P R E F A C E

you will present them in conflict. For this reason, armed men are imagined to be born from the earth, who fall by mutual wounds—that is, they are finally fixed and buried in that earth. And if the small vessel were made of glass, or of flint without pores, the craftsman would be endangered by being struck by the odor. Therefore, Jason is imagined in the works of Ovid to have turned the flint of danger away from himself and toward his enemies. Thus far the Philosophers' Stone The legendary alchemical substance capable of turning base metals into gold and serving as an elixir of life. is perfected; it remains to lull the ever-watchful dragon to sleep—that is, to convert Quicksilver Mercury; in this context, the volatile metallic principle that must be "fixed" or stabilized. into gold or silver through its efficacy. When this succeeds, the victorious Jason carries away the Golden Fleece—that is, the Craftsman has attained this most precious art. But before this is done, they sacrifice to Hecate The goddess of magic and the underworld; here representing a specific stage of chemical transformation or purification. in the manner described by Orpheus, in which sacrifice a great mystery lies hidden. Furthermore, because this same Philosophers' Stone is also able to heal human bodies, and keep them healthy and unharmed even...
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