Chapter 1

Preface

✦

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£apù est. vencrcL&Ulf HERMES

THE

HERMETICAL

TRIUMPH

O R,

The Victorious

0 0

Stone.

Treatise more compleat and more intel¬
ligible than any has been yet, concerning

The Hermetical Magistery.

Tranflated from the Frenc h.

To which is added.

The Ancient War of the Knights,

Tranflated from the German Original.

AS ALSO,

Some Annotations upon the moft mate-
rial Points, where the two Tranflations differ.

Done from a German Edition.
LONDON ,

Printed ; and Sold by P. H a n et, at the Sign of the Black-
Sj>read-Bagle% near SomerfetAloufe in the Strand , 1713.

■-C>-

I«.

*» *

READER.

EE ING not only the
bad Succefs moft Search¬
ers of the Hermetick Art
meet with, but that like-
wife great Numbers of them are
fallen into the greateft Abfurdi-
ties, as well in refpeft to their
Operations, as to the Matter they
work upon ; and often wilhing
to fee fome Remedy applied, to
recover thofe unhappy People from

A 3 their

vi To the Reader^

their Errors, it led me into a fe-
rious Confideration of the Caufe
thereof j and I found that it was
impoflible, thofe deluded Search¬
ers could dwindle away into the
abfurdeft Operations, if they did
not want a fufficient Theory of
this Art.

- - • r 1

Then meditating further, and
finding that the faid Theory (which
is the main Pillar and Foundati-
on to go upon) is not to be ac¬
quired but by the confiant Perufal
of good Books ; I at laft begun to
confider of thofe Authors, which
are Extant in the Englijb Tongue*
and found that there really too
few of them, and that it was chief¬
ly to be attributed to this Want*
that People labour fo much in vain*
and fo contrary to Nature.

: 1 *Ti$

To the Reader.'

Tis true, fome, who only look
upon the Number of Books, will
think there are Authors enough,
nay, too many Extant that have
written of the Hermetick Art in the
Englijb Tongue , but others who
have acquired fome Knowledge in
this Divine Science, and who know
to diftinguifli good Authors from
Sophifters, will eafily allow, that
there is a real Want of them -0 for
there are but few who wrote in
the Englijb Tongue, that may be
deemed as Matters, or at leaft by
whom a feeker of this myfterious
Art may be inftruded fo that, as .
to thofe fophiftical Authors who
have encreafed the Number of fuch
Books, and treated of an Art which
they did not know, nor under-
flood fo much as any Part there¬
of, the more numerous they are,

A 4 the

* *
Vll

vîii To the Reader^

the more pernicious they prove
to a Beginner who happens to read
them 5 for it is certain, that they
may eafily put him out of a right
Path, but can never lead him into
a true Way.

As for thofe that have been tran-
flated out of other Tongues, they
are but of little Ufe, when they
have been translated, rather to ferve
fome private View? than to be in-
fîruôive to thofe who Study this
Science ^ efpecially when they have
been tranilated by Perfons, who
had no Knowledge of the Terms
and Operations of Chymiftry j and
Ï do not Queftion, but it will be
affirmed by all thofe, who (under-
flan din g the German Tongue) have
read Bafil Valentine in his own
Native Language, that the Tran*
Dation of that Volume which con¬
tains

To the Reader.

tains his VViil and Teflament, &c.
differs widely from the Original «
nay, I believe I might eafily con¬
vince the Lovers of this Art, that
the fame is a bad Translation of a
bad Edition.

Concerning others, I will fay
nothing againft them, it not be¬
ing my Intention, to fearch for
the Faults of other Tranflators,
But finding from the aforefaid
Confiderations, that to get fome
good Authors tranflated, would be
the moft likely Means to furnifli
the Lovers and Studiers of this Sei*
cnee with a fufficient Theory, and
to make them to defift from their
unnatural Operations : I refolved
to undertake the Work, and fixed
upon the following Treatifes to be
the firft, that fhould appear in an
Jinglijh Drefs,

The

c To the Reader.

e *

The firft of thefe Treatifes wasr
written by a German Philosopher,
under the Title of. The Anci¬
ent War of the Knights,
and was not only at firft received,
as coming from a good Author,
and true Mafter, by all thofe who
had got any Knowledge in this
Science : But the faid Treatife did
likewife afterwards receive its San-

dion by the Second, being a Com¬
mentary, which another learned
Philofophcr has made thereupon
in French , who alfo after his in¬
fini clive learned Commentary has
added fix Keys, which for their
Piainnefs and ingenious Exprefii'oiis
give way to none, and are of the
create ft Ufe imaginable to a Studier
’of this A rt.

Thus the whole being an excel¬
lent Work, there is no doubt, but

thofe

To the' Reader.

thofe who apply themfclves to get
Knowledge by reading good Au¬
thors, will find infinite Benefit from
the perufal of it • and the faid
Treatife called, T H E Anc IENT
War of the Knights,
being wrote in the Garman Tongue,
I have been at the Pains and Ex-
pences to get an Original thereof,
that fo the Lovers of this Science
might likewife have a Tranflation
of the fame, and thus be able to
draw Water from the Spring it felf *
and alfo, that by comparing it with
the firft, they might fee and re&i-
fy fuch Partages as have fuffered by
a fécond Tranflation.

No Body will, I hope, objeft,
that the Style of this Work is not
according to the prefent Politenefs,
if he is fo kind as to confider that
it is not intended for a Grammar,

but

xii To the Reader.

but to inftrud People in the Her-
xnetick Science, which is for the
moft Part defcribed in fuch diffi¬
cult Terms, that the unhappy
Turn of one Word, may alter a
whole Sentence, to the infinite Pre¬
judice of a Tyro ; and that it is
therefore better to keep to the Au¬
thor’s Meaning in a lefs agreeable
Style, than to deviate from it, by
ufing politer Expreffions.

’Tis likewife for the fame Rea-
* fon, that where the German has a
Word or Sentence which might
bear a double Meaning or Signifi¬
cation, both of them have been gi¬
ven, as for Inftance : Where the
War of the Knights, at the End
pf this Book, tranflated from the
German Original, fays by Tditm. 1 9.
pag, 10. And if you two jbould mix

your f elves together, and were kept

To the Reader,

in the Fire~~ The Original fays in-

■ / ib'-k

Xllt

deed in the Fire , but becaufe the
Germans fpeaking of Chymical O-
perations, and mentioning Fire, of¬
ten mean Digeftion, which is per¬
formed by Fire -, therefore has bee»
added, [or in Digeftion ,3 that fo the
Reader might have both Meanings,
and choofe of the two which he
Ihould judge raoft proper.

I could eafily have added my
Opinion upon feveral Paflages in
this Work, as for Inftance, pag.

41. where mention is made of the

• » A

Stars of Venus and Diana, which
two Signs or Characters put toge¬
ther, produce that which lignifies
Mercury ^ for if the Character of
horned Diana [y~\, is placed upon
that of Venus [g"], it yields a Cha¬
racter in this Form 5. But I o-
mit it, left I Ihould be thought

pre-

xiv To the Reader.

prefumptuous in endeavouring t à
/; explain, what I own I am not Ma-
iter of.

Should this my well-intended
Labour meet with Approbation :
I’ll continue it with Pleafure : and

i , V

in Cafe the prefent Work Ihould
any ways be wanting in Exafti-
tude, I’ll ufe all Endeavours to
make amends in the next.

••• : . ï ■

THE

_____ _ _ _ *v9<* Ÿ

W§

THE

Of the Author of the

i > :, ", ; ..

COMMENTARY,

Tranflated from the French*

Advertisement.

■ V V , > - ,:' .

jSjSjg EEE is fuffcicntly perfitadedy that
there are already too many Books
which treat of the Hermetick Phi-
lofophy ; and that mlefs one would
write of this Science plain , without Equivoca¬
tion) and without Allegory , ( which none of the

Sages

xvi The PREFACE«

Sages will ever do,) it would be better to re*
main filent , than to fill the World with new
Works, which rather firve to clog the Spirit
[or Minds ] of thofi who apply themfelves to
penetrate into the Philofiphick. Myfieries, than
to put them in the true Way, which leads to
the defired End, to which they afpire , ’Th
for this Reafon that it has been thought, that
to interpret a good Author, who treats of this
fublime Philofephy with Solidity, would be more
ufeful to the Children of the Science, than feme
new Parabolical Production, adorned with feme
of the mofi ingenious Exprejjions, which tht
Adepts know to Frame when they treat of this
great Art, or rather, when they write only to
make known, to thofe that pojfefe the Magifie -
ry like themfelves, or to thofe that feei ^ it,
that they have had the good Fortune to arrive
to the Pojfejfion thereof Indeed mofi part of
the Philofephers which have wrote thereof, have
done it rather to Jpeakj>f the good Succefi where *
with God has blejfed their Work., than to give
the necefeary InfiruClion to thofe who give them «

The PREFACE. xvii

f elves to the Study of this facred Science . This
is fi true , that moß of them dont fo much
as make any Difficulty of owning fincerely^ that
that has been their chief View-» when thej
compofed their Bocks of that Matter*

The little Treat iß which bears the Title 3
The Antient War of the Knights,
has without any Corttradiblion defirved the uip-
probation of all the Sages [or wifi Men\ and
of thofi3 who have any Knowledge of the Her¬
metief Philofephy, It is written by Way of a
Dialogue , in a very plain and natural Style 3
which bears every Way the marks, of Truth ;

Tet notwithflanding its Plainnefs , it is not want¬
ing of Profundity , and to be fiolid in its Rea-
fining , as alfi convincing in its Proofs ; in fuck
a manner , that there is not one Word , but what
carries its Sentence , and on which there might
not be made a long Commentary „

This Work ^ was compofid in the German
Tongue by a true Philofopher 5 whofi Name is

(a) unknown*

xviii The PREFACE,

unknown. It appeared in Print at Leipzig?
in the Tear of our Lord 1604. Faber of
Montpellier tranflated it into Latin : And it'
was from this Latin [ 'Edition ] that, the French
7 ranfation was takeny which was Printed at
Paris by d’ Homy, and put at the End of
[the ßook^called~\ the French Turba, of the
Word left behind [verbum dirhiflfum] and of
Drebellius, which together make up one Vo¬
lume. But whether Faber did* not well m-
derfiand the German Tongue , or elfe did on
'* Purpôfe falfify the Original : So it is , that there
are in thefi two Tranflations corrupted Pa/fages •
which are fo manifeflly falfi, that they have
§ccaßonedy that many have contemned this litth
Work 9 although it Jeemed otherwife to bt
very much efeemed.

As Truth and FaVhood cannot dwell to.
gethër in One Subjett, and becaufe it wc.
eajy to judge that theje Tranßations wer
7iot done faithfully, a PhilojopiAr of, ex.
traor dinary Knowledge and Merit , di

The PREFACE. xix

for to fatisfy bis Curioßty in this Pointy *
give himfelf the Trouble , of feeling up¬
wards of ten Tears for to find the Ger«
man Original of this little Treat if e, and
having at laß found it , caus'd it to bo
exaiïly tranflated into Latin» This new
Tranfiation is taken from that Copy , and
done with all poßble Fidelity . The Good-
nefs of the Original may be feen here , by
the truth which evidently appears in divers
Places which have been reftored [to its for-,
jner Senfe j] which were not only alter'd ,
but quite changed , One may judge of this
by the Pajfage marked thirty-four , where
the firfl Tranfiation Jays , like the Latin
of Faber, Mercurium noftrum nemo af-
lequi poteft ♦, nifi ex mollibus o6to cor-
poribus neque ullum abfque altero pa-
rari poteft. No Body can attain to our
Mercury, otherways than out of the
eight foft Bodies, nor can the one be
prepared without the other. This Trea -
fife 7teeded no other Thing , to be defpifel

XX The PRE FA CE.

by thofe that have a fußcient Knowledge
of the beginning of the [Philofiophickf
iKorf in order to dißinguiß what is true ,
from that which is falfe : The learned ,
however , did eajily judge , that fuel? a capi¬
tal Fault as that could not come from cl
true Fhilofopher , who otherways gives
fufficiently to know that he has perfectly
anderßood the Magiftery : But there was
wanting a zealous learned Alan, for to
difeover the Truth , and one that was as
tap able as the aforefaid , to make fo great
a fearch for to find the Original of this
Work *, without which it was impoßble ta
re-eßabliß? the true Senfe thereof

The place juß nova mentioned 5 was not
the only one 9 that wanted to be amended „
If one takes the Pains to compare this
new Tranflation with the former , there
will appear a very great Difference , and
many material Corrections. The pajjage
thirty- five is not one of the leaf, ■ and

The PREFACE. xxï

ns this Tr anflation has been done from
the new [or laß] Latin Copy, without ever
looking upon that which was already print¬
ed in French, it has been apleafure to re¬
mark in courfe, all what was ?wt conform
to the fame .

The Words and entire Vhrafes , that have
been added in fome places in the prefent. ,
to make it join more natural , or to render
the Senfe more perfsS, are placed betwixt
two Crotches ( ), in order to diflinguifh
what is, and what is not in the Text , to
which the Author of this Tranflation has
kept himfelf extreamly clofe : By Reafon
that the leaf Addition , to a Matter of
this Nature, may make a confier able Al¬
teration [or Change] and Occaflon great
Errors,

The Beauty and the Solidity of this Trea¬
tise r did very well deferve the Fains
which have been taken to make a Commen-

* y ■

xxii The PREFACE.

*■ .

tary thereupon, to make it more intelligi¬
ble to the Children of the Art ^ [or Sci¬
ence^ becanfe it is a Treatife that may
fand them infiead of all others. And as
the Method of a Dialogue is the mofi pro¬
per for to explain , and for to make pal¬
pable the fublimefl Truths , it has been
made Ufe of here , and that with the more
Reafon , in that the Anther , tip on which
this Commentary has been made , has writ¬
ten in the fame manner , The Dialogue
of Eudoxe and Pyrophile, which explains
that [Dialogue] of the Stone, with Gold,
and with Mercury, unfolds the chiefefi
Difficulties by its f£ii eft ions, and by the
Anfwers which are made thereto about the
mofi material [or ejfential] Points of the
flermetick Philofophy .

The Cyphers which are on the Margin
of thefe two Dialogues , are to remark
the places which are alike in thefirfi Dia -
logue 5 and the fécond in which they are

explained*

The PREFACE. xxiit

explained. There is to be feen in this
Work an entire Conformity of Sentiments
with the firß Maßers of this Philojophy^
as well as with the moß learned that have
written in the latter A.ges ,* fo that there
may hardly be found a Treatife upon this
Matter , (how great foever the Number
thereof may be ,) which is clearer , and
more fincere than the prefent , and which
in Courfe coidd be more iifeful to Juchas
apply them] elves to Study this Science , and
who otherways have all the Qualifications
both of the Mind , and of the Body, which
our Philofophy requires of thofewho defirc
to make fome Progrefs therein .

The Commentary, will doubtlefs , be al¬
lowed tobefo much the better in that it is
jiot dijfiijedly, as almoß all Commen¬
taries are: That it does not touch up¬
on any other Places than thofe which may
be needful to be explained: and that it does
in no way deviate from the Subject -3 but

xxîv The PREFACE,

* *

as thefe fort of Writings are not fit for
thofe who have not yet gotten a Spark of
the fecret Fhilofophy , the clear efi fight ed
will 'eafily find , that it has been thought
better to skip fever al Things , which per¬
haps might have deferved an Interpreta¬
tion , than to explain generally all what
might yet caufe fome Difficulty to the young
Beginners in this great Art .

As the firfi of thefe Dialogues tells the
Vittory of the Stone, and the other ex¬
plains the Reafons , and Jhews the Founda¬
tion of its Triumph : It feemed that this