Now My Child Why Is Saturn Fluxible As Wax?
By reason of its abounding Sulphur, which is therein; for I find no
fluxibleness or fusibleness in any thing saving in Sulphur, Mercury
and Arsenick, and all these three are in Saturn; so that Saturn is
quickly fluxible, but all these three are cleansed with it from their
uncleanness. And do you not know, that the Philosophers call their Stone
Arsenick, and a white thing; and they say their Sulphur is
incombustible; th
y call it likewise a red thing, all this is Saturn,
in it is Arsenick; for Luna is principally generated of a white
Sulphur, as is plainly taught in the Book of Sulphurs, and all
Arsenick is internally red as Bloud, if its inward part be brought
outwards, as is demonstrated in the Book of Colours, &c. Saturn
stands almost in the degree of fix'd Luna. So that in it there is a
red Sulphur, as you see, when its internal is placed outwards, it will
be red as a Ruby; there are no Colours but in the Spirits, so that there
is in it a red and a yellow Sulphur. In it is Mercury, as may be seen,
for Mercury is extracted out of Saturn in a short time, and with
little labour.
So that all three are in Saturn, but they are not fix'd therein, but
they are clean, pure, incombustible, fluxible as Wax; in it are all
things which the Philosophers have mentioned. They say, our Stone is
made of a stinking menstruous thing: What think you, is not Saturn
digg'd out of a stinking Earth? for divers are killed with the ill Sents
and Vapours where Saturn is digg'd, or they live not long who labour
in that stinking black Mine, whence Saturn is digg'd. And the
Philosophers say, our Stone is of little value, being unprepared; they
say, the poor have it as well as the rich, and they say true; for there
are not poorer or more miserable people to be found than those which dig
and work Saturn in the Mine; and they say it is to be found in all
Towns and places, wheresoever you come Saturn is there. They say it is
a black thing: What think you, is it not black? They say, it is a dry
water, if Gold or Luna be to be refined upon the test, must it not be
done with Saturn? they must be wash'd and tried with it, as a foul
garment is made clean with Sope. They say, in our Stone are the four
Elements, and they say true; for the four Elements may be separated out
of Saturn. They say, our Stone consists of Soul, Spirit and Body, and
these three become one. They say true; when it is made fix'd for the
white Mercury and Sulphur with its Earth, then these three are one.
Whereby is to be observed, that the Philosophers have said true; they
concealed its Name for the ignorants sake, who are not their Children,
to keep them still in their Ignorance. Thus, my Child, the Ancients took
care to conceal the name of the Stone; now let us return to our purpose.
You have now Saturn wash'd and cleansed from all its impurity, and
made as white as Snow, fusible as Wax, but is it not fix'd yet; we will
make it fix the Mercury and Sulphur with its Earth.
Take a Glass-Vial, put half of your purified Saturn into it, reserve
the other half till you have occasion to use it; lay a polish'd Glass
upon the mouth of the Glass, set it in a Cuple with sifted Ashes upon a
Furnace; or set it on the Tripos of Secrets, or in the Furnace wherein
you calcine Spirits; give it Fire so hot as the heat of the Sun at
Midsummer, and no hotter, either a very little hotter, or a very
little cooler, as you can best hit it. But if you give it a greater
heat, such as you may keep Lead in flux, then your Matter would melt as
if it were Oil; and having stood so, ten or twelve days, its Sulphur
would fly away, and your Matter would all be spoiled, for the Sulphur
which is in your Matter is not yet fix'd, but is in the external.
Wherefore the Matter melts presently, and though it be clean, yet it is
not fix'd; wherefore give so gentle a fire to it, that it may not flux;
so keep it six weeks, then take out a little of it, lay it on a glowing
hot Plate, if it immediately melts and fumes, it is not yet fixed, but
if the Matter remain unmelted, the Sulphur is then fix'd which is
therein; then strengthen the Fire notably, till the Matter in the Glass
begins to look yellow, and continually more and more yellow, like to
powdered Saffron, then augment the fire yet stronger, till the Matter
begin to be red, then prosecute your Fire from one degree to another,
even as the Powder becomes redder and redder by degrees, so hold on your
Fire, till the Matter be red as a Ruby, then augment the Fire yet more,
that the Matter may be glowing hot, then is it fixt, and ready to pour
the curious Water of Paradise upon it.
My Child must know, that there are two ways of pouring on the Water of
Paradise; I will teach you to make and prepare both, then may you take
which you will; for the one is half as good again as the other.
My Child, you may remember, that I ordered you to reserve the one half
of the purified Saturn, which take and put into a Stone-pot, pour upon
it a bottle or more of distilled Wine-Vinegar, set a head on, distil the
Vinegar again from it in a Bath, the head must have a hole at the top
to pour fresh Vinegar upon the Matter, and abstract the Vinegar again
from it, pour fresh Vinegar again on, and again abstract it, this
pouring on, and abstracting or distilling off must continue so long,
till the Vinegar be drawn off as strong as it was when it was put in,
then is it enough, and the Matter hath in it as much of the Spirit of
Vinegar as it can contain; then take the Pot out of the Bath, take off
the head, and take the Matter out, and put it into a thick glass which
can endure the Fire, set a head on it, put it in a Cuple with Ashes,
which set on a Furnace, first make a small Fire, and so continually a
little stronger, till your Matter come over as red as Bloud, thick as
Oil, and sweet as Sugar, with a Celestial Sent, then keep it in that
heat so long as it distils, and when it begins to slack, then increase
your Fire till the Glass begin to glow; continu this heat till no more
will distil, then let it cool of it self, take the Receiver off, stop it
very close with Wax, take the Matter out of the Glass, beat it to powder
in an Iron Mortar, with a steel Pestle; and then grind it on a Stone
with good distilled Vinegar, put this Matter so ground into a Pot, poure
good distilled Vinegar upon it, that two parts be full, set the Pot into
a Bath with a head upon it, distil the Vinegar off, poure fresh Vinegar
again upon it, distil it off again: thus do so long, that the Vinegar be
as strong as it was when it was first poured upon it, then let it cool,
take the Matter out of the Bath, take the head off, take the Matter out
of the Pot, put it into a stronger round Glass which can endure the
Fire, as you did before, set it upon a Furnace in a Cuple with sifted
Ashes, set a head on, and a Receiver luted to it, then distil it, first
with a small fire, which augment by degrees, till a Matter come over red
as Bloud, and thick as Oyl, as aforesaid; give it fire till no more will
distil, then let it cool of it self, take off the head, break the
glass-pot, and take the Matter out, powder it again, and grind it on a
Stone with distilled Vinegar, put it again into the Stone pot, poure
fresh Vinegar upon it, set it into the Bath, and its head on, distil the
Vinegar from it, poure it on again as hath been taught, till the Vinegar
remain strong as it was.
Reiterate this distillation in the Bath until the Matter hath no more
Spirit of the Vinegar in it, then take it out, set it in a glass-pot,
distil all that will distil forth in ashes, till the Matter become a red
Oil, then have you the most noble water of Paradise, to pour upon all
fix'd stones, to perfect the Stone; this is one way. This water of
Paradise thus distilled, the Ancients called their sharp clear Vinegar,
for they conceal its name.
My Child, I will now teach you other ways to make the Water of Paradise;
this is an easie way, but not so good, nor doth it that high projection
in humane Medicines, yet it cures all Diseases within and without, but
the other cures miraculously in a short time.
The second way of preparing the Water of Paradise.
My Child, if you would make it after this manner, you must take the half
of your prepared Saturn which I ordered you to keep, upon which poure
the half of your fix'd and prepared Water of Paradise, take the half,
put it into a Stone-pot, poure weak Wine Vinegar upon it, mix it well
together, then take two pounds of calcined Tartar, which is well
clarified by solution and coagulation, so that it leave no more Faeces
behind it, Salt Armoniac one pound, which is likewise so clearly
sublimed, that no Faeces remain after its sublimation, pound both
together to a Powder, put them speedily into a pot, and stop it close
immediately, or else it will run out; for so soon as the Tartar and
Salt Armoniac come to the Vinegar, they lift themselves up, and would
immediately run out of the mouth of the pot, wherefore stop the pot
presently, set the pot in a Vessel of Water, they will cool speedily,
otherwise if the cold and hot Matter should come together suddenly, they
would contest together, rise up, and become so hot, that the pot would
break for heat, if it were not set in cold Water; therefore take heed,
when you put the powders in, that you stop it immediately, and set it in
cold Water before you put the other Powder to it, then will they unite,
let them stand a day and a night in that Vessel, then take them out, set
them into a lukewarm Bath two days and nights, let it cool of it self,
take the Stopple off from the pot, and set a head on, set the pot in
sifted Ashes, upon a Furnace, distil with a small fire, and continually
greater till all the Vinegar be over, then augment your Fire notably,
till you see quick Mercury drop out of the Pipe, when it ceases to
drop, then augment the Fire by little and little and drive it so long as
it drops; you may observe when it will leave dropping, if in the space
of one or two Pater-nosters one drop doth fall, then augment the Fire
till the pot glow at the bottom, for twelve hours and when the Mercury
is over, then should the Salt Armoniac sublime up into the head, and
the Tartar remain with the Body of Saturn at the bottom of the Pot,
which take out, put it into a Linnen Bag, hang it in a moist Cellar,
the Tartar will dissolve, receive it in a Glass, the body of Saturn
remains in the Bag, take it out, and calcine it in a reverberating
Furnace three days and nights, with a great heat, as is taught
elsewhere, then extract the Salt out, as is taught in the Mineral Book.
You may make projection with the Salt, and coagulate your Tartar
again, it will be as good or better than it was, likewise take your
Salt Armoniac out of the Head, it is good again, and if you could have
no Salt Armoniac, then take three pound of calcined Tartar, likewise
so clarified, that it leave no Faeces behind, you then need no Salt
Armoniac, therewith may you likewise extract the Mercury out of
Luna and Jupiter, wherewith you may do wonders, as is taught in the
Miner. Book, where is spoken of the Quintessence of Metals.
Now my Child must know, that this Mercury or Quintessence of Saturn
is as good in all works as the Mercury of Sol, they are both alike
good, and herein all Philosophers agree. My Child, take this Mercury
of Saturn, so drawn out of the Receiver, put it into a Glass Box.
I have now taught you to make two sorts of the Water of Paradise; and
know, my Child, that the first way is the best; though it be made with
some danger, longer time, and more charge; for the Vinegar is all good,
yet the red Oil is the best; its time is alike unto the end, and though
it be more tedious before you obtain the red Oil, yet it fixes it self
in a short time, if it come to the Matter or fix'd Stone, into a simple
Essence in greater redness; but when the Mercury comes to the fix'd
stone, it holds on a long time in ascending and descending before it
die, and when it is quite dead, it makes the red fix'd Stone again into
a fixt colour, so covering the red stone with its coldness, that the red
stone becomes white again, then must you boil it again gently with a
small Fire, till it begin to be yellow, prosecuting the Fire from one
degree to another, as the Colour is higher and stronger, and that so
long till it attain to a perfect redness, which requires a long time
before it be done, which is not requisite in the red Oil; for the red
Oil dies or coagulates forthwith the stone, the one fixing it self with
the other into a simple Essence, in a short time. Therefore I tell
thee, my Child, that the time of the Oyl is alike long in the end,
though it appear to be of a shorter time with the Mercury, but it is
equally long at the end of the Work, therefore I tell you the Art of
both Works, that you may the better understand the Art to make the Oyl
from the innermost Nature of the Stone, which is found afterwards.
The Oyl was unknown to the Ancients, for my Grandfather with his
Companions found it with great labour and length of time.
So there are two ways to dissolve the Stone, and to poure upon it the
clear water of Paradise. Our Ancestors called the Oyl their sharp
Vinegar; therefore, my Child, keep the Name private, and I will teach
you first of all how you shall join the Mercury to your Stone, which
you extracted out of Saturn, to dissolve it; afterwards I will teach
you to bring over the helm that red Oil which you extracted out of your
prepared Saturn, into a fixt stone, to dissolve your stone.
My Child, weigh your fixt stone, take half as much of your Mercury,
poure it upon the stone in the Glass, cover the Glass again with a
polish'd Glass which may just fit it, set it in a Cuple with sifted
Ashes, make a small Fire like the Suns heat at Midsummer, and give no
more Fire to it, until the Water of Paradise or Mercury become all a
dead Powder. And know, my Child, that the red or fixt Stone, which
before was darkned, when it hath drunk up the Water of Paradise, or
Mercury, or how you will call it, that it be a Powder between black
and gray, then augment the Fire from one degree to another, till the
Matter be perfect white, and when it is white, strengthen the Fire yet
more, from one degree to another, till it be of a dark yellow Colour,
then make it yet stronger, till it be of a perfect red; then rejoice,
for your Stone is perfect, and fluxible as Wax. Praise God, who gives
unto us part of his Miracles; and do good to the poor; you may see it
with your fleshly Eyes, and use Gods goodness miraculously in this
corrupt Life, for I tell you in good Charity, that if any one
principally attain to this Stone, that it is given, afforded, and lent
him from God. Whosoever hath this Stone, may live in a healthful state,
to the last term of his Life, appointed him by God, and may have all
whatsoever he desires on Earth.
He shall be loved and esteemed of all people, for he can cure them all
internally and externally of all Diseases which may befall them; but if
the Stone doth not so, it is false, and deserves not the name of the
Vegetable Stone, or Philosophers Stone.
Therefore my Child, if God give you this Stone, look diligently to it,
that you keep your self from offending God, that you make not this Stone
on earth to be your Heaven; govern and rule your self to Gods glory and
to the comfort of poor people, that Gods praise may be augmented, to the
defence of the Christian Religion, and to the relief of poor exiled
Christians I tell you, my Child, if you use it otherwise, God will
leave you here a little while to your own Will, but afterwards he will
speedily send a punishment, either you shall be struck dead, or die by a
Fall; or die some other sudden death, and go Body and Soul to Hell, and
be damned eternally, for your Ingratitude to God, who so graciously
vouchsafed you so precious and great a Gift.
Therefore, my Child, look carefully to it, so to govern your self to
Gods Glory, and the Salvation of your Soul, that the eternal Curse may
not fall upon you; and therefore I have left you this Writing as my
Testament. Enough hath been said to the wise, therefore look to your
self.