Atalanta Fleeing

Lullius in the same place: the wind carries it in its belly, that is, sulfur is carried in quicksilver.

And Chapter 47. The Stone is fire carried in the belly of the air.

Hermes, that most diligent investigator of every natural secret, in his Emerald Tablet original: "tabula sua smaragdina." The Emerald Tablet is a foundational text of Hermeticism and alchemy, legendary for containing the secret of the "Prima Materia" or first matter. graphically, though succinctly, describes the work of nature, where among other things he says: The wind has carried him in his belly, as if he were to say: He, whose father is the Sun and whose mother is the Moon, before he is brought forth into the light, will be carried by windy vapors, just as a bird is carried by the air while it flies. From these vapors or winds (which are nothing other than air in motion), coagulated water is made; and from this water, when mixed with earth, all minerals and metals arise. Indeed, these very things are determined to consist of and be immediately coagulated from vapors. Whether, therefore, it is placed in water or in vapor, the matter comes to the same result, because both are the material of the wind.

The same must be said of minerals and metals, though more remotely. It is asked, however: who is he who must be carried by the wind? I answer, chemically, it is sulfur, which is carried in quicksilver original: "argento vivo," literally "living silver" or mercury., as Lullius Refers to Ramon Llull (c. 1232–1316), a Majorcan philosopher and polymath to whom many alchemical works were later attributed. witnesses in The Codicil, chapter 32, and all others as well. Physically, it is the fetus that must soon be born into the light. I say also Arithmetically, it is the cube root; Musically, it is the double-octave original: "Disdiapason." A musical interval spanning two octaves, representing a perfect harmonic system.; Geometrically, it is the point, the beginning of a flowing line; Astronomically, the center of the planets Saturn, Jupiter, and Mars. Though these are diverse subjects, yet if they are well compared with one another, they will easily demonstrate the "fetus of the wind," which must be left to the greater or lesser industry of each reader.

But let me point out the matter more clearly: Every Mercury In alchemy, Mercury represents the principle of volatility, fluidity, and transformation. is composed of vapors; that is, from water lifting the earth with it into an aerial rarity, and from earth forcing the air to return into a "watery earth" or "earthy water." Since the Elements are in it through all things, both mixed and crushed together into a certain viscous nature, they do not easily recede from one another. Instead, either the volatiles Substances that easily vaporize or evaporate. follow upwards, or they remain below with the fixed Substances that remain stable and do not change state when heated. parts. The first of these appears in common Mercury, the other in the Philosophical [Mercury] and fixed metals. In the latter, the fixed elements predominate over the volatiles; in the former, the volatiles over the fixed.

Truly, it is not without cause that Mercury is said and held to be the messenger, interpreter, and, as it were, the intermediate running servant of the other gods, with wings adapted to his head and feet. For he is windy and flies through the air like the wind itself, as is proven original: "convincitur," completed from the catchword on the following page. in common experience, to the loss of many...