Of the Praxis, and making of the Stone, or Tincture by Art. T
hrough all these foregoing Chapters, our discourse of things hath been scattered by way of examples, that the Praxis might be the more easily understood, which must be done by imitating Nature after this manner——
Take of our earth, through eleven degrees, eleven graines, of our Gold, and not of the vulgar one grain, of our Lune, not the vulgar, two grains: but be thou well advised, that thou takest not common Gold, and Silver, for these are dead, take ours which are living: then put them into our fire, and let there be made of them a dry liquor; first of all the earth wil be resolved into water, which is called the Mercury of Philoso[Pg 31]phers; and that water shall resolve those bodies of Gold, and Silver, and shal consume them so, that there shall remain but the tenth part with one part; and this shall be the radicall moisture of Metalls. Then take water of salt-nitre, which comes from our earth, in which there is a river of living water, if thou diggest the pit knee deep, therefore take water out of that, but take that, which is cleer; upon this, put that radicall moisture; and set it over the fire of putrefaction, and generation, not on such a one as thou didst in the first operation: govern all things with a great deale of discretion, untill colours appear like a Peacocks tail; govern it by digesting it, and be not weary, untill these colours be ended, and there appear throughout the whole one green colour, and so of the rest; and when thou shalt see in the bottome ashes of a fiery colour, and the water almost red, open the vessel, dip in a pen, and smeare some Iron with it, if it tinge, have in readinesse that water, which afterwards I shall speak of, and put in so much of that water as the cold aire was, which went in, boil it again with the former fire, untill it tinge again. So far reached my experience, I can doe no more, I found out no more. Now that water must be the menstruum of the world, out of the sphere of the Moon, so often rectified, untill it can calcine Gold: I have been willing here to discover to thee all things; and if thou shalt understand my meaning sometimes, and not the letter, I have revealed all things; especially in the first, and second work. Now it remains that we speak next of the fire. The first fire, or of the first operation is a fire of one degree, continuall, which goes round the matter; the second is a naturall fire, which digests, and[Pg 32] fixeth the matter: I tell thee truely that I have opened to thee the governance, or rules of the fire, if thou understandest Nature: The vessell remains yet to be spoken of. It must be the vessel of Nature, and two are sufficient; the vessell of the first work must be round; but in the second a glasse, a little lesse like unto a viall, or an egge. But in all these know, that the fire of Nature is but one, and if it works variously, it is by reason of the difference of places. The vessell therefore of Nature is but one; but wee for brevities sake use a couple: the matter is one, but out of two substances. If therefore thou wilt give thy mind to make things, consider first things that are already made; if thou canst not reach, or understand things presented to thy eyes, much lesse things that are to be made, and which thou desirest to make. For know that thou canst create nothing, for that is proper to God alone, but to make things, that are not perceived, but lye hid in the shadow, to appear, and to take from them their vaile, is granted to an intelligent Philosopher by God through Nature. Consider, I beseech thee, the simple water of a cloud: who would ever beleeve that that contains in it selfe all things in the world, hard Stones, Salts, Aire, Earth, Fire, when as yet of it selfe it seems to be simple? What shall I say of the Earth, which contains in it Water, Fire, Salts, Aire, and of it self seems to be but meer earth? O wonderfull Nature, which knows how to produce wonderfull fruits out of Water in the earth, and from the Aire to give them life. All these are done, and the eyes of the vulgar doe not see them; but the eyes of the understanding, and imagination perceive them, and that with a true sight. The[Pg 33] eyes of the wise look upon Nature otherwise, then the eyes of common men. As for example, the eyes of the vulgar see that the sun is hot; but the eyes of Philosophers on the contrary see it rather to bee cold, but its motion to be hot. The acts and effects of it are understood through the distance of places. The fire of Nature is one and the same with it: for as, the Sun is the Center amongst the spheres of the Planets; and out of this Center of the heaven it scatters its heat downward by its motion; so in the Center of the earth is the sun of the earth, which by its perpetuall motion sends its heat, or beams upward to the superficies of the earth. That intrinsecall heat is far more efficacious then this Elementary............