ON MERCURY.

[...similar] place. For so it happens: if the seed original: "sperma." In this context, it refers to the primal, formative substance of all matter, a "blueprint" rather than a biological fluid. enters the center, that which was destined to be born from it is born; but once it has already arrived in a location and "conceived" In alchemical terms, "conception" occurs when the universal seed is fixed into a specific mineral or botanical path by the conditions of the earth., it no longer changes its form. Yet, while that seed is still in the center, a tree can be produced from it just as easily as a metal, or a herb as quickly as a stone; and one thing becomes more precious than another according to the purity of the location.

But we must now describe how the Elements The four classical elements: Earth, Air, Fire, and Water. generate this seed, and it happens in this way: there are four Elements; two are heavy and two are light, two are dry and two are moist. However, one is most dry and another most moist; they are masculine and feminine, and so on. Each of these is, by its own nature, most ready to produce things similar to itself within its own sphere—for so the Most High original: "Altissimus." Referring to God as the divine architect of these natural laws. willed it.

These four Elements never rest, but are always acting upon one another, and each one by itself emits its own "subtle" Refers to the refined, vaporous, or spiritual essence of the element. substance, and these all meet in the center. In the center, however, is the Archaeus original: "Archaeus, Naturae servus." In the philosophy of Paracelsus and his followers, the Archaeus is the "master of the house" or the internal vital force that directs the digestion and transformation of matter as the "servant of Nature.", the servant of Nature, who mixes those seeds together and casts them outward. How this actually occurs can be seen more fully in the Epilogue of these twelve Treatises original: "Tractatuum." This confirms the text is part of a larger collection of twelve alchemical essays, likely those of Michael Sendivogius..