently laboured in alchemy it will avail him nothing* and his labour will be in vain. How the first essence is to be separated from all mineral bodies has been sufficiently explained in the books of the Archi- doxis, and need not be repeated here. But as to the separation of minerals^ it should be remarked that many things of this kind are separated by means of sublimation J as the fixed from the non-fixed ^ spiritual and volatile bodies from the fixed, and so throughout all the divisions, as is detailed in the case of metals. With all minerals the process is one and the same, through all the degrees, as the Spagyric Art teaches.
CONCERKING THE SEPARATION OF VEGETABLES.
The separation of those things which grow out of the earth and are combustible, such as fruits, herbs, flowers, leaves, grasses^ roots, woods, etc*, is also arranged in many ways. By distillation is separated from them first the phlegma, afterwards the Mercury, after this the oil, fourthly their sulphur, lastly their salt. When all thes^ separations are made according to Spagyric Art, remarkable and excellent medicaments are the result » both for internal and external use.
But when laziness has grown to such an extent among physicians » and all work and every pursuit are turned only to insolence, 1 do not wonder, intleed, that preparations of this kind are everywhere neglected, and that coals stand at so low a price. If smiths could do without coals for forging and fashioning metals as easily as these physicians do without them in pre- paring their medicines, there is no doubt that all the coal merchants would have been before now reduced to extreme beggary. In the meantime, I extol and adorn, with the eulogium rightly due to them, the Spagjric physicians. These do not give themselves up to ease and idleness, strutting about with a haughty gait, dressed in silk, with rings ostentatiously displayed on their fingers, or silvered poignards fixed on their loins, and sleek gloves on their hands. But they devote themselves diligently to their labours, sweating whole nights and days over fiery furnaces. These do not kill the time with empty talk, but find their delight in their laboratory. They are clad in leathern garments, and wear a girdle to wipe their hands upon. They put their fingers among the coals, the lute, and the dung, not into gold rings. Like blacksmiths and coal merchants, they are sooty and dirty, and do not look proudly with sleek countenance. In presence of the sick they do not chatter and vaunt their own medicines. They perceive that the work should glorify the workman, not the workman the work, and that fine words ^o a very^ little way towards curing sick folks. Passing by all these vanities, therefore, they rejoice to be occupied at the fire and to learn the steps of alchemical knowledge. Of this class are : Distillation, Resolution, Putrefac- tion, Extraction, Calcination, Reverberation, Sublimation, Fixation, Separa- tion, Reduction, Coagulation, Tincture, and the like.
But how all these separations are made according to Spagyric and
1 68 The Hermetic and Alchemical Writings of Paracelsus,
Alchemical Art by the help of distinct degrees has before been said generally, and to repeat the same thing here anew is vain. To go on to specialities and briefly explain the practical method, let it be known that all cannot be separated by one and the same process ; that is to say, the water, spirit, liquid, oil, etc., from herbs, flowers, seeds, leaves, roots, trees, fruits, woods, according to the grade of distillation.
Herbs require one process, flowers another, seeds another, leaves another, roots another, trees, stalks, and stems another, fruits another, woods another, etc. And in this grade of distillation the four degrees of fire have to be considered. The first degree of fire is the Balneum Marice. This is the distillation made in water. The second degree of fire is distillation made in ashes. The third is in sand, the fourth in free fire, as also distillation is generally made by aqua fortis and other violent waters. Herbs, flowers, seeds, and the like, require the first degree of fire. Leaves, fruits, etc., need the second. Roots, branches, and trunks of trees, etc., require the third. Timber and the like require the fourth. Ebch of these substances must be minutely cut up or pounded before being brought into the still. So much has been said as to the distillation of waters and vegetable substances. As regards the separation and distillation of oils the same process must be followed as we have spoken of in the separation of waters, except that, for the most part, they have to be distilled by descent. They cannot, like waters, ascend in the still ; therefore, in this case the process has to be changed. Liquids, however, are not separated like waters and oils, by distillation, but are squeezed out from their corporeal substances under a press. And here it should be known that some oils, in like manner, just as liquids, are squeezed out from their corporeal substances and separated by means of the press for this reason, that they can bear scarcely any combustion or heat of the fire, but acquire therefrom an unpleasant odour. Of this kind are the oils of almonds, nuts, hard eggs, and the like. This also is to be noted, that all oils, if they are prepared or coagulated according to Spagyric and Alchemical Art, pour forth varnish, electuary, gum, or a kind of resin, which might also be called a sulphur ; and if the species left in the still were calcined and reduced to ashes, alkali could be extracted and separated from them with simple warm water alone. The ash which is left is called dead earth, nor can anything more be produced or separated from it.
CONXERNING THE SEPARATION OF AnIMALS.
It is necessary to preface the separation or anatomy of animals by shewing how the blood, flesh, bones, skin, intestines, etc., stand each by itself, and then how each is separated by Spag}'ric Art. In this part the separations are principally four. The first draws forth from the blood a watery and phlegmatic moisture. For when the blood has been separated in this manner, according to the process handed down in the book on Conservations,* an
That U, ihe FrfsertmtionsoJ jSatnml 1 hingi. — Dt Saturn Kerum^ Hook III.
Concerning the Nature of Things,
169
excellent Mumia* comes forth, and a specific so potent that any fresh wound can be healed and consolidated in twenty-four hours by a sing^le lig^ature*
The second separation is that of fat from flesh. This fatness being separated from human fleshy a most excellent biilsam is produced, allaying the pains *i^{ gout, of contraction, and others of a like nature, if the members affected be anointed with it w^hile warm. It is also useful for convulsed tendons of the hands or feet, if they are daily anointed with it. It forlher cures the itch, and all kinds of leprosy. This, therefore, is the chief surgical specific, and of the very first efficacy in all accidents and wounds.
The third separation is that of the watery and phlegmatic moisture with fatness extracted from the bones* For if these two are separated from human bones by Spagyric Art, and according to the degree of distillation, and if, moreover, by the method of calcination they are reduced or burnt to a white ash, and if, lastly, these three be again united in the proper way, so that they are like to butyrus, there will be formed a wonderful arcanum and specific, with which you will be able, without pain, to entirely cure any fracture of the bones after binding them up only thrice, provided only that you treat the fracture by setting it according to the rules of surgical science, and then put on the specific in the form of a plaster. The same also thoroughly cures wounds oi the skull, ox any contusion of the bones, in the shortest possible time.
The fourth and I intestines, and tendons. For the resin is extracted and separated from these by the degree of extraction according to Spagyric Art, and when coagulated in the rays of the sun it comes out as a clear and transparent paste. When this paste has been prepared, extracted, and separated from the human body according to the prescribed method, a most excellent styptic arcanum and specific issues forth, with which a wound or ulcer can be quickly healed and the lips brought together, just as two sheets of paper are stuck together with paste, if only you apply to the wound two or three drops o{ that resolved substance. This arcanum, too, is of singular efficacy for burns, and falling off or roughness of the nails, if it be spread over them with a feather. In this way the bare flesh will be covered over with a cuticle.
Many other separations also of one thing or another might be recounted here j but since we have made mention o{ them in other places, it would be in vain idly to repeat them now.
• Mttmia la that which cures all bounds, that w. swecl mctcury. For mercury i« extracted both in a sweet and faicicr fotm- Tlie forrntr Is ad.i|)lcd to wounds and ihc biter to ukcr*. Mumia w ihc h"quor difFuscd through the whole bodyt the limbs, etc., with the ^treJ^gth thai U rei|Utred, It l» divided a* fDlb^'^ : in flesh, dccording to the nature of the flesh ; in bcme, nccording to the nature of the bone ; in the arteries and ligaments, according to their tiaturc ; and ^o nJio in the marrow, the v-einis, and the skin. Hence it follows thai the mumta of the flcs^h curc» wgund$ of the fle»h, ihc mumia uf ihe ligaments cures wound'^ uf the ligaments, etc 1 hw^ the body which has sustained an injury carries^ ttii own cure with it ; the mumiA of ihe »ged, however, i& delVctcnt in virtue and strength. The corruption of the munvia, which i.> often occ«L«ioned; b)' the mLttakeii. uf i^^norani ph^siciaiu, impcdeiii the cure of wounds. . . . The noUcr the animal organism i^^ by !»o much is the muinia of the organism enhanced in power and eflkacy* The mcdi* cament» which Ijcticl^t wcHind* perform ibis op 'aiirnctinK the munni.i to iSe pUce where it?; niffif^ is required, — Chirnrgia ANuor^ Lib, L, c 1.
(
1 70 The Hermetic and Alchemical Writings of Paracelsus,
I Here it is only necessary to write down that which we have not mentioned
elsewhere. \ But at last, at the end of all earthly things, will be brought about the
; final separation, in the third generation, on that great day whereon the Son
; of God shall come in His majesty and glory, and before Him shall be
,' borne, not swords, chains, diadems, sceptres, and treasures, or other royal
jewels, with which princes, kings, and Caesars bear themselves pompously, \ but His Cross, and crown of thorns, and nails piercing His hands and
J feet, and the spear with which His side was wounded, and the reed and
\ sponge on which they stretched out that which they gave Him to drink, and
1 the rods with which He was scourged and beaten. No crowd of horsemen
• with far sounding drums shall accompany Him ; but the four trumpets shall
I be blown by the angels towards the four parts of the earth, and at their
tremendous sound all who are among the living shall be slain, and these together with the buried dead shall immediately rise again. / For a voice shall be heard, **Rise, ye dead, and come to judgment!''
\ Hereupon the Twelve Apostles shall sit down on thrones prepared from the
clouds, and shall judge the twelve families of Israel. In that place the Holy Angels shall separate the bad from the good, the cursed from the blessed, the goats from the sheep. Then the cursed shall be thrown down like stones and like lead ; but the blessed shall fly like eagles. Then from the tribunal of God shall issue forth a voice to those standing on the left hand, * ^ Go away, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared from eternity for Satan and the devils. For I was hungry and you did not feed Me ; I was thirsty and you gave Me no drink ; I was sick, and a prisoner, and naked, but you did not visit Me, did not set Me free, did not clothe Me. In a word, you were not touched with pity for Me. Therefore, here you shall meet with no pity ! *' Contrariwise to those standing on the right side it shall say thus : ** Come, ye blessed and elect, into the Kingdom of My Father, which has from the beginning been prepared for you and for all the angels. For I was hungry and you gave Me food ; I was thirsty and you gave me to drink ; I was a stranger and you received Me ; I was naked and you clothed Me ; I was sick and you visited Me ; I was in prison and you came to Me. So will I receive you also into My Father's house, in which are the many mansions of the saints. You pitied Me ; and so I will pity you ! "
When all these things are finished and done, all the elementary subjects , shall return to the first matter of the elements, and shall be turned about for
eternity, yet never consumed. On the contrary, all sacramental creatures shall return to the primal matter of the sacraments, that is, they shall be glorified, and in eternal joy they shall worship God their Creator, from universe to universe, from eternity to eternity. Amen.
COxNCERNING THE NATURE OF THINGS.
BOOK THE NINTH.*
CON'CERNING THE SIGNATURE OF NATURAL THINGS.
IN this book, our first business, as being about to philosophise, is with the signature of things, as, for instance, to set forth how they are signed, what signator exists, and how many signs are reckoned. Be it known, first of all, then, that signs are threefold. The first things signed man signs ; the second Archeus signs ; the third the Stars of the Supernaturals. In this way, then, only three signators exist, Man, Archeus, and the Stars. Moreover, it should be remarked that the signs signed by man carry with them perfect knowledge and judgment of occult things, as well as acquaintance with their powers and hidden faculties.
The signs of the stars give prophecies and presages. They point out the force of supernatural things, and put forth true judgments and disclosures in geomancy, chiromancy, hydromancy, pyromancy, necromancy, astronomy, the Berillistic art,t and other astral sciences.
Now, in order that we may explain all the signs as correctly and as briefly as possible, it is above all else necessary that we put forward those whereof man is the signator. When these are understood you will more rightly attain to the others, whether natural or supernatural. For instance, it is known that
• Note with reference to the books De Natura Rerum, In most editions, seven books only are included under this heading, but the Geneva folio, from which the translation has been made, gives nine as above. In the other cases the treatises on Separations and Signatures are regarded as independent works. There can be no doubt that the classification adopted by the Geneva folio is correct, for in method and design these treatises are integrally connected with the rest of the Nature oj Things.
t Among the branches of astronomy there is one which is called Nigromancy. It has gained this name because it is ex- ercised by night rather than by day. This science is everj'where and by all rejected and cursed as diabolical, yet only by those who are ignorant of it. For this science is a natural one, bom of the stars. But above all notice the property of bery k. In these are beheld the past, present, and future. Let no one be surprised at this, because the constellation impresses the image and similitude of its influence upon the crystal in the likeness of that concerning which inquiry is made. This must take place by a compulsion of the constellation, as is recorded in magic. As the splendour of the sun flows in upon the crj'stal, so the constellation pours it from above upon the object. Moreover, all things which exist in Nature are known to the constellations, and when the stars are subject to man, he can bring them to such obedience that they favour his will. It is universally boasted concerning faith that it can accomplish many things. This is, indeed, not far from the truth, for Christ Himself bears wiines« H) it. And since faith is an operative principle it is evidently nothing else but a virtue and an eflicacy. For virtue works in a word, and words make the dead alive. In a similiar fashion, what else is there in the stars than that by faith in Nature they are conquered ? And as by the word of faith the mountain is cast into the sea, know that it is owing to natural faith that by a word the stars are brought down, so that they may perform their operation according to our imagination, for he is wise who rules the stars — he is wise, I say, who can bring their virtues under his rule, for in this maimer are constituted visions in glasses, mirrors, waters, and the rest, according to the quality of the power, and of the union made in conception. —yij:///V/i//
172 The Hermetic and Alchemical Writings of Paracelsus.
Jews wear a yellow sign on their cloak or on their coat. What is this but a sign by which anybody who meets him may understand that he is a Jew ? So, too, the lictor is known by his parti-coloured tunic or armlet. So, too, every magistracy decks its ministers with its own proper colours and adornments.
The mechanic marks his work with its peculiar sign, so that everyone may understand who has produced it. For what purpose does the courier carry the insignia of his master or his city on his garment, except that it may be clear he is a messenger, that he serves one or another, that he comes from one place or another, and so thus procures for himself a safe passage ?
So, too, the soldier carries a sign or symbol, black, white, green, blue, or red, that he may be distinguished from the enemy. Hence it is known that one is on the side of Caesar, or of the kings ; that one is an Italian, another a Gaul, etc. These are signs which relate to rank and office ; and many more of them might be enumerated. But, nevertheless, since we have proposed to ourselves to describe other signs of natural and supernatural things, we will not overload our book with those signs that are foreign to our purpose.
It is necessary more clearly to explain those signs which man affixes, and which lead to a knowledge, not only of rank, office, or name, but also of discrimination, intelligence, age, dignity, degree. Next in order, with regard to money, it should be remembered that every coin carries its proof and sign by which it may be known how much that coin is worth, to what power it belongs, where it circulates and is passed. Here comes in the German proverb : ** Nowhere is money more acceptable than where it is struck."
The same is to be understood of the customary signs which are affixed by jurors and those appointed for the purpose, after due inspection has been previously made. An instance of this is found in the cloths marked with distinguishing signs by which it may be known that on examination they have been found good and genuine. Why is a seal appended to letters except that there may be a certain force which none will dare to violate ? The seal is the confirmation of the letter which gives it authority among men and in trials. A receipt without a seal is dead, useless, empty.
In the same manner, by a few letters, names, or words, many things are designated, just as books which, though lettered outside with only one word, in that way signify their contents.
Such, too, is the condition of the vessels and boxes in drug-shops, which are all distinguished by peculiar names or labels affixed to them. If that were not done, who could distinguish one from the other among so many different waters, liquors, syrups, oils, powders, seeds, ointments, and the like ? In the same way, too, the alchemist in his laboratory- marks with their own proper names and labels, all the waters, liquors, spirits, oils, phlegmata, crocuses, alkalis, powders, and then all the different kinds of these, one by one, so that he can select from among them whatever he wants. Without this safeguard it is impossible to remember each separately.
Thus also rooms and buildings constructed by men can be signed with a
Concerning ike Nature of Things,
111
number^ so that the ag^e of any of them can be at once known by the first glance at the number affixed*
I determined to lay these signs before you in order that when you had mastered these, ! might be more readily understood by you in the rest, and that the meaning of each might be plainer and more evident.
Concerning Monstrous Signs in Men.
Many men come to the light deformed with monstrous signs. One man has a finger too many, another a finger too few j and the same may be the case with the toes. Another brings with him from the womb a distorted foot, arm, back, or other member ; another has a weak or a hunched back. So also there are born hermaphrodites, androg>'nl, men, that is to say, possessing both pudenda, male as well as female, and sometimes lacking both* Of monstrous signs like this I have noted many, both in males and females, all of which are to be regarded as monstrous signs of secret sins m the parents. Hence has grown up the old proverb : *'The more distorted, the more wicked**; and again : **lame limbs, lame works.*' These are signs of vices, and rarely denote anything good.
Just as the hangman brands his sons with degrading signs, so also bad parents mark their ofTspring with mischievous supernatural signs that people may be more cautious when they see the example of wicked men w^ho carry tho stigmata in their forehead or cheeks, or in defective ears, fingers, hands, eyes, or tongues.
Each of these signs of infamy designates some particular vice. If there is a stigma burnt into the face of a woman, or if there be a lopping off of the ears, it, for the most part, indicates theft. Loss of fingers tells of cheating gamblers. The loss of a hand indicates violators of peace. That of two fingers points out perjur)^ The loss of an eye indicates that people engage in sharp and subtle crimes. The cutting off of the tongue designates blaspheniers and calumniators. So you can recognise those who are called mamelukes, or deniers of the Christian religion, by a cross burnt into the heel of their feet, because they denied Christ their Redeemer.
But let us dismiss these matters and return to the monstrous signs brought about by wicked parents. It should be known that all monstrous signs are not produced only by the progenitor, but frequently also from the stars of the human mind, which perpetually at all moments, with the Phantasy, Estimation, or Imagination, rise and set just as in the firmament above. Hence, through fear or fright on the part of those who are pregnant, many monsters are born, or children signed with marks o^ monstrosity in the womb of their mother. The primary cause of these things is alarm, terror, or appetite, by which the imagination is aroused. If the pregnant woman begins to imagine, then her bosom is borne round in its motion just as the superior firmament, each movement rising or setting* For, as in the case of the greater firmament, the stars o^ the microcosm also move by imagination,
1/4 The Hermetic and Alchemical Writings of Paracelsus.
until there comes a sort of bounding^, in which the stars of the imagination produce an influence and an impression on the pregnant woman, just as though one should impress a sea! or stamp a piece of money* Whence those signs and birthmarks derived from the lower stars are called ** impressions/' About these matters many men have philosophised and tried to form from them a solid judgment, without being able to do so. For these things adhere to, and are impressed on^ the foetus in proportion as the stars of the mother press frequently or with violence on the foetus, or the desire of the mother is not satisfied. If the mother, for instance, tongs for this or that kind of food, and is unable to get it, the stars are, as It were, suffocated in themselves, and perish. That desire abides with the unborn child throughout all its life, so that it is impossible ever to satisfy it. The same reason explains other matters, too, which we must not discuss here at too great length*
COKCERNIKG THE ASTRAL SiGNS IN THE PhVSIOGXOMV OF MaN,
The signs of physiognomy derive their origin from the higher stars. This science of physiognomy was held in the highest esteem by our ancestors, and among the first by the heathens, Tartars, Turks, and the rest, whose custom it is to sell men and slaves j nor was it altogether lost among Christians, Many errors, however, which had not yet been perceived by anyone, crept in with it when every fool and every clown took upon himself to judge offhand about everything. It is marvellous that these mistakes were not found out from the evil deeds and limited powers of the men themselves.
Now if anyone at this point argues against us, saying, *'The signs of physiognomy are from the stars, but no one has the power of compelling or urging on the stars, '^ he does not speak amiss. Yet, this difference must be noted at the outset, that the stars compel one and do not compel another. This ought to be known, who it is that can rule and coerce the stars, and also who is governed by the stars. The wise man can dominate the stars, and is not subject to themr Nay. the stars are subject to the wise man, and are forced to obey him, not he the stars. The stars compel and coerce the animal man, so that where they lead he must follow, just as a thief does the gallows, a robber the wheel, a fisher the fishes, a fowler the birds, and a hunter the wild beasts. What other reason is there for this, save that man does not know or estimate himself or his own powers, or reflect that he is a lesser universe, and has the whole firmament with its powers hidden within himself? Thus man is called animal and unwise and the slave of all earthly things, when, never- theless, he received from God in Paradise the privilege of ruling over and dominating all other creatures, and not of obeying them. So it was that God crea^ted man last, when all other things had been made before him. This right was afterwards lost by the Fall. Yet, the wisdom of man was not made servile, nor did he lose his freedom. It is right, then, that the stars should follow him and obey him, not he the stars. And although he is the son of Saturn, and Saturn is his parent, still he can withdraw himself from him, and
rii
Concerning the Nature of Things.
so conquer him that he becomes the offspring of the Sun, and can thus subject himself to another planet, and tnake himself its son. It happens much in the same way to him as to the miner, who for a long time has hired out his labour to the master of the mines, and managed his department righteously at peril of his life. At length he holds this discourse with himself: ** Are you going to spend all your life underground and endanger your body, nayi your very existence, by continuous labours? I will seek release from my master, and follow another where my life shall flow pleasantly on, where I shall have plenty of food and drink, where my garments may shine, where no work and much reward shall be given to me, and where I shall not be oppressed by the mountain overhanging me/' In this way he can constitute himself lord where otherwise he would remain all his life a slave and mercenary, wasting away with hard labour and scanty food.
Moreover, as you have now perceived that man rules the stars, and can free himself from a malignant planet and subject himself to another better one, from slavery pass by virtue to freedom, and rescue himself from the prison of an evil planet, so also the animal man who is the son of Sol, Jupiter, Venus, or Mercury, can withdraw himself from that benignant planet and subject himself to Saturn or to Mars. This man is like one who, fleeing from a college of religions, and being tired of their soft life, becomes a soldier, or in other respects a man of no esteem, who must afterwards spend all his life in pain and care. Such, too, is the rich man, who, out of mere levity, wastes all his goods unjustly, gambling, feasting^ keeping evil company, until at last, w^hen all is gone, he comes to want, and in miserable conflict with discreditable poverty he deservedly rouses laughter and contempt in all, so that you hear even from the boys in the streets : ** Look at yonder worthless man, who, when he could have been master, scorned dominion and preferred to be a slave, a beggar, a servant of servants, so that he cannot now even aspire to his dominion.*' It is to this that a bad star or a bad parent has led him. Had he not been foolish and wicked, he w^ould not have left to the stars so unquestioned a dominion over himself, but he would have struggled against them. /\nd, although of himself he had not known how to fight against his stars, yet he could have turned his mind to the examples of other men, thinking thus within himself: ** See how rich this man w^as ; but by foolish and shameful enterprises he involved himself in mere poverty ! '' Again, "*This or that man lived splendidly, and without any great bodily labour ; but, though having got good food and ample pay, he was not able to bear his fair fortune. Now he has to live frugally and sordidly. In place of wine he has to drink water, and whilst his daily labour increases his income is diminished." How often must such a man thus address himself : *' What have I done ? How have I thrown myself headlong down by wasting prodigally the substance I had collected and acquired? Who will restore it to me? If I could only recover what 1 have lost, quite another mode of life should be begun, and so 1 would learn wisdom from my own loss, and compensate for my e\il deeds
176 The Hermetic and Alchemical Writings of Paracelsus,
by wiser counsel for the future/' But it is well to know that nobody g^rows wise from his own loss. He who is wise has learnt wisdom from another's loss, not from his own» He who has wasted his substance once will waste it again* He who perishes once, perishes again. He who once throws the dice will throw them again* The man who has once thieved and cheated the gallows tries to steal a second time. So he thus thinks within himself : ** My undertaking has succeeded once and again » why !>hould it not succeed a third and a fourth time? If God has once restored what had perished, He will restore it a second and a third time. If in my first misery I have not been deserted, I shall not be in my second or my third.'' All this does the animal man who is the servant and slave of the stars ; who is swayed backwards and forwards by the stars like a reed in the waters. This rs the reason why he has to spend his life in misery and so to die in diishonour. Who, then» would bear so disgraceful a slavery and not extricate himself from so squalid a prison ? For by bringing to bear his own wisdom, and with the help of his star, anyone can free himself. Look at the matter thus : A fowler, relying on his own prudence, and by the assistance of his star conquering another star, has no need to pursue birds, for the birds will follow him, and though their nature rebel they will fly together to unaccustomed places. In like manner, to the fisherman at his ease and relying on his wisdom, the fishes will swim of their own accord, so that he can catch them with his hands. The hunter exerting his wisdom by means of his star so collects the wild beasts that he has no need to pursue them ; they pursue him, contrary to the guidance and impulse of Nature. And so also with other living creatures.
In order to grasp these things it must be remembered that stars are of two kindSf terrestrial and celestial. The former belong to folly, the latter to wisdom. And as there are two worlds, the lesser and the larger, and the lesser rules the larger, so also the Star of the Microcosm governs and subdues the celestial star. God did not create the planets and stars with the intention that they should dominate man, but that they, like other creatures, should obey him and serve him, .^\nd although the higher stars do give the in- clination, and, as it were, sign man and other earthly bodies for the manner of their birth, yet that power and that dominion are nothing, save only a predestined mandate and ofBce, in which there is nothing occult or abstruse remaining, but the inner force and power is put forth through the external signs.
But to return to our proposition concerning the physical signs of men : know that these are twofold, like indeed in outward form, liut dissimilar in power and effect. Some are from the upper stars of heaven ; others from the lower stars of the microcosm. Every superior star signs according to birth up to mid-age. That signature is predestined, and is not without its own peculiar force. It is attested by a man's nature and condition of life. But whatever the lower star of the microcosm signs from birth has its origin from the father and the mother, as often as the mother affects by her imagination or
Concerning the Nature of Things.
177
appetite, her fear or dread, the unborn child in her body with supernatural signs by means of their own close contact. These are called mothers' marks, or uterine marks. We have spoken of these before, so spare ourselves the labour of repetition, since it is our purpose to treat of physiognomical signs alone, among which we understand those signs of men the like whereof neither the father nor the mother have borne in their body. Of this class are black or grey eyes, too small or too large ; a long, crooked^ or sharp-pointed nose ; hollows in the jaws, high cheekbones, a flat or broad nose, small or large ears, a long neck, an obbng face, a mouth large and drawn down ; hair thick or fine» abundant or scanty, black, yellow, or red, etc. Of these signs, if one or more appear in a man, be sure that he will not lack the qualities signified thereby. Only you must judge them according to the rules of physiognomy, and have had experience in the art of signature, according to which you can judge a man by outward signs.
Descending, then, to the practical portion of our subject, let us repeat a few of these signs and their signification.
Black eyes not only denote a healthy constitution, but also, for the most part, a constant mind free from doubt and fear, healthy and hearty, truthful and loving virtue.
Grey eyes are the sign of a crafty man, ambiguous and inconsistent. Weak eyes denote good counsels, clever and profound deliberations, and so on. Bright eyes, which turn up, down, and to both sides, denote a false, clever man, who cannot be deceived, faithless, shirking work, desirous of ease, seeking to gain his livelihood in laziness, by gambling* usury% impurity, theft, and the like.
Small eyes, somewhat deeply sunk, indicate weak sight, and often impending blindness in old age. At the same time, they denote brave men, bellicose, crafty, and adroit, factious, capable of enduring misfortune^ and whose departure from life is, for the most part, of a tragic character.
Large eyes denote a greedy, voracious man, especially if they project far out of the head.
Eyes which are constantly w^inking indicate weak sight, a timid and care- ful man. Eyes which move quickly hither and thither, under the glance oi men, indicate an amorous heart, provident, and of quick invention.
Eyes continually cast dow*n show a reverential and modest man.
Red eyes show a bold, brave man.
Glittering eyes, which do not move readily, point out a hero, a high- minded, brave, quick man, formidable to his foes.
Large ears indicate good hearing, retentive memory, attention, diligence, a healthy brain and head.
Depressed ears are a bad sigm For the most part they point out a man who is malicious, fraudulent, and unjust. They indicate bad hearing, treacher- ous memory, and a man who readily exposes himself to danger.
N
1 78 The Hertnciu and Alchemical Writings of Paracelsus,
A long nose curved downwards is a good sign. It denotes a strenuous, provident man, occult and cruel, but still just.
A flat nose indicates a malignant man, false^ lustful, untruthful, in- constant,
A pointed nose indicates a changeable person, given to mockerj'.
A long nose shews a man slow in business, yet of good odour.
Hollow cheeks denote a talkative, contemptuous, contentious person.
An oblong chin, with a long face, shews an irritable man, one who is slow at his work,
A cleft chin shews a faithful man, officious, of abstruse and diversified speech ; a man who says one thing and means another ; quick at anger, yet repenting of his passion ; ingenious and inventive.
A large, wide mouth shews a gluttonous man, insipid, fatuous, shameless, and fearless. A small mouth indicates the contrary.
Lips drawn together, when the upper is larger than the lower, shew^ an irritable man, pugnacious, courageous ; yet for the most part of heavy, un- chaste character, like a pig.
Lips larger below shew a dense, stupid, slow person.
Concerning the hair of the head or beard, the signs are not very plain, since experience teaches us that this can be marvellously varied according as it is black, yellow, red, or white, and hoary, or curled. So, too, hair is rendered soft or hard according to people's wish. Hence it is that many persons, who are In other respects well-skilled in physiognomical science, are woefully deceived when they rashly pass judgment from the hair, imputing to the stars what should rather be ascribed to men. Still it cannot be denied that hair firmly fixed on the head she\vs good health, both of the head and of the whole body* This is why people who buy horses pluck their tails so as to judge of their soundness. So swine are judged by their bristles, fish from their fins and scales, a bird by its feathers, and so on.
If the neck is unusually long, transcending the limits of Nature, it denotes a careful man, prudent and attentive.
Broad shoulders and back shew a man w^ho is strong for carr}^ing and moving things. Muscular arms also shew a man who is strong and robust in beating, thrusting, throwing* and the like.
Hard hands bespeak a laborious, mercenar}' man ; soft hands, the contrary.
A short body and long legs denote a good runner, one who is easily satisfied with food and drink, but generally a man of somewhat short life.
Large and conspicuous veins in a man below mid age signify that he is full of blood and bodily juices ; but above middle age they denote a sickly man who is still, however, vivacious.
With reference to manners and gesture, a man cannot be so easily known or judged from these. Experience teaches us that these can be changed every moment, so as to deceive the signator, and lead him to an erroneous judgment.
Comerning the Nature of T/iings,
n9
This is what astronomers hitherto have not observed with sufficient accuracy. The signator's business Is not always to look at the manners and actions, but rather at other bodily sig^ns which are fixed, and cannot by any artifice be counterfeited or changed. For if red hairj motion of the forehead and eye- brows, frequent agitation of the mouth, strong and deliberate step, and light spirits, indicate of necessity a generous, active man, or soldier, such as any one could easily shew himself by his own activity, and so stand better when put to the proof, and command higher pay, so, likewise, must judgment be passed on other manners which betoken wisdom, folly, truth, falsehood, fortune^ victory, and the rest.
Concerning the Astral Signs of Chiromancy,*
Concerning the signs of chiromancy it should be held that they arise from the higher stars of the seven planets, and all of them ought to be learnt and judged from the seven planets. Now, Chiromancy is a science which not only inspects the hands of men, and from their lines and wrinkles makes its judgment, but, moreover, it also considers all herbs, woods, flints, earths, and rivers =in a word, whatever has lines, veins, and wrinkles. But neither is this science free from its errors, which astronomers have alleged against it. For they have assigned the fingers of both hands to the planets and the principal stars, when, notwithstanding, there are on one hand only ^\q fingers but on both hands ten, while the planets are only seven in number. How can these things be made to agree ? Now, if there were s^\^n fingers on each hand, then it might be possible to assign a finger to each of the planets. It happens, indeed, very often that a man only has seven fingers on his two hands* the others being lost by some accident* But still the stumps exist, and, moreover, the persons were not born in this way, so this matter has no relevance here. Besides, if it did so happen that a man was born with seven fingers either on one hand or on both, that would be a monstrous birth, not according to Nature, and therefore not to be assigned to the stars. So here, again J no comparison can be instituted. It would have been better, then, that the planets should cast lots and see which two ought to retire. This, however, could not be done, because the planets had neither dice nor lots up in the firmament ; so one wonders who took it upon him to allot the planets by name, giving the thumb to Venus» the index finger to Jupiter, the middle
* It U a great ti chiromancy is concerned only with the hands^ for tc includes the «igiufiauice of the
lines upon the entire nfincd lo ihc body of tnan, for it deals also with the trunks of trees^ and with the
iracery upon the let £vcry' peculiarity of line, ^irhetber in leaves or in human haniis, ha£ its special tneaiung.
No man dcscrv*^ t. a jcior who is ignorant of chiromancj^ because, for easample, the presence upon the hand
of chose line LJLHicd, itHft* ttrxhitetttr^ indicate that the penon will be likely to die of the colic ; but Uien
lliercare cer: >ich pos&caidi corresponding line». and these leaves are the cure of colic* So also the //«/«
AMCffTft is the Unc ot ^ipopIexy« and this line is found in the aconis (r'.r,^ the sweet flag)i which is a medicine of apoplexy. . . .. Thus by the same sign Nature indicates the exlsteiice of the disease and its renrcdy. Eui the ph^-^ician who U ignorant of the sign U ignorant of everything. But as ph^'siognomy is both outward and inward^ so there is an internal and external chiromancy, and that which is without is an evidence of thai ^Uich h. within. — i)«ii' AUi Libri dt Podjgricu M^t^U^ Lib. I. 1 have frequently in be cftbeilistically treated, - /># frsU, Lib. JL, Vrrf,
N2
1 80 The Hennetic and Alchemical Writings of Paracelsus,
finger to Saturn, the ring finger or medicus to the Sun, and the little finger to Mercury, Meanwhile, Mars and the Moon were, so to say, banished. Would one be surprised, then, if in righteous indignation Mars bade his sons kill that allotter, or keep up continual strife with him ; or who would wonder if the Moon weakened his brain, or took his wits away altogether ? And this is the first error which we say has been committed in chiromancy.
The second mistake is this. It often happens that the original natural lines of the hands are changed by injuries or chance accidents, or become larger or smaller, or appear in other places. It is just as if a road were blocked with some obstacle, or covered by a mountain falling on it, or destroyed by an inundation. Men would make another road near it. So with the old lines of the hand. Sometimes when wounds or ulcers have healed, along with the new flesh new lines come into existence* and the old ones are altogether blotted out. In the same way, by hard work lines are obliterated, or those which were there originally enlarged. Then the same thing happens as with trees* If the growing tree puts forth many leaves, a number of them are cut oflf and the tree is enlarged in size.
And now let us pass on to the practical part of this science of chiro- mancy, and in a few words disclose our opinion. I would ha%'e you know that, so far as relates to hands, I make no change therein, but I acquiesce with the observations and descriptions of the ancients* But in this practical chiromancy I have undertaken to write only of those matters which the ancients have not mentioned, as concerning the chiromancy of herbs, woods, stones, and the like. And first it should be remarked that all herbs, of what- ever kind they are, belong to one and the same chiromancy. If their lines are unlike, and appear greater or less in some than in others, this is through their age. We expressly avow that the chiromancy of herbs confers no other advantage beyond enabling us to know the age of any herb or root.
Someone in arguing may urge and assert that no herb as long as it adheres to its root can be more than four or at the most five months old, that is, reckoning from May to autumn, after which time every herb perishes and drops away from its root. To this I answer that a unique virtue exists in the root, which is the first essence and spirit of the herb, from which the herb is born and sustained to its predestined time, and so is exalted right up to the production of the seed. And this is the sign or indication that the virtue goes back again into the root, and thus the herb withers. But as long as that spirit, which is the supreme force of the herb, remains in the root, every year that herb is renewed, unless it happens that the spirit is taken away, and withers along with the herb. Then for that herb there is no renovation. The root is dead, and xxo longer has life in it. But how that spirit is taken away with the herb from the root, or with the root from the earth, so that its virtue goes back either into the root, or from the root into the earth, must not be discussed in this place. It is Nature *s sublime myster>% not to be put forth for the benefit of sophistical physicians, for whom such secrets are not only a
Concerfiing the Nature of Things.
iSi
mockery but a cause of contempt. What we here omit we will give in the Herbary.*
The younger and less full of years herbs are the more do they excel in their force and their faculties* For just as man is enervated by old age, and fails in his natural powers, so also is it with herbs.
But in order to know what is the chiromancy, and what the age, of herbs and similar bodies, long experience is required, since the number of years is not written upon them but has to be di%ined solely by chiromancy, as we have said* Now chiromancy supplies, not numbers, not letters, not characters, only lines and veins and wrinkles ^ as a means of reckoning the age. The older anything is the larger and more visible are the lines exhibited, and the virtue and operation of the thing are less active. For as a disease of one month or one year is more easily cured than one of two, three, four, five months or years, so a herb of owe year more quickly cures its disease than one of two or three years. And on this account for old ills young herbs and those which have fewer years should be given, but for recent ailments old herbs and medicines should be administered. For if old be joined to old, the blind leads the blind and both fall into the ditch. This is the reason why many medicines arc inoperative. They are in the body and they fill the limbs, but only as mud sticks to the shoes. Hence the diseases are often doubled.
Now here is a matter which, up to this time, has never been thought out by unskilled sophists, while by their ignorance they have lost more patients than they cured. The very first thing you physicians ought to know is that the medicine must always be younger than the disease, in order that it may get the better of it, and be stronger in expelling it. If the medicine be more powerful than the disease, the disease will be expelled, as fire will be extin- guished by water. If the disease be more powerful than the medicine, that medicine turns into a poison^ and afterwards diseases are redoubled and made more severe. Thus, if the disease be of iron, the medicine must be steel. Steel cannot be conquered by iron. The more powerful conquers » the weaker is subdued.
Although, therefore, it was no part of my original plan to write in this place anything about medicine, still, for the sake of true and genuine physicians, I could not pass by these matters in silence.
Concerning Mineral Signs. Minerals and metals, apart from fire and dry material, show their indica- tions and signs which they have received at once from the Archeus and from the higher stars, each one telling its genus by differences of colour and of earth. The mineral of gold differs from the mineral of silver. So the mineral of silver differs from the mineral of copper. The mineral of copper differs
* The H*r6«rim TAf^/Arvsit\ coticcmtns the nrtue» of hrrbft, roott, and feeds, etc, irill be fouod in the aecood vol aoie of the Geneva folio. It i& aui incomplete treatUe which di common »ali, carduu^ aiigcUciu* corab, and the magneu The portions of this tm^itifte to which reference it made
1 82 The Hernutic and Alchemical Writings of Paracelsus.
from the mineral of iron. So also that of iron from that of tin and of lead. And so with the rest* None can deny, then, that by means of chiromancy all minerals and metallic bodies of mines, which lie hid in secret places of the earth, may be known from their external sig^s. That is the chiromancy of mines, veins, and lodes, by which not only those things which are hidden within are brought forth, but also the exact depth and richness of the mine and )aeld of metal are made manifest. Now, in this chiromancy three things are necessarj' to be known, the age» depth, and breadth of the veins, as was said just now in the case of herbs. For the older its veins, the richer and more abundant in metals is the mine* On this subject one would reason that all metals, so long as they remain in their matrix, so long do they continually increase. Whence this, too, is clear, that any growing thing, even when placed outside its matrix, cannot grow less, but is thereupon increased, that is, multiplied, and goes on growing in substance, measure, and w^eight up to its predestined time. This predestined time is a third part of the destined age of all minerals, vegetables, and animals, which are the three chief genera of all terrestrial things. That which is still in its matrix grows until the matrix itself dies. For there is a predestined period of living and dying, even for the matrix, provided only it be subjected to the external elements. That which is not so subjected has no period^ no terminus, other than the elements themselves have, together with which, at the last day, which is the end of those elements, it will perish. Hence it follows that all things which are below the earth are in the least possible degree subjected to the elements. For they feel neither heat nor cold, moisture nor drought, wind nor air, by which they may be destroyed. Bodies so situated, therefore, cannot decay, nor do they gatlier rust and corruption, nor perish, so long as they remain below^ the earth in their own chaos* This relates so far to metals and stones, but it applies also to men, many of w^hom have supported themselves for a hundred years in mountain-caves, as did the giants and the pigmies, con- cerning each of which I have written a book.*
* Men or abnomuiJI height, who, however, are naturally begotten, arc dtslingubhed b)" Paracelsus from another geniUi of s^iaats who belong to a wholly different onier of eiistence* Concerning ihe generaiton of giants and dwarfs, k is to b« umlerstood that giants are bom of sylphs and dwarfs of pigmies. These beget various tnonster«, and it should! be noted that both giant» and dwarfs are possessed of remarkable strength. They are not a luiu* ttaturo'^ but are the product of a singular counsel and admontlton of God. They deserve consideration on account of the great ochievemeitts they accomplish. Moreover, being monsters, produced in a singular manner by God, they finish witliout OfTspring aa to body and btood. Their parents have not the same kind of soul as ihemielvcs. They are the offspring of animal men, and hence it follows that they have derived no souls from their pjarents, although ihey have performed! many great deeds, have studied the truth, and have accomplished many other things, from which the posse^io boul might be argued. God, had he so willed, could have endowed these creatures with »ouls, as is sbewn by ilie union of man with God, arvd of the nymphs with man* Whatsoever good deeds they may perform they are not on that account partakers of salvation. White it 1% impossihie to give a clear account of the way in which sunb moiiiilcrs originate, it may be compared to the generation of erratic stars and comets in the Urmameni, and it is actually the
result of a bintrrf conjunction in. the finnanieni of ihe Microco«m^ Pygmies, like oilier creatures of this
kind, that is, like nymphs^ sylphs, and salamanders, are not of the generation of Adam, though ihey Itcar the likeness of men, hut are cqu.ally diverse fromi humanity and from all animals, . . , . . Pygmies and *fltniei arc regarded as spirits, and not such creatures as they appear. Hut it should be understood that they are what they seem to Ije, namely, beings of fSah and blood. At the same time, they are as agile and sia ift as a spirit. They know all future, prej»ent, and post things, which are not preicnt to the eyes themselves, but are hidden. Herein they ser\e man by revelations, premonitions, etc They have reason in commcm with man, save only the >ouL They have the knowledge and the reason of spirits, if we ej^cept those thing>> which ijcrtain to the ivilnrc t>f GocL Endowed with ^wh grc.-it
Concerning the N'aturt of Things,
183
In pursuit of our present purpose, then, I pass on to a very brief practical exposition concerning^ the chiromancy of mines* The deeper and broader the veins are, the older they may be known to be. When the tracts of the veins are stretched to a very long distance, and then gape, it is a bad sign. For as the courses of the veins gape, so the mines themselves gape, which fact they indicate by their depth- Although sometimes good mines are found with a very deep descent, they for the most part vanish more and more, so that they cannot be worked without great expenditure of toil. But where those veins are increased by other accessory ones, or in any other way are frequently cut off, that is a fortunate sign, indicating that the mines are good not only on the surface, but that they increase in depth and are multiplied, so that they are rendered rich mines, and yield most ample treasure.
It is not altogether beside the subject that many metallurgists praise those mines whose course is straight down, and which verge from east to west. But then reasoning and experience in the mines themselves also teach us that very often veins which stretch from west to east, or from south to north, or, contrariwise, from north to south, abound in metal no less than others. No one vein, then, is to be preferred before another, nor is there any need of further discussion on this point.
Then with regard to those signs which concern the colourKS of minerals and inner earth, one may dispose of them briefly. When miners come upon clayey soil, from which issues a vein of pure and fresh metal, that is a very good sign» indicating that the metal of which this is a vein is now not far off.
In like manner, if the earth which is dug out lacks metal, indeed, but is fat, and of a white, black, clayey, red, green, or blue colour, then that, too, is a favourable sign of good metal lying hid there. Then the work which has been begun should be briskly carried on, and no pause be made in the digging. Metallurgists especially regard brilliant, glittering, and primary colours, as are green earth or chrj^socolla, copper green, lazurium, cinnabar, sandarach, auri-
powen, they lead and attract mAO to moke experiments and to believe about Htm- Whererore God hath produced them thdt XMkXi ttuiy learn frotn hb acquaintance with thcin what great thing* God urorks in those creature*.. Gnomei ('''m pignnio) are Uke unto men, but of stunted stature. They ore about half tli* mm of man,, or a Utile taller. . . .
The devil at time* enters into gnooies and miaiitcr* unto them IT the gnomes haii-e once bound tbeimielves
to our &er\ ice, they ibide by their bargain, but the)' require to be served in turn, and those thiu^i^ ought to be given liO them which they rcquesL If the pacts into which we enter with them ore fuliillod on our part, they remain sure, constants atnl faithful in tlieir oflice, especially in obuining money. For the gneaacft abound in money, which thry coin lheim>clve%. You must understand \\\\% a» follows : The tpirii ho* whatsoever it «mh€», for if a gnome de&ires a certaiii ftum of cnone>% he obLaini it and ha* it. In tlm mantier they gi^-e money to many men inhabiting the mountains to penuade them to go away again. The lot of man ift stxy hard. To hope or to wiOi wilt proHt him nothing, and he aimt firork for all be wonts ; but the gnomes have wbolcver Ihey »eek without any labour in getting or preparing it. • , , . Cooceming their day and night, their sleeping and waking hotir», the ca»e is exactly the lame with them as with men. Moreover* they have a sun and a ArmafncJit no les* than wr ^lave, that U, the giiome« have the esarih which is their chooo. Tlii* is to them only as our atmosphere ; it is not as «Afth to them \xv our sense. Hetite it fotloVfTh that thry see through the earth just as do we through the air. .\nd the sun vhineii for tJiem through the earth as it doca for tjs through tlie air. Fur they liave the sun, the moon, aftd ihe whole Armament Wfore their c^ ts, even as have «e men* , . . The gnooies dwell in the mountain diaos in which they couMrwcl iheir dwellings. Hetitc it \% ibal very often RTches, cases, and other titntlnr consiruclions are found in the earth, atinut a cuUt in height, the work of thc»e
men. and their baUlaltoti The gnomes pas* through Malid rocks of t^ alls like spirits, for all iheae things are
to them chao«« that ist nothing. .... The more cross the rh^'kos, the more subtle is the creature, and vkt iv'M. The gnotnes lui^>e a crass chao4 mid are therefore Mibtic - ZV tjttim^ti* et Sttiitmatitirh.
184 The Hermetic and Alchemical WriUngs 0/ Paracelsus.
pig-ment, litharge of gold and silver, etc. Nearly ever}' one of these points out some special metal and mineral. Copper green, chrysocolla, and green earth indicate generally copper. So, too, lazurium^ or white arsenic, or litharge of silver, mark copper metal. So cinnabar and sandaracha point out sometimes gold, sometimes silver, or the two together in combination. In the same way, auripigmcnt, red sulphur, or litharge of gold, for the most part portend gold. So, too, when chrysocolla with lazurium, or lazurium with chrysocolla and aurlpigment, are found mixed and combined^ excellent and rich minerals are generally indicated. When stones and earths of a ferruginous colour are seen they certainly designate Iron mineral.
It should be remarked that it sometimes happens the Archeus of the earth occasionally thrusts forth, and, as it were, eructates from the lower earth some metal or other through a hidden burrow. That is a good sign when it appears. Diggers, therefore, should not relax their labours in face of such a sure and remarkable hope of hidden metal. If, moreover, slight metallic foliage, like talc, adheres to the stones or rocks, it is a sure and a good sign*
Then as to coruscations. These should be carefully and closely watched. They are most certain signs that lodes of some particuliar metal exist, also of their extent, and of that special kind of metal. Here, too, it should be remarked, that metals of this kind have not yet come to perfect maturity, but are still in their first essence. In whichever direction the coruscation extends, in that direction also extends the metallic lode.
Then, too, it must be known that the coruscation is threefold in colour, as, for instance, vl hite, yellow, and red, for example, like white Luna. In this way all the metals which they indicate to us are recognised. A white coruscation points out white metals, such as tin, lead, silver. A red coruscation denotes red metals, like copper and iron. A yellow coruscation reveals golden metals, .^dd to this that a slight and subtle coruscation constitutes the best sign. It is just as you see in the case of trees ; where there are fewer flowers you get better fruit. So, too, small and subtle coniscations indicate subtle and excellent metals^ and vice versa. In addition to this, it should be known that so long as these effulgences appear, be they great or small, of this colour or of that, the metal is not yet perfect and matured in its ore, but still exists in its first essence, like the man's sperm in the matrix of the woman.
Now let us explain what this coruscation is. It appears sometimes during the night in mines like scintillating fire, just as gunpowder, scattered in a long train and when lighted at one end^ exhibits a protracted fire. In the same way, this coruscation, or scintillation, is borne along its own track, some- times from east to west, or, contrariwise, from west to east, from south to north, or vice rersa. And so, a straight line drawn from any hour or part of the mountain map towards the nearest hour opposite, divides into two parts the map which is marked off into twenty-four hours or parts.
All these coruscations, whenever they appear, afford most reliable indica- tions of metaHic lodes, so that from them may be recognised the metals too
Concerning the Nature of Things.
as certain gifts of God coming out of the earth. For whatever God has created for the use of men that He has put in man's hands as a property, so that it should not remain hidden. And although He has created it hidden, yet He has added these parlicular outward signs leading to investigation. Here His marvellous predestination ought to be recognised. Just in the same way, men themselves, if they bury treasure, mark the place by the addition of some sure signst They bury them at landmarks, or statues^ or fountains, or some other object, so that, if need be, they themselves can find them again and dig them up. The old Chaldeans and Greeks, if in time of war they feared siege and exile, buried their treasures, and only marked the place by proposing to themselves a certain fixed day, hour, and minute of the year. They waited until the sun or the moon cast a shadow there, and in that spot they hid or buried their treasures. This art they called Sciomancy or the Art of Shadows. From these studies of shadows many arts arose, and many occult matters were revealed, as, for example, the methods by which all spirits and sidereal bodies might be distinguished. These are the infallible cabalistical signs ; and should be carefully watched.
You must take particular care, however, not to let yourselves be beguiled by divinations obtained through uncertain arts. These are varn and mislead- ing J and among the first of them are the divining rods, which have deceived many miners.* If they once point out rightly, they deceive ten or twenty times. In like manner, no confidence should be placed in other deceitful signs of 'the devil, which appear by night or at unseasonable times, out of the way of Nature, such as are spectres, visions, and the like. Be sure that the devil gives these signs merely from fraud, and with intent to trick you. No temple is ever built where the devil does not have his chapel ; no chapel where he has not his altar. Good seed is never sown, but he sows tares along with it. That is the meaning of visions and supernatural apparitions, the same in all, be It in crystals, mirrors, waters, or the like. The ceremonial necromancers have foully abused the commandment of God and the light of Nature itself tn this way. Visions, however, are not altogether to be rejected. They hav^e their place, but only when produced by a different method. We are now no longer living in the first but in the second generation. By us Christians then, in our regenerate state, ceremonies and conjurations are no longer to be used, as the ancients used them in the Old Testament, for these people were living in the first generation. These men were foresh ado wings for us who were to live under the New Testament. Whatever, therefore, the ancients, under the Old Testament, or the first generation, accomplished by means of ceremonies and conjurations, all these things, we Christians, who belong to the second generation, and live under the New^ Testament, ought to obtain by prayer, that is, we should seek it in faith by praying, knocking, and asking. In these three primar>' points consists the whole foundation of magical and cabalistical
* EUewbere ParacoUus say* iHul il b ttalh wbicb twm» and direct* the divtnatory rad in the hand.-
1 86 The Hermdk and Alchemkal Writings of Paracelsus.
science, by which we can gain all we desire, so that to us as Christians nothing shall be impossible. Having written^ however, much about this in the book on Visions,* and other cabaiistical institutions, I forbear to repeat it here. See how wonderfully, in His love for us, Christ, the Son of God, works in us, faithful Christians, by means of His angels, and how fraternally He associates with us. We are very angels, and members of Christy since He is our head, that is, He lives in us, that so we may live in Him, as is handed down in the books on The Lord's Supper, t
But to return to our subject of mineral signs, and especially to the coruscations from metallic veins. Know that as all metals which are still in their first essence exhibit their coruscations, that is, their signs, so also the Tincture of the Philosophers, which transmutes all imperfect metals into good silver or gold (white metals into silver, red into gold), removes all these particular signs, such as coruscations, if it be astrally perfected and prepared. For as soon as ever a little morsel of it is thrown into the fused metaJ, so that the two meet in the fire, a natural coruscation or brightness arises, just as fine gold or silver flashes in the vat or vessel, w^hich is a sign that this gold or silver is free and purified from all admixture of other metals. But how our Philosophic Tincture is rendered astral is a thing that ought to be learnt. Every metal, so long as it lies hid in its first essence, has its own peculiar stars* Gold has the stars of the sun ; silver the stars of the moon ; copper
• Nit oral sleep U the rest of the body, irfaidi rBc u p cra t» its waited energies ^o* the d*y pertaiii» to bodies, night to spirits ; bodies work in the day, spirits at night. The »[eep of the body b the waking time of the spirit, for th« two caimoi operate together, being contranes^axui mutually incompatible things. Viliatsoever is done by the body during »Ieep is really performed \*f the «pirit. For some speak and give aiiawers in their sleep ; some arise afid walk th^cin. but all ihi^ is done by the spirit gorveming the body. Hence it happen.^ that if such a man be called b>- his natne, be wakes up because the spirit in him is terrified by being called by the name of the maii« for spirits arc no less tcrrilicd by Ihe vvfice of a man than are men by the voice of a «piTit. The man in baptism receives a oaine^ but not so the spirit. Therefore the spirit is terrified when the man b called. Hence slecp-iA-alkcrs should fay no means be left alone in their ro greiat unportaDce that sisch perso«» should be addressed by njune, for thus all noctumjd divining spirits, and all formidable spectres, and aJ) waking visions, are driven away and dispelled. But it should be noted, that all men, promiscuously* who talk in their sleep, are not thus to be invoked or shout«l at* because they may be in communion M^ith a spirit whose voice is oot heard For, although the spirit voice may be much clearer than that of humanity, it b not audible commonly by humanltyr for the material ear can be, and is, closed by the power of such an intelligeocet as b wetl known to those who divine by nigromancy by nvouis of the spirits of the air, who are intermediate spirits, neither precisely good nor evil. No man holding such a conv^sation should be disturbed, so long as his accents are cheerft:!* but if he answers with trembling, fear, and consterDation, this is a sign of a bad apparition, and such a person ought to be awakened b>' shouting. Such conversations arc not, however, aJu-ay-% conducted with the bodily organs of voice on the part of the sleeper, but also with those of the spirit^ in which case there is no audible sound* and this lost kind of speech u not only more frequent but of greater Lmportonce. It was profoundly investigated by the ancient Magi« who by thb means could extract from the spirits of the departed a knowledge of those secrets which they had conceakd from the whole world while they yet lived in the Ijody. In this way they bccanve acquainted m iih the m^'steries of Alchemy, Astronomy, ^Vstrology. Medicine, Theolog],', etc, namely, by direct communication of their spirits with the •pints of those who had professed these science on earth. In order to acquire the arcane method of communication with such intelligences, the 6[rst reqttisite b to implore by faith the mercy of God in the matter ; then we must, also with faith, make an image of that man with whooi we desire to communicate. On the body of such image the naine of the man must be written, and ali»o the question to be a!»ked. Put this image at night under your head and sleep upon it. That num him^lf will then appear to you spiritually^ and will itmwer your questions, teaching you whatever he can. There is, bowevcr, a more certain and better manner. This dispenses with the image, and has recouj:se only to faith And imagination. No danger attaches to this experimeni, but it requires great confidence In the validity of the operation. 1 have several times had practical evidence of its truth. />.- PkiL'iopkias Tract V.
t A work of Paracelsus, entitled De Ctrna Dtrw/Ht\ exists in tbc Harleian collection among the MSS- of the Brilbh Museum, ft is numbered 508, and is a large volume^ verj* legibly written. No printed copy is knottii !o the present editor.
Conctrning the Nature of Things.
187
the stars of Venus ; iron the stars of Mars ; tin the stars of Jupiter ; lead the stars of Saturn ; quicksilver the stars of Mcrcur)', As soon» however, as they have come to their perfection, and are coag-ulated into a fixed metalUc body, their stars withdraw from every one of these, and leave their body dead. Hence it follows that all the bodies alike are dead and inefficacious, and that the unconquered star of the metals subdues all of them, converts them into its own nature, and so makes them all astral. For this reason, our gold and silver, which are tinged and prepared with our tincture, are* much more noble and more excellent for the composition of medicinal arcana, than that gold itself which Nature generates in mines, and afterwards segregates from other metals. So also corporal M^rcurius^ made astrally from another metal, is much nobler and more fixed than common mercur}% In the same way you may judge of other metals. I assert, therefore, that every alchemist who has the star of gold, turns all red metals into gold by tingeing them. So by the star of silver, all white metals are turned into silver ; by the star of copper, into copper ; by the star of quicksilver, into corporal Mercury' ; and so with the others. How all these stars are prepared by SpagjTic art, it is no part of our present purpose to declare. The explanation belongs to the book on the Transmutation of Metals.
So far as relates to the true signs of these, I would have you know that our red tincture, which contains wuthin itself the stars of gold, is of a sub- stance fixed above all consistency, of most rapid penetration, and deepest redness, its powder recalling the colour of the safTron, and its entire body that of the ruby. Its tincture is fusible as resin, clear as crystal, brittle as glass, but very heavy in weight.
The wliite tincture, which contains the stars of Luna, is, in the same way, of fixed substance, of changeless increment, of consummate whiteness, fluid as resin, clear as crystal, brittle as glass, in weight like the adamant. The star of copper is of supreme citrine colour, like emerald, fusible as resin, and much heavier than its own metal.
The star of tin is whitcflowing as resin, somewhat dark, and suffused with a clay like colour. The star of iron is of remarkable redness, clear as granatum, fusible as resin, brittle as glass, of fixed substance, and much heavier than its own metal. The star of lead is like cobalt, black, but trans- parent, fluid as resin, brittle as glass, equal to gold in weight, heavier than other lead. The star of quicksilver is of a white, glittering colour, like snow^ in a deep frost, very subtle, penetrating, and of corrosive sharpness, clear, like crystal, easily melted as resin, very cold to the touch, but extremely warm within the fire, volatile, moreover, and of a substance which easily flies before fire.
From this description you will know the stars of the metals, and you wUl understand that for the preparation of either tincture, the red or the white, you must take at first, not the body of gold or of Luna, but the first essence of gold or of Luna. If a mistake is made at the outset, all the sub- sequent work and labour will be thrown away.
1 88 The Hermetic and Alchemical Wriiings of Paracelsus,
Moreover, this fact applies to metals, that each of them in the fire puts forth some peculiar sign by which it can be recog^nised. Among these are, sparks, flameSi brightness, colours of the fire, smell, taste, etc. For instance, in the reverberation of gold or silver, the genuine sign is a brightness above the vessel or vat. When this appears» it is certain that the lead, and other accessory metals, have disappeared in the fumes, and so the gold and silver are thoroughly purified. Iron, which is completely fused in the furnace, sends forth limpid, clear sparks, which rise to a height. As soon as these appear^ unless the iron be at once removed from the fire, it will be burnt up like straw.
In the same way, every earthly body exhibits its own peculiar and distinct signs in the fire, whether it has any Mercury, sulphur, or salt, and of which of these three principles it has most. If it smokes before it bursts into flame it is a sign that it contains more Mercury than sulphur. If, on the other hand, it burns with a flame and blazes forth without any smoke, it is a sign that a good deal of sulphur, and no Mercury, or very little, lies hidden within it. This you see take place with fattj^ substances, as with fat itself, oil, resin, and the like. But if without any flame nothing goes forth through the fumes, it is a sign that much Mercury and very little sulphur exists therein. This you see take place with herbs, flowers, and the like ; and also with other vegetable substances and volatile bodies, such as minerals and metals, as yet in their first essence, and not yet mixed wnth corporeal sulphur. These send forth only smoke, and no flame.
Minerals and metals which in the fire emit neither fume nor flame— that is, neither smoke nor blaze — shew an equal mixture of Mercury and sulphur, and a fixity and perfection beyond all consistency.
Concerning Certain Particular Signs of Natural and Supernatural
Things.
We must nowj in due course, speak of some peculiar signs, concerning which nothing up to this time has been handed down. In this treatise it will be \^ty necessar}^ that you who boast your skill in the science of signa- tures, who also wish to be yourselves called signators, should rightly understand what we say. In this place we are not going to speak theoretically, but practically, and we will put forth our opinion comprised in the fewest possible words for your comprehension.
First of all, know that the signatory art teaches how to give true and genuine names to all things. All of these Adam the Protoplast truly and entirely understood. So it was that after the Creation he gav^e its own proper name to everj^thing, to animals, trees, roots, stones, minerals, metals, waters, and the like, as well as to other fruits of the earth, of the water, of the air, and of the fire. Whatever names he imposed upon these were ratified and confirmed by God. Now these names were based upon a true and intimate foundation, not on mere opinion, and were derived from a predestinated know- ledge, that is to say, ihe signatorial art. Adam is ihe first signator.
Concerning^ the Nature of Things.
189
Indeed, it cannot be denied that genuine names flow forth from the Hebrew language, too, and are bestowed upon each thing according to its nature and condition. The names which are given in the Hebrew tongue indicate by their mere bestowal the virtue, power, and property of the ver>' thing to which they belong. So when we say, ** This is a pig, a horse, a cow, a bear, a dog» a fox, a sheep, etc.,'* the name of a pig indicates a foul and impure animah A horse indicates a strong and patient animal ; a cow, a voracious and insatiable one ; a bear, a strong, victorious, and untamed animal ; a fox, a crafty and cunning animal ; a dog, one faithless in its nature ; a sheep, one that is placid and useful, hurting no one. Hence it happens that sometimes a man is called a pig on account of his sordid and piggish life ; a horse, on account of his endurance, for which he is remarkable beyond all else \ a cow, because he is never tired of eating and drinking, and his stomach knows no moderation ; a bear, because he is bigger and stronger than other people ; a fox, because he is versatile and cunning, accommodating himself to all, and not easily offending anybody ; a dog, because he is not faithful to anything beyond his own mouth, and shews himself unaccommodating and faithless to all; or a sheep, because he hurts nobody but himself, and is of more use to anyone else than to himself.
In the same way many herbs and roots have obtained their names. So the euphrasia or herha ocularis is thus called because it cures ailing eyes. The sanguinar}' herb is thus named because it is better than all others to stop bleeding. The scrofulary [chelidonium minus) is so called because it cures the piles better than any other herb. And so with many other herbs, of which I could cite a vast number, all of which were named on account of their virtue and faculty, as I have shewn more at length in my Herbary.
Then, again, many herbs and roots got their names, not from any one inborn virtue and faculty, but also from their figure, form, and appearance, as the Morsus Diaboli, Pentaphyllum, Cynoglossum, Ophioglossum, Hippuris, Hepatica, Buglosum, Dentaria, Calcatrippa {consoiida regalis)^ Perforata, Satyrion or Orchis, Victorialis, Syderica, Petfoliata, Prunellaj Heliotrope, and many others which need not be recounted here, but separately in the Herbary,
The same is true as to the signs of animal matters, because, in like manner, from the blood and its circulation, from the urine and the circulation thereof, all diseases which lie hid in men are recognised. From the liver of a slaughtered animal all its flesh can be judged whether it is fit for food or not. For if the liver be not clear and of a red colour, but livid and yellow, rough and perforated, it is inferred that the animal was sick and that, on this account, its flesh is unwholesome. It is no marvel that the liver indicates this by natural signs. The origin of the blood is in the liver, and hence it flows forth through the veins over the whole body, and is coagulated into flesh. For this reason, from a sickly and ill-affected liver no healthy and fresh blood can be produced, just as from morbid blood no wholesome flesh can be coagulated. But, nevertheless, even without the liver, the flesh, as well as
1
IQO The Hermetic and Alchemical Writings of Paracelsus.
the blood, can be distinguished. If both are sound, they have their true and natural colour, which is purple and bright, with no extraneous colour, such as yellow or livid. These extraneous colours always indicate sickness and disease.
But, moreover, there are other signs which are worthy of our wonder, when, for example, the Archeus is the signator and signifies on the umbilical cord of the foetus by means of knots, from which it can be told how many children the mother has had or will have.
The same signator signs the horns of the stag with branches by which its age is known. As many branches as the horns have, so many years old is the stag. Since there is an addition of a new branch to the horn every year, the age of the stag can be set down as twenty or thirty years.
So, too, the signator marks the horns of the cow with circles from which it is known how many calves she has borne. Every circle indicates one calf.
The same signator thrusts out the first teeth of the horse so that for the first seven years its age can be certainly known from its teeth. When the horse is first born it has fourteen teeth, of which it sheds two every year, so in seven years all of them fall out. For this reason a horse more than seven years old can only be judged by one who is very skilled and practised.
The same signator marks the beak and talons of a bird with particular signs, so that every practised fowler can judge its age from these.
The same signator marks the tongues of pigs with blisters, by which their impurity can be known. If the tongue is foul, so is the whole body.
The same signator marks the clouds with different colours, whereby the tempests of the sky can be prognosticated.
So also he signs the circle of the moon with distinct colours, each one of which has its own special interpretation. Redness generally indicates coming wind ; greenness or blackness, rain. The two mixed, wind with rain. At sea this is a sign which generally portends tempests and storms. Brightness and clear whiteness are a good sign, especially on the ocean. For the most part they presage quiet and serene weather.
So far we have confined our remarks to natural signs. With regard to supernatural signs this is a matter of special science and experience, as Magical Astronomy and the like.*
Now here it is most necessary to have certain knowledge. Hence proceed many arts, such as geomancy, pyromancy, hydromancy, chaomancy, and
* Whatsoever Nature generates is formed according to the essence of the virtues, which is to be understood as follows : According to the soul, the property, and the nature of any man, the body is constituted. For this proverb b often quoted— the more distorted the more wicked. Adam wsis originally created in such a manner that he was without inherent vice of body or soul ; but when he distinguished between good and evil, Natiur then commenced to mark each person according to his constitution. Adam was well pleasing to God before he knew good and evil ; but afterwards, God repented haWng made man. Man was therefore made subject to the rule of Nature, so that Nature treau him even as a flower of the field, which she marks, and so nuikes recognisable to all. Man also is marked like a flower of the field, so that one person can be discerned from another, after the same way that flowers and all growing things are distinguished each from each. And since there is nothing hidden in man but must be revealed, this must be made known by three different methods— either by the signs of Nature, or the proper mark, or by the judgment of Cod. Omitting the two latter, I will speak of the first, that is to syiy, the signs which are exhibited by Natim:. It i»
Concerning the Nature of Things.
necromancy, each of which has its own particular stars, and these stars sign in a supernatural manner.* The stars of geomancy sign or impress their marks on the terrestrial bodies of the whole world in many and various ways. They change the earth, produce earthquakes and landslips, make hills and valleys, bring forth many new growths, produce gamahei on nude figures and images having remarkable powers and potencies, which they receive from the seven planets, just as the shield or target receives the pellet or the dart from a slinger. But to know how these signs and images of the gamahei may be distinguished one from the other, and what they signify in magic, requires great experience and knowledge of Nature, nor can it be in any way perfectly dealt with here. But this must be noticed, that ever>' stone or gamaheus pos- sesses only the power and properties of one planet, and so can be endowed only by that one planet. And though, indeed, two or more planets may be conjoined in earthly bodies, as in the higher firmament, nevertheless, one is oppressed by the other. For as one house cannot have two masters, but the one thrusts out the other, so is it here also. One remains master j the other becomes a slave. Or as when one is keeping a house another comes upon him, thrusts him out by force, and makes himself master, arranging ajl things by his will and pleasure, while the other is reduced to slavery, so also one star expels the other, one planet the other, one ascendant the other, one influence another,
knoii'ii to ail iLhal if a ^attA. be cast into the earth and concealed therein, the iatent nature of thiii seed, u the proper time, manifcfriii it Above the earth, and anyone may sec clearly what manner of »eed bos lain in that place. It i& the same with the heart (r^r) and seed of heart has been there. And, although there be a j^reat dilTcrerLce betiA-een herb« or trees and men, yet art in man sufficiently dctnonstralc* and proves tbo«e things. We men In this world explore all things ubich lie hidden tn the mountains by mean^ of tracer, and external sign** For we investigate the properties of all Lcrbs and stones by their »||pied sign {^signHfH st'gnntuw). Similarly^ nothing can lie hidden in man which is not outwardly marked on him, for, OS the physician has hi» own knowledge^ so, also, the aitronoraer explores from the signed (tjt ti^attf). So now then are tbrce things by which the nature of man and of evcr>'tbing that grows i« revealed t Chiromancy, which coDcemt the cxtrerailies^ »,%, for example, the hnndt, the feet, the veins, the lines^ and tlie wrinkles ; Physiognomy, whicb regards the constitution of the face and the parts belonging to the head ; Proportion, which considers the condition of the whole body. These three should be combined : according to these three every created thing can be Tcco^ised : by the physician, that i» to iay, the remedy ; by the astronomer, that is, the man ; and by the metallurgist, that ist tbe metal. Such \m the condition of the mother which manifests that which is latent in anything. He who is incapable of understanding these three things cild b« in no sense a natural philosopher, asironomert or doctor, or know anything of the arcana and mysteries of Nature. The foundation is in this, that all things have seed, and in seed all things are contained, for Nature first fabricatoi (he form, and afterwards she produces itnd numifestt the essence of the tbtng. - £x^icnli0 T9tiut Aitr&n^mm,
• The Libtir fkUosophia^ in a treatise Di Artw Frfuaga, regards the varieties of sortilege discussed in this book from a totally different standpoint. The four arts of Geomancy, Hydromancy, Pyromancy, and Necromancy are thus noticed : Spirits which are (normally) unable to communicate vi^bly with men, have by lying arts invaded their iroaginalion.and have rai*.ed up therein Ceomniicy, Pyromancy, Hydrotnancy, and Necromancy, arts not invented from the light of Nature or of men, but instilled hy spirits* who, by their frauds, after they had descried some one or other discoverer suitable for iheir puiposes, then added fitting disciples to these, rmmely, cultivators and admirers of tbe MttI arts. The first discoverers were obieued by the devil, and sought out through hi» power and instigation arts of tbi^kind. There are some, indeed, who, hiding the matter, alTirm that they have been revealed from Cod ; but they are deceived, tas God is not the author and teacher of inquiries into the future by means of such devices. He in no wise created us that we might devote ourselves to the investigation of what is to comc^ but ordered rather that, directing His attention lo Hi* camm.indmenl«, we should seek out the knowledge of H imi^lf and His manifest wilh It is, therefore, a false pretence that these arts proceed from God when they emanate from spirits alone. It is, indeed, true that the spirits extracted them frum God, not from the devil. But we on the earth derive them from spirits, not from God. Now, communication with such spirits is forbidden, though they themtelve* neglect the mandate. It is equally forbidden to the spirits to teach these arts, but here, also, they pay no attention to the command. And this is ihe reason why ihcy are silent and tell lie* when it is least becoming to do so. Thui, in order that man may act disobediently towards God, and plunge into ^superstitions, they have devised the four above-mentioned methods for inquiring into tbe future. Geomancy is the art of pdbts, having sixteen signsand figures, which they have arranged according to thetr pro|iefty. To these tbey ndded trni]«i]ationi, creta (r'V). form, points, and similar things, and have taught tbe erection of the whole fifrure, fixing; certain rules by which each fjjjnn; cmld b« undtTsiool» cicb rccocni***.! in it.'* o^n bcm^. \^ith » ^vifbiriciti .imt neto^or^' inter | retaljoti.
192 Tfu Hemutic and Alchemical Writings o/ Paracelsus.
one impression another, and one element another. As water extinguishes fire, so one planet strikes out the property of the other and brings in its own. And so is it ii^-ith their signs, which are manifold, and not onlj characters, as some think, but all those which are found in the entire map of the planets, that is, everything which is cognate with those planets or subject to them.
To make myself more easily understood, let me add an example. To the planet Sol there belong the croi^^n, the sceptre, the throne, all the royal power and majesty, all the domination, all the riches, treasures, ornaments, and paraphernalia of this world.
To the planet Luna are subject all agriculture, navigation, travelling, and travellers, and everjrthing concerned ii-ith matters of this kind.
To the planet Mars are subject munitions (as they call them), all breast- plates, cuirasses, spears, and all arms, with everything relating to war.
To the planet Mercury are subjected all literary men, all mechanical in- struments, and every requirement of art.
To the planet Jupiter are subject all judgments and laws, the whole Levitical order, all ministers of the church, the decorations of temples, orna- ments, and whatever else belongs to this class.
To the planet Venus are subject all things relating to music, musical instruments, amatory exercises, loves, debaucheries, etc
Tbc iBcthod b as follovs : They guide the hand and mark the points until a judgment is made oocKcming the p copo a c d matter. But the spirits kn If their direction be right, the figure ako is correct and valid. For example, suppose I ask who is standing at the door, and what kind of tunic does he wear ? Take the ie\-en cdcnrs, to each of which aitribctte a geomantic Mgn, and consuit that figure. Then.whatever sign falls indicates the o^our. Now. if I knew what colour it were, but you did DOC know, I might so direct your hand, forming certain points in one line that, by obliterating or wiping off. there wouM remain the oaXcnx red, and supposing the tunic itself was red. then you would reply rightly : It b a red tunic But I knew that before, and directed your hand to these points. The sfnrits do likewiie with all the figures ; and. since they know all things, it b easy for them to describe the figures and to guide yctir hand. Every rhombtts b described by guiding the hand. In dib manner Geomancy b constituted. Moreover, many superstitions are added thereto by men to augment it, as, for example, that it should be performed »hen the sky b clear and i«rene. or in the quiet and sOence of night. Also, that you should not operate for your own purposes. Again, that you should say such and such a prayer at the beginning, and conunence under good auspices, etc All these are humim superstitions : for, not knowing the foundation on which the art depends they increase it, but it b as much an art as a superstition. Geomantia, as it was called at first, b so constituted that the ascendant b twofold— natural and of spirits. For the natural has its art, namely. Astronomy. The spirit has its Pyromancy. Accordingly, if a natirity be constituted out of the stars it b astronomically erected. If it be made according to spirits it b Pyromanc>'. But Pj-romancy comists in the spirit being connected with the ascendant, and it leads the infant for example, into whoredom, thefts, lies. And as the art comes forward and succeeds, the spiriu suggest to astronomers that if a conjunction of thb or that star takes place, say, thb or that event will take place, not because Nature herself will accomplish such things, but I myself urill see to it, and, being everywhere, will bring about such and such effects ; but as no one can trace my actions, they %k-ill be imputed to the stars or the elements. Hence it comes to pass that people pay more attention to the stars than to God. Thb b an astute feat of the devil. It b the spiriu who cause the astronomical and other predictions to be fulfilled that the credit of the art may be sustained, so that men may be inx'olved in errors and loss, while, intent on vain fantasies, they forget the true God. Their devices are favoured by their dupes, for in the case of twenty prophecies, if only one be fulfilled, they will never cease from inquiring until the other nineteen lies have been fulfilled also. Meanwhile, they are so deluded by the spirits themselves that they cannot arrive at the xxMt/undamentum. For it b the property of ^irits to lie. We have finished, then, with the foundation so far as they are concerned. Now one thing b wanting, now another ; now the fault lies with the house, now with the exaltation, etc In thb discipline men ha\-e laboured for many thousands of years, nor have yet discovered the truth, which, indeed, b impossible to find, as the whole foundation b on falsehood. We now see for what reason astronomy b called Pyromancy when the operation proceeds pyromantically. The same spirits make their way into the third element, that b, water. For Geomancy has been named from the earth, as if it arose from the nature of the earth. Nor without reason, for the earth also has its ou-n hea\*en or stars ; but the spirits who are pyromantically recognised have devbcd them. Similarly, in the element of water there b a star wherein the pyromantic spirits dwell who have instituted Pyromancy, chiefly in the times of the Greeks, who, being easily led into all manner of delusions, promptly subjected themselves to the spirits. Pyromancy is an art consbting of signs and figures harmonising with the universal figure of the heaven. The process i« as follows : Take a basin full of water, which ♦ct down, and notice the direction of the wavy movements as the water quiets down. Notice, also, the tremor, the rest,
Concerning the Nature of Things,
193
To the planet Saturn are subjected all those who work In and under the earth, as metallurgists, miners, sextons, well-diggers, with all the tools used by them.
Pyromancy puts forth its signs by the stars of fire ; in common fire by sparks, flames, crackling, and so forth ; in mines by coruscations j in the firmament by stars, comets, thunder and lightning, nostoch, and the like ; among spectres by salamanders, ethnic, and other similar spirits which appear in the form of fire*
Hydromancy gives its signs by the stars of water, by waves, inundations, droughts, discolorations, lorindi, new floods, washing away of territory* In magic and necromancy by nymphs, visions, and supernatural monsters In the waters and the sea.
Chaomancy exhibits its signs by the stars of the air and the wind, by dis- coloration, the loss and destruction of all tender and subtle things, to which the wind is opposed, by shaking off and stripping flowers, leaves, fronds, stalks. If the stars of chaomancy are excited the Necromicae fall down from the upper air, and frequently voices and answers are heard. Trees are plucked up from the earth by their roots, and houses are thrown down. Lemurs, Penates, Undines, and Sy Ivans are seen. So also Tereniobin, Tronosia, and Manna fall upon the trees.
Necromancy puts forth its signs by the stars of death, which we also call Evestra, marking the body of the sick and those about to die with red, livid, and purple spots, which are certain signs of death on the third day from their appearance. They also sign the hands and fingers of men with clay-coloured spots, which arc sure signs of something, good or bad, about
and the bubbles, The^c four give four figures, and the figures give twelve. Near the figure*, rule* and sucb thingji Ajre found. Now^ the spirit moves the bubbles^ originates the shaking, the rest, the calm, According to the necessity of the sign, so thill ther« may result a figure which indicates what Ls desired, lliose, therefore, who have well-disposed spirits, to whom few things are forbidden, make good sorcerers in the art. On the other hand, a bad sorcerer has a mute and mendacious spirit* Among spinu one inay be more mute and lying thao another. When, therefore, one sorcerer is sAJd to be more certain th:in another, it does not follow that he has greater skill, for he may possess a more reliable spirit. Now, the spirits delight by means of ve,iting and deluding men to cau^e ihcra to hate one another, and this, indeed, » their first object. Were the foundatiuci of i\\\9. art more c!o*;ly iiive«tiguled by men, it would be seen that it wa4 a hoiuc of the spirits. Vet, even if men arrived at perfection in this art, whnt solid advantage would it confer on them b^it a futile prediction and a pretext for wasting time. Suppose I tle^ire to marry, and consult*an'omen as 10 the result, even if I get an answer I shall lie uncertain of its tnutJi ; it k just a5i likely to speak fal&ely as truly. But i f the prediction be fultiUcd, it may be by the devil's arrangement* In any case» how will it help me ? If I escape this evjl, it will take shape in another way. Consequently, no faith can be placed in these arts. In addition to the methods which have been already mentioned there i* Necromancy, which is the nrt of the air. And although others define diiTer- enlly what is meant by Necrv. this is genuine— that it is the art of shades, for shades only are in the air, and these things are known by the shades . . , Some people, at night, see figure* in the air» as ill heaven sometimes figures appear which have a certain signification. This is Necromancy, Men appear walking in the air, the cb-sh of arms Is heard, etc. Wondrous shades arc likewise occasionally visible in water. The cause of all the*e things Is, that the spirits display what they wish accordmg to their own pleasure. A part of their deception is to make men fancy that the spirits mitsi be propiti- ated by prayers, or compelled by force and con jural ion to produce prodigies. Now, all th^e things are sheer superstition. It is alio thought that men can compel spirits, through God, to do this or that ; but it is highly displeasing to Cod that urc should be occupied with such trifiings, and the spirits are rejoicing meanwhile that, in oppoisiiion to God, we have become their Accomplices The prayers, conjurations, fasts, and other ceremonies arc nothing but a cloak to superstition. The pronunciation of various word% is committed to mcmor>', but these are not the rciil names of the spirits, and they are altogether unimportant. For although each spirit has his own pcculi.ir name, yet they i^alute one another by dilTerent luunes at different times, and so make game of men. Now, concerning the nature of shades, whatever is seen in a figure or image is to be considered such. He who is favoured by spirits sees many thingi, but otherwise, little or nothing. Did God permit it, these lieings would be a]wa>^ in our midst, enticing us to desert God, and devote our mind to them. But if we carefully regard what they have performed during a given year we shall sec that it has been mere triflijig, devoid of use and profit, destructive to Ixxiy i^nd soul, health and property, praise and hooourtin a wortl, disgraceful allurcmenLs, frauds, and devices, sprung from the root of Lie* itself.
194 The Hermetk and Alchemical Writings of Paracelsus.
immediately to happen » When the stars of necromancy are moved, then the dead give forth miracles and signs, the deceased bleed, dead things are seen, voices are heard from graves, tumults and tremblings arise in the charnel-house, and the dead appear in the form and dress of the living, are seen in visions, mirrors, beryls, stones, and waters under different appearances. Evestrum and Tarames give signs by knocking, striking, pounding, falling, throwing, and so on, where only a disturbance or sound is heard, but nothing seen. All these are sure signs of death, presaging it for him in whose dress the spectres appear, or for some one in the place where they are heard.
Concernmg these signs much more could be set down than has so far been said. But since these bring with them bad, hurtful, and dangerous phantasies, imaginations, and superstitions, which may be the cause not only of misfortune, but even of death, we pass them over in silence. We are for- bidden to reveal them, since they belong only to the ancient school and to the Divine power. So now we bring this our book to an end.*
Here end the Nine Books concerning the Nature of Things.
* In certain cditiotis the following dedScitiod U prefixed to the Nine Books containing the f/ainr*^/ Thim^,-^ Theophrastu* ParaccUtis gives greeting to the honourable and prudent gentleman. John WincJceUictn of Friburg, bU iaitimaie frtend and dearest brother :— It is nght, intimate friend and dearest brother, that I should satisfy your Iriendty and ii^iduous prayers and petitions which you have addressed to ine in your several letters, and since, in your latest letters of all^ you have earnestly and courteously requested that I should at length come to you, if it w^^re consisstent with my convenience, it U not meet for me to conceal from you, that th[» course ts, by reason of various bimlraiices, impostiible. But with regard lo the second requei^t you have made to me, that I should furnish you with AH excellent and clear intlructton concerning certain matters, I neither can nor wHll refuse you, but am compelled to gratify you therein \ for I am well acquainted with your disposition i moreover, I know that you bear and behold Mth delight anything that is fresh or marvellous in this ait. I know, also, that you have devoted a great portion of your life to the arts, which have formed the chief clement of your curriculum. Sitice, therefore, )'ou have displayed, not only benevolence, but fraternal fidelity towards me, I am rightly powerle^ to forget either your fidelity or your beneHls, but am indeed of ncccMity grateful, and, in ca« I Jihould not see you in person again, I must ledve a brotherly farewell to you and your*, as a memorial of myself For herein I shall not only answer and clearly explain those points Concerning which you have consulted me and nskcd, me in brotherly fashion, but will dedicate lo you a specbd Ireatiiie OQ those points, which treatise I shall name Cttne^rnhtg^ ik* Naturt of Things^ and shall divide it into nine books. ThU work satisfies all your requests, and, indeed, more than you have requested of me, although you vi ill greatly wonder at its matter, and will doubt whether things are just as I have described them. But do not so act, nor think that they are mere theories and speculations, wherea^ they are of practice and proceed from experience. And, in spite of the fact that 1 have not personally verified them alt, notwithstanding, I both possess, have proved, and know these things by expo-ience from and by means of other persons, as also from the light of Nature. Cut if in certain places yoti do not righil'y understand what I say, and in one or more processes require of me a further explication, write to me secretly, and 1 will put the matter more clearly before you, and give you a sufUclcnt instruction and understanding, although 1 do not believe that there will be any need for thi^, but that you will easily comprehend without it, since I know how richly you have been endowed by God with the arts and with good sense* Moreover, you know myself and my feeling*, wherefore you will easily and quickly take my meaning. But, above all, 1 hope and am confident that you will look upon the present work, and will fittingly regard it as a treasure, will by no means publish it, but exclusively keep it in great secrecy for ^'ou and for yours, exactly as a vast hidden treasure, noble gem« and precious thing, which b not to be cast before swine, that is, before sophists, contemners of natural blessings « arts, and secrets, which person* are not worthy to read, much less to have, know, and understand them. And, although this book be very small, containing few and scanty words, yet it i* full of many great mysteries for herein I shall not write from speculation and theory, but practieally from the light of Nature and experience itself, nor will I burden you and render it tedious by much •rpeech, MrHierefore, dearest friend and most intimate brother, !lnce I have addressed this book out of love to you alone, and to no one else, I request you to keep the book as a precious and secret thing, and not to part with it until your dying day. After death, in similar fashion, command your children and heirs to preserve il lalso in secrecy. Furthermore, it is my special request that il should remain only in your family, and at no time become so public as to fall into the hiuids of sophists and mockers, who despise all thingi« which do not agree with them, ajid cover them with calumny \ who also are pleased only with that which Is their own, as is the ca^: with all fools ; who are ple;u^ed only with their own trumpet, but not with that of another ; and do hate all wisdom, regarding that as of small account and even as folly, which is grcivtcr than theirs, that Is to say* what is in their own head, because il does iheoi nogoodf nofl" do they know the tjse of it. One workman cannot use the tools of another, and so in the same way a fool can use no better instrument than his own key, nor U any sound sweeter to hU ear than the tinkling of his own bells* Wherefore, dearest friend, be faithfully adnionisl^cJ, as I ha>e entreated you ; do that which I expect of you, so sliall you do well and riglitly. Farewell, under the care orilod*~Given at ViWwus^ in the year 'S37'
THE PARACELSIC METHOD OF EXTRACTING MERCURY FROM ALL THE METALS.
TO extract Mercury from metallic bodies is nothing else but to resolve them, or to reduce them into their first matter : that is* running Mercur\'» such, in fact, as it was in the centre of the earth before the generation of the metals, namely, a damp and viscous vapour, containing invisibly within itself natural Mercury and sulphur, the principles of all metals. Such Mercury is of unspeakable power and possesses divine secrets.
The reduction spoken of is made by merctirial water, w^hich w^as not known to John of Rupescissa^ or to others, however they may boast. It must, therefore, be carefully studied and treated with unwearied assiduity. Let the aforesaid mercurial w^ater be thus prepared : —
Take three pounds of Mercury sublimated seven times by Vitriol, Salt- Nitre, and Alum ; one pound and a half of Sal ammoniac, clear and white, three times sublimated from salt. Grind these well together, alcoholise them, and sublimate in a sublimatory by means of sand for nine hours. When the mass has cooled, remove the sublimate with a feather, and sublimate with the rest as before. Repeat this operation four times, until it will no longer sublimate, and In the bottom there remains a black mass of fluid like wax. Having cooled this, take it out ; grind it again, and Imbibe it in a glass dish several times w'lth the prepared water of Sal ammoniac. When it is spontaneously coagulated, imbibe it again and dry it, repeating this process nine or ten times, until it will scarcely coagulate any further. Grind it very small on marble in a damp place, and dissolve it into a beautiful oil, which you must rectify from all its dregs and residuum by distillation in ashes. Carefully pre- serve this w^ater, for it is by far the chief of all waters. Take eight ounces of it, and put in it plates of the purest gold or silver carefully cleansed, an ounce and a half in weight. Place this In a closed vessel for digestion over hot ashes during a period of eight hours. Then you will sec your body at the bottom of the vessel transmuted into a subtle vapour or Mercury* Having made a solu- tion of the whole mercurial water, separate it, by sublimation in an alembic over a slow fire, from its first matter, and keep it carefully in a glass vessel. Vou will thus have the true Mercury of the body, the use whereof in desperate
02
196 The Hermetic and Alchemical Writings of Paracelsus.
cases, provided only it be carefully employed, is marvellous and celestial*; and on that account, therefore, not to be revealed to unworthy persons.
* For example, the red Meroiry of Gold constitutes a good medicament for the cure of wounds and of the plague, that is, if it be reduced to a precipitate to prevent vomiting. This is accomplislied by the upward separation of its laxative part. For in every preparation of gold the chief point is to remove superfluity from it In the plague there is no necessity for purging. Gold, however, is a laxative, a tonic, and an astringent. Take it away ; preserve the rest. The medicaments for the plague are divided into those used for the accidentia and those adapted for its cure. Understand concerning the cure that the spirits of gold and of gems are the best medicines whereby all plagues, wheresoever located in the body, are most successfully healed. The principal is gold ; the second are gems, for gems are tonics and preventives. It should at the same time be remembered that all sores are, &% far as possible, to be cured from within. For this reason there is no more excellent medicine— speaking of vulnerary potions than is internal Mumia- No wound is properly healed from without. Internal Mumia is the perfect curative. Otherwise, there is no more sublime incamativc than gold itself —/"r./^wrw/ww/ di FtsU,
THE SULPHUR OF THE METALS.
THE Sulphur of the metals is an oiliness extracted from the metals them- selves, endowed with very many virtues for the health of man,* Another sulphur is drawn from metals before they have undergone the fire, tus from the golden and silver marchasites and others, which take rank and exceU lence according to the nobility of the mineral. So also is it drawn from the mineral of marchasite and cobalt, according to the nature and property of each.
The more common mode of extraction is to take Acetum carefully dis- tilled, which has stood for twenty-four hours on a Caput Mortuum made out of distilled Vitriol, Salt, Nitre, and Alum, which also has itself been distilled by means of an alembic. This, I say, you must pour on the pulverised metallic body in a glass vessel so that it shall stand above it by the height of seven fingers. Then place it to digest in horse-dung for nine days. The coloured Acetum distil in the ashes until it comes to a superfluous oil, which you will rectify in a bath, or in the sun. You will then have the ver}- truest Sulphur of the metallic body, which you will rightly use at your discretion.
The extraction can also be made by means of a sharp and thoroughly separated lixivium. But other sulphurs are less suitable for the internal bodily use on account of the alkali of the ashes, out of which we make a clavellated corrosive substance, and also on account of the lime of which such lixivia are composed. The Sulphur thus extracted can be washed with sweet water and precipitated. The subsequent digestion requires a double space of time. The lixivium also ought to be rectified from all earthy deposit by means of sublima- tion, so that such sulphurs may not be incorporated with it and become corrosive so as to cause injury to sick persons. It is to prevent this that the separation spoken of should be made. So far concerning the crude materials.
But now, these having been fused and depurated, you may draw forth their sulphur. There is no more certain, noble, or better way than by the water of salt or by its oil, prepared in the way 1 have clearly described in my
* The Sulphur of Met.ils, aitd, indeed, that Sulphur which can also be cxtruetcd from iiiiiirraN, i% ^v\k\ Id Im> nf n|,r( iai utility in dropsy, for it is of a dr>'ing nature, and is, as it were, a Aun, or M)lar heat, whidi dispeiMM thin fiiin nf (hr InnI) . and causes it to pan* off in vapour. — /->/ Hydrflpni.
198 The Hermetic and Alchemical Writings of Paracelsus.
treatise on Alchemy. Such a water extracts from the ver>' foundations and roots their natural liquid out of all metallic bodies, or a sulphur and a crocus most excellent for all medicinal as well as alchemical purposes. It resolves and breaks every metal changing it from its metallic nature into some other, according to the different intention and industr}* of the operator.
THE CROCUS OF THE METALS, OR THE TINCTURE.
THE Crocus of the Metals is of four kinds : of the Sun^ of Venus, of Mars, and of Chatybs, The best is that of Chalybs. It is extracted by rever- beration or by calcination, reducing the aforesaid bodies to dust. In like manner, filed iron is consumed by rust. The consumption of the rust is made by the imbibition of those things which produce rust, and by a decoction extracting the colour of rust.
Take old Urine poured away from its deposit, several cups of it, in which dissolve three handfuls of ground Salt, When you have strained it, boil it and skim it carefully. In this again dissolve a handful of bruised Vitrio!, with two or three ounces of bruised Sal Ammoniac, and then carefully skim again* With this liquid imbibe some filings, and boil until it can be pulverised. The dust thus produced reverberate over a powerful fire» continually stirring it with an iron rod, until it changes from its own colour to another, and at last into the hues of most brilliant violet. From this you can easily, with spirits of wine or distilled acetum, draw off the Tincture, and when it is extracted by separation of the elements you will collect what remains at the bottom of the glass, by means whereof you will be able to produce w^ondrous effects, both within and without the body.
For making the crocus of Venus, take one or two pounds of copper-rust carefully akoholised, pour on it plenty of distilled Acetum, and stir it well three times ever)" day. Gently pour off the coloured Acetum, and thoroughly sublimate it in ashes until it is dry. Let this powder be afterwards washed nine times with warm water from al! acridity, and then dried. You will then have the prepared Crocus of Venus, or Flower of Brass, from which, if you wish, you can easily extract an oil according to the instructions giv^en in the great work on Surger}% where also its use is explained.
The Crocus of the Sun should be extracted by the water of salt, whereby the metallic nature, or malleability, is destroyed. When the residuum has been washed with warm water, the Crocus can be extracted with spirits of wine ; and, this being again separated, the Crocus will remain at the bottom* This IS changed into the liquid, or truest quintessence of the Sun, by means of elevation, and sublimating with five different grades of fire. With this you
200 The Hermetic and Alchemical Writings of Parcuelsus.
can produce man^ellous effects. But there is need not of a merely imaginary, but of an active and skilled, operator.*
* TLc iic^w of Llood from wounds can be stopped by mean^ of the mo&t skilfully rr«-erberated Croca» of Mars.— Ckirurgia Magni^ Tract II., c lo. Moreover, the Crocus and Flower of Mercury may be successfully made use of for the cure of ulcers.— CA/rv^'a Magna, Pars. III., Lib. V. TLe Crocus of Iron, if it be reduced by the reverberatory into alcool, \i suppose 1 tociire the same ulcers that are »ucce&.sfully treated by the Oil of Iron,pro\ided they have ceased to flow, and have reached their proper maturity.— Z>r Tumorlbtu et Ptutulis yforbi Galliciy Lib. X- By artificer^ and mechanics certain arcana are discovered in the thing^s which they daily use. Thus workers in brass have stopped the flow of blood with burnt brass, and have dried flowing «-ounds. Workers in iroo ha^-e used their burnt iron, which is called Crocus of Iron, for woimds. Potters also have made some discoveries with what they call sil^-er or golden litharge. Many are the inventions of the \-ulgar which have been called experiments ; many more, which need not be described here, such as minium, ceruse, and the like, ha\% resulted from the various attempts of the alchemists upon various substances. — Ckirurgia Vuinrum^ c. 9. The Crociis or Flower of Copper, which is a^ully applied to the cure of corrosive ulcers, is usually prepared in two waj-s, one of which is that the greenness is abstracted by means of distilled Botin, and the said Botin is then again extracted. Notwithstanding, the strength of Venus is feeble unless vitriol be added to it. But I regard that as vitriol which is extracted firom the body of Venus.— Pr Tumor, ft Vicer. Merit Galiici, Lib. X.
THE PHILOSOPHY OF THEOPHRASTUS CONCERNING THE GENERATIONS OF THE ELEMENTS,*
BOOK THE FIRST,
Concerning the Element op Air,
TEXT I.
IN the beginning, Iliaster, which is nothing, was divided, thus giving and arranging the four elements*t It was even as the seed from which springs the stem. What the seed gives forth it does not receive in the same form into itself again. But this Iliaster again attracts to itself the four elements. Thus, that is dissolved and becomes what it was before the four elements were produced, provided only one year of the %vorld has elapsed* The four elements are the growth produced from ihc Iliaster. And the seed does not give those very things from which the infant is produced after this year of the world ; but the four elements are both mothers and daughters. Of this family nothing is found surviving after death ; but its end is the same as its origin ; and so whatever is in it perishes at the same time. Although another world follows after, which is the daughter of this one in name, still, it is not so in form, in essence, or the like. For this will not pass away, but will remain like the
• The philo4opby of Paracebu* concerning the seneration of the four element* and oono^ninfi the ihree prime principlcj, SulphuTt Mercury, and Sail, appears to have been regarded by him^etf and by lili edttor» a* on e^untlal pun of hl» doctrine and practice of alche^l}^ To include it iii the first «cction of this translation 14 tty no rncan^ ottUide the issues of Ifermetic Chemistry. Paracelniu waa not the first adept who ttj^Anied i)se process in the Bocompltslimcnt of the AfAj^Ht/m 0/mt m offering a rigorous analog- with the creation of the greater world. All alchemy iml^s on it. He who succeeded in accomplishing the Grand .VlagUterium, the confection of l!)e Phttuaopher^' Stone, became initiated thereby into the secret of the Mjfstrriuin MttgHiiim ; and, on the other hand, an e*act OOmprehension of the true principles which obtained in the tmiver«al gcnesist was enough to po^esa anyone with a full Mid practical illumination conoemlng the arcanum of philosophy. The cj>»mological philosophy of Panu:clsu« 1% the tinpffliry complement of his alchemy, and whether or not their combined ttudy b likely to chrow light upon either, an opporttiflily most be offered to the student for the comp»ri^>n of the f^o. The trcati^e^ whidt have been wlecled fur the pttTpoie are tmulated from tha second volume of the Geneva folio^ and the copious note* which ha%c been added Are detived from anala^tu writitiga which ParaceUm left unfiiiished, or which* for some other rea&on, have come down to us in an imperfect state.
t When God determined to form the world atMi deliberated with Hb Divine Prudence concerning ita nature ami ihe maniMf of its creation* He divided it into four porti or bodie»^. which he designed to be the mother of all thinp, but Sttb|ect to him whom God intended to create after Hh own linage^ even the majt Adaiii, Wberi^ therefore, the matter hiod been deliberaterl on and decreed by God, the four said bodies were creaced^thiikt is heaven, earth, wmter, air« For, ai the Scriptitre ^th. heaven wajs created hrUt then earth, and »tibac()uenlly the two oiben. Hence ymj mtut know that these four bodies, mothers, or matrices, e)(i«t that they may prodtsce fruit, and fiirnikh the ncccaoitie* for man's, ftourubinent. Thu»^ for cianipJe, the earth brimcs forth ila peculiar prodticts^ but it i» man and noi the earth who iriakes. iwe of them. Similarly, heiiv«n i* a lurlv. free by itself, whence frtiSt^ procectl iiimply fijt the »
2oa The Hermetic and Alchemical Writings of Paracelsus.
soul, which IS indeed made and created but not mortal. Such is also the lot of this world.
TEXT II.
Now, it is quite certain that the Eternal Father, who is not only the father of His own Son, but also of all things, mortal and immortal, per- manent and transitor}^ blessed and damned together, created Domor^ that is, heaven and earth, the firmament and the water, to which He also gave His own Divine will. We will not further discuss this subject here, but the same things can be read in the Paramira.* He formed the natural from the non- natural. From that which had never perceived any nature, He pro- duced another nature, and following that nature He willed that yet another nature should be produced, whilst a year revolves, wherein His majesty Himself carries on the Divine rule, which man now moderates and possesses. Vet these primal natures differ, so that from the earth springs the pear-tree, from the sand the thistle, from the water cachimise, from the sky chaos, and from the fire snow. But seeing how wonderful these things are, and how unlike they seem to the first source from which they sprang, we ought to make it a matter o^ knowledge and of philosophy, that the element of water is not water only, but a mineral as well ; that the element of earth is not earth only, but a grape as well, and so w ith the rest. For that philosophy is vain which gives it out that the earth is an element, indeed, but not a nut, or that fire is an element, but not snow, So^ too, those who say that the four elements exist in all and everything, advance mere nonsense.
TEXT III.
The earth is an element, and whatever is produced from it. So is the w^ater and all produced therefrom. So then that is an element which pro- duces. And an clement is a mother, and there are four of them, air, fire, water, earth. From these four matrices ever}'thing in the whole world is produced. And the speech is inconsiderate of those who assert that an element is simply endowed with a complexion, warm, dry, cold, moist, or a compound of these. All these things are in all these four elements. You can understand it thus r the earth is cold and dry, cold and moist, warm and dr}^, w^arm and moist. This is how matters stand. Whatever thing which is w^arm and dry grows out of the earth, grows out of that which in the earth is warm and dr)'. Whatever is or is produced cold and moist, is produced from that in the earth which is of a similar nature. So also from fire four com- plexions proceed. Snow, for example, from that lo the fire which is cold and dry; and lightning from that in the fire which is warm and Aty, It is the same with the other two elements. I would have you then, at this point, before all to be advised not to determine the elements according to their com*
^ But more compleldy and copiously in the ireiiise^ an4 frggmcnu of t»atLt«i from «4iicli the cn«ujiis n^es Havc been rendered.
Concerning ike Generations of the Eiements.
203
plexions, but according to their formSj that is, what are the four matrices which they have within them. The earth is material, clayey, conglutinous. Such it is whether it be warm, dr)% cold, or moist. The water is humid, sensible, tangible, but not corporeally, not materially. And such is the element, whether it be cold or warm. The fire is a firmament, and is the element of fire, though it be in one place warm, in another cold. The air is a heaven which comprises all things, and is moist, warm, cold, or dry, as shall hereafter be set forth,
TEXT IV,
Now, in order to advance towards the established principle \vith regard to the elements, understand this. The Iliaster w^as originally distributed into four parts— the air, which is a heaven embracing all things ; fire, which is a firmament producing day and night, cold and heat ; earth, which affords fruits of all kinds and a solid foundation for our feet ; and water from w^hence are given forth all minerals and half the means of nutriment for living things.
These nutriments are twofold, one found in air and fire, the other in earth and water. The two former nourish us as if spiritually and invisibly ; the two latter materially and corporeally. These four elements are divided into two classes. One is constituted of air and fire ; the other of earth and water. The air sustains fire, the earth water. Air and fire hold w'ater and earth; while these tw^o hold air and fire. So then all things were created in due order, that the one might support, seek for, and nourish the other. Thus the lliastei was divided into one domor^ of which there are two globules, an outer and an inner, each enclosed with two elements.
Beyond is nothing, so far as we know. Within is what we see, and touch, and what the light of nature suggests to as. He who created these things is not among us, but dwells without us. But He w^ho was begotten of Him is amongst us. Still we must not philosophise further concerning the four elements than Nature teaches and points the way for us.
TEXT V.
In the beginning the body of the four elements was Ibunded with that form and amplitude in which the heaven lies extended ; and it was made corruptible or perishable so far as the air surroiuids it.^ There was the throne
*6ut iKTw w^ roust anderstand wbai u tlie nature of tbe tx>dy of heaven. Earth, ik-ater, air have ea£h their peculiar bodies^ butt indeed, all the four bodies of the four elements are made of nQiUing. that is, they are made only by the Word of God. ThU notbliig, whence i& produced iomcthinc turns into substance and body, which bcrijy of all the four elements is di^tingukhed iriiu three %pect^t »o tliai the creative J^At resulted in a tripte body^ Thui the earth and the other cIctncntA arc all threefold. At the Mttie Lime, there is such a distinction between the elenienr« thai the fuur thiitg* are not one body. The air it one body^ the earth is another, the water a third. So also would be hea\xn if the»c four bad a like body, Hul the ei»nU ha^ three I'odiitt, and to also have wateff heaven, and Air* and yet a piece of wood iJ^one hoA^* a metal anotberi a stone anutlicr, a sponi;c aootber. So also the four ekmeius of UM]ie» are distinct and nepaiAtei as though ipOtneone vi ere lo take lead ;*rkd luakeof it miuluDi, Ceru*e, gla.cs. and spirit of Saturn. So thcitt these three specie* are dUtributed tnio four elemBcils^ a peculiar body i)cJii>i3 A»s)|iT»ed to each. Tu pfiy metre ey«ict attention to these nuroben, God Himself chose three, and oonstituted nil things out of three, and tefMurated all tJiree. For the orif in uf ilii*- number is tiituicdiately fr^tn Gud, llie ]fini.i|»le
204 The Hermetic and Alchemical Writings of Paracelsus,
of God and the centre of His Kingdonit from which centre the world was created, but so that it should be something mortal and perishable created by God* To rightly understand this you must know that from that centre the world arose and was made material. On this seat Christ hung from the cross ; on this seat sat the prophets ; it is the footstool of God. Here, therefore, material and corporeal things are made God, and His work^ the centre of His Kingdom, and His throne.
It should be known, then, at the outset, and before the philosophy itself is unfolded, that God has made the centre of His heaven, and even Himself, perishable. For as corporeally He is called the Son, so the world is His house. But although it be thus made and created, still we must believe that it will not perish as it was produced* Of man the heart will endure : of the world the flower will be permanenL
TEXT VL
As to the manner in which God created the world, take the following account. He originally reduced it to one body, while the elements were developing. This body He made up of three ingredients, Mercury, Sulphur, and Salt, so that these three should constitute one body. Of these three are composed all the things which are, or are produced, in the four elements. These three have io themselves the force and the power of all perishable things. In them lie hidden the mineral, day, night, heat, cold, the stone, the fruit, and ever}'thtng else, even while not yet formed. It is even as with wood which is thrown away and is only wood, yet in it are hidden all forms of animals, of plants, of instruments, which any one who can carve what else would be useless, invents and produces. So the body of Iliaster was a mere trunk, but in it lay hidden all herbs, waters, gems, minerals, stones, and chaos itself, which things the supreme Creator alone carv^ed and fashioned most
m the Desty being three. Nowr^ the word aL*o was threefold, and the word is the beginning of beav'eQ and earth and of all CTeatures- All things are synlhesijEcd in three, and there U nothing on earth which con^Uts not of and in three, and is reduced again into that three. On the one hand, then, it is evident thai each creature can he distributed into three, each in its place; butt on the other hand, ^hai they dogmaliie concerning the four things or elements^ to ibe effect that each thing constnts of four elements- that h fal^^e; each things however, contains in itself one complexion and not more, nor can it have any other dement than that which it receives from iu mother. For iniOance, cver>- herb has only one element— that is, of the earlb; every slonc has one element- that is, of the water^ But in addition to this it receives a complexion, frigid and humid, frigid and dryt warm and humid^ warm and dry» Yel that is not a whole clement, but the clement is the matrixt ai water or earth. For instancei nutn b taken from the slime of the earth; but the element U not itHme, it is qulntc5«ence. Yet it again becomes an eletnentt that Is^ it returns to the element with the duitinction which suJ^-siste between an elcmejit and flesh. Hence the elements only recur into three, and these three arc the prime matter of the elements. However, the fashion of the prime matter of water* earth, air, and heaven is diverse, for the number three cctistitutes otity three species in reality, which three make a perfect body^ and these same are found b)' art in all bodies of Nalor^. These three arc the lirst matter and have only one name. The first matter is as GlkI ; and as in the Deity there are three persons, so here eadi species is separate by itself as to its oflice, but the three offices are comprehended under the one name of the first matter* This first matter has been distributed by God among four parts or elements. Whatsoever resides in the first matter of the earth is being leparated or has been separated into earth. The case is the same with the other elements. So, everything has Icen ordained into its predestinated form, earth having been ordained to be earth, with its oince, and so of the rest. So all things consist of one body, and yet there are four bodies, and the four elements are all di^lributcd into four bodies, and are formed from one matter which ts in itself triple, ha'^-ing been originnlly formed out of the word. The three first things are three parts, namely, fire, salt, and ImJsam, All bodies conilht of thcsie three- all element* and all fruits thereof. EarUi b threefold in its body— fire, salt and balsam- while that which grows from it is similarly distributed into three s[>ecies. The body of a tree is fire, aaltt and balsam, and the things which arc generated from balcam are
Concerning the Generations of the Elements.
205
subtly, having removed and cast away all that was extraneous. First of all He produced and separated the air. This being formed, from the remainder issued forth the other three elements, fire, water, earth. From these He afterwards took away the fire, while the other two remained, and so on in due succession.
TEXT VII.
The four fields, therefore, having been in this way set apart and separated^ there remained also four storehouses for keeping the four elements, namely, the hot J the cold, the moist, the dr)% Each of these was far from being un- important. First the air was arranged ; afterguards the fire ; then the earth ; and, lastly, the water, in the following w^ay : From the air proceeded chaos, the throne, the chain, the foundation. From the fire, night and day, the sun and the moon. From the earth, trees and herbs, grasses and fruits. From the water, minerals and stones. Of these the succession was so arranged that from the superfluity w*as continually produced something else. For instance, from the Iliaster of the earth beech wood was extracted and the wood of apples removed. Each was disposed in its own place ; nothing being corrupted or intermixed. In water gold was separated from the rest of the metals, and afterwards the others also w^ere removed in turn. In the fire, the cold withdrew from the heat, the light from the darkness. In the air, chaos was set in order for preserving all things, and for separating earth from heaven. These four Iliastri having been created and arranged according to elements, that is, according to the matrices of their fruits, the air was prepared before all else ; then afterwards the fire. These two were linked together in union, Afterw^ards the earth, too, and the water, being separated from the two former, were joined in one. These are now conjoined Iliastri. The air is by itself, and the fire. In like manner, also, the earth and the water.
fire, ialt, and baUam. It U the same with ihaac fruits which bave waicr for their mAlrix. It i» Uie ume with h»v«n, of w)iich the fruits arc the sun, etc« It la in like manner with snow ajid rain. The art^ therefcrv, of Nature doe« not* tiian, te»ch u» bow to extract anything out of fruits except Sre* sait, atid bakam^ « hich al&o j^tt so separated frocn one KHOtber by (he force of fire that the fire, kaIi, and bals^un become icponte. Now, fife is also called sulpUiU' ; salt, balfn ; atid Uquor^ mercury. 1 1 is necessary, liov^e%«r, that we should have a clear idea what «n dement i». Now^ man lias a Ixu-ge body, containing many sul«tance.s. But that which b the man hinuelf^ {larocly, soul and spirit, b a small thing. The reason why the body i* called roan is becau!« the man remains hiddeii in the body. So also the cj'c is a coDiddcrable port in man. but the force which sees is vcr^' small in respect of the eye. tn likt manner, the earth is called an element, whereas it is a rude body, and its true element i^ hidden ihenin, invisibly, like tlie spirit in man. Il IS the same with the other dements, which are, indeed, oorporaj, but are yet spirits accordinfi to their nature and lubtttance. So oflen, then, as you bear that thb or that proceeds from an eletnent, under>tand that it proceeds from the element itself, and not from its body. In man the tongue speaks and does not speak, for the spirit speaks in it,
whote intimate permixtore and union with the body causes it to he thought that tlie body does everything
The odour of the boK tree is the spirit of the box tree ; what there U else is its body. The soul of mu^k is in its odour. In ooralt the colour is the spirit, Thus^ all fruits* like their demeni^ have spirit as wdl as body^ and the true fruil b not teen by th« eyes. V'et there is a certain dtHcrencc hctween the natural and the supernatural spirit, for the first b corporeal and material, subsisting in a corporeal body, but the second b altogether destitute of a body. The body of the natural spirit b clothed by Nature with another body of its own element- Jiut concerning heaven it b to be noted that God has given it the name of firinaincnt. Tlie firmatstent b the h«a\-en aiid its whole substance. Tbe Uiree other ekaikemt are included in the fimnamcnt. as the egg in iu shell, By the demonstration of the name which He has given to it Cod teaches that He has ciidowed the Brmament with xixi^tt^t tliat it may be as a sure shell, wherein all the creatures of Nature are Urmly contained. And, just as the yo!k rem^uns immovable in its plaae, whether the egg be put up or down, so b it with heaven. Wherever we dwdl, we live at a high level or a low, and can call oiifsdv«» dweUcfk 00 high or dwellers below. For a circle has neither summit nor base.->Z,iArr M*t*»rmm^ c. r.
2o6 The Hermetic and Alchemical Writings of Parcuelsus.
Thus it was that God made the material centre of His throne, and after- wards sundered it in three primal elements, from which constantly emerges everything that is born. Without these three, nothing in the four Iliastri can grow. But while they grow they are elements, and so, moreover, they lose their name of Iliastri and are called elements.
TEXT VIII.
These four elements were sundered into their own places and seats, so that none of them should be mixed. All these were removed, just as a sculptor when making a statue throws away what does not suit the intended image. So there are four elements, but only three primary ones ; three in the air, three in the fire, three in the earth, and three in the water. Every- where there is only a single triad of the primaries, that is, one Mercury in all, one Sulphur in all, one Salt in all. Yet they differ in their properties. Whatever is growing, herb, leaf, grass, or the like, was relegated to the earth. Whatever is mineral withdrew into the water. Whatever is warm, cold, day, night, betook itself to the fire. Whatever is air spread itself out over chaos. And all these three are one, each in itself. It is just as when a stone is divided into four parts, and out of one is made a statue, out of another a pitcher, out of a third some other kind of a vessel, and out of the fourth a milestone ; yet all are stones, nay, all one stone, though divided into four portions.
Of these Iliastri there are four, and no more ; these being sufficient. So God disposed the world in a quaternar}\ He was satisfied with this number, though He could have made eight parts. One portion of nutriment He conferred on the air, a second on the fire, a third on the earth, a fourth on the water. Nowhere was there any deficiency.
And now it is further necessary that in the course of our philosophising we should go on to treat of these four under the name of elements, to tell of their possibilities and performances, and to state m what they excel. We will begin with the air, and conclude our philosophy with the water, adding such explanations as the nature of insensible things requires.
TEXT IX. The element of the air was appointed for no other purpose than to be the abode of the other three, each to be conserved, as it were, within its close in the following way.* The air encloses in itself every mortal thing,
* The elements and all that exists are built upon the element of air, even as a house upon its foundations. We should philosophise, however, concerning that Which sustains the air. This power is situated in the exterior part of the air in which the Triune God dwells, so ruling and sustaining the air that it does not yield, nor is broken. For it is impossible that perishable thingii should fall into the sphere of the imperishable. Moreover, it cannot fall, because all things tend upwards, nothing downwards, nor is there any bottom or profundity. For the air is so compacted and con* firmed in its circle that it can no more be broken or dissolved than the external kingdom can perish till its time arrives, when it will collapse inward towards the centre, the air and stars rushing towards the globe of earth, and then the globe shall by them be so utterly consumed that not a single ash shall remain. For the manner of this destruction shall be such that nothing shall collapse outwardly from the circle, but all inwardly to the centre. And this is the highest secret of philosophy— that the circle rushes to the centre because there is no profundity outside. — AHms Libtr Primut MeUorum^ De Biemento Aerit,
Concerning the Generations of the Elements.
207
and shuts it off from what is immortali as a wall dhidcs a city from the fields. It strengthens the world and keeps it tog-ether, as a dam does a marsh. And just as there is nothing in an egg to one who looks at it from without, or outside the eggf» which agrees with what is inside, so the sky is a shell dividing heaven and earth, just as the egg-shell separates the ^^g, from what is outside it. The air, again, is like a skin in which is stored up a body, the whole world, to wit, and w^herein the earth is contained and pre- served. The air, then, is this sky, a skin, or egg-shell, or wall, or mound, beyond which nothing can burst through, and within which nothing can break in. Moreover the air is breath, from which all draw their life. This is truly air itself, and puts forth the air which nourishes the four elements, and at the same time sustains the life of man. Without it none could live- Without this no element could advance, no wind could blow, no rain or snow could fall, no sun could shine, no summer could flourish, no water could flow, no earth could sustain. All this force proceeds from the air, and is attracted by the four elements. For as the lungs ever)^ moment inhale air, so does the earth, while the water and the fire each do the very same thing. That is a palpable error which lays it down that winds are caused by the air. They burst in upon us like poison, not as a means of life. The first element brings air, but fire gives the winds.
TEXT X.
From this same element, too, flows forth a power by which fire is joined to the air, so that it may not fall down. Thus it is like a chain which, without materiality or visibility, holds together and binds. This it does by means of its chaos, which it inserts between the pellicle and the earth. There is also a middle space extending from heaven to earth, in which are balanced the fire, the earth, and the water. And as the chicken is sustained in the c&g" ^►y its albumen without touching the shell, so chaos sustains the globe and prevents it from tottering. This chaos is invisible, though it appears of a slight green tint. It is an intangible albumen, having the power and property of sustaining, so that the earth shall not fall from its position. As the chick in its albumen, so this globe of earth and water is balanced in the air. As a ship is borne up by the ocean^ so is this globe by the air. It is one vast and marvellous albumen which invisibly supports the globe of earth and water. It bears up even the firmament itself, which is placed in it as the seed of the cucumber is placed in its mucilage. And as every morsel of flesh lies in its own liquid, or the generating seed in the sperm, so the stars lie in this albumen, and move therein like a bird in its flight. In no other way are they borne up than in what is clear from the illustrations which are named. There is at least only this difference : that the chaos is unlike the albumen or the sperm, in that it is impalpable and extremely subtle. Otherwise, in all its powers and energies it corresponds exactly to those things which have been enumerated.
f
f I
208 The Hermetic and Alchemical Writings 0/ Paracelsus.
TEXT XI.
While discussing the powers of this element, it should, moreover, be pointed out that the air and its chaos and the sky exist in a round form which is inherent in them. No one can point out or distinguish what is above or what is below. Let us give an example. If it could be brought about that one should be shut up within an eggy it would be impossible to know which