Natural Philosophy of Three Ancient Philosophers: Artephius, Flamel, and Synesius

...resolved in our water. Dissolve therefore the bodies in the golden water eau dorée: a potent alchemical solvent, likely a specialized acid or "spirit" used to break down metals, boil them until, by the force and virtue of the water, the entire tincture comes out in a white color, or as a white oil. And when you see this whiteness upon the water, know that then the bodies are liquefied; continue your decoction still further until they bring forth the cloud which they have already conceived—dark, black, and white.

You shall then place the perfect bodies in our water, in a vessel sealed Hermetically Hermetiquement: an airtight seal, named after Hermes Trismegistus, symbolizing a closed system where no spirit can escape which you shall keep over a gentle fire, until everything is resolved into a most precious oil. Cook (says Adfar Adfar: an early Arabic alchemist, often cited as the teacher of Morienus) with a gentle fire, as if for the nourishment and birth of chicks from eggs, and until the bodies are dissolved, and their tincture (note well) which shall be most lovingly joined together, comes forth entirely. For it does not come out, nor is it extracted all at once, but only little by little, every day, every hour, until after a long time this dissolution is entirely completed; and that which is dissolved instantly rises upon the water.

In this solution, the fire must be slow, gentle, and continuous, until the bodies are turned into viscous, impalpable water, and all the tincture comes out at the beginning in a black color—which is the sign of true dissolution—and then afterwards, through long decoction, it becomes white and permanent water. For by governing it in its bath, it afterwards becomes clear, finally becoming like common quicksilver, rising into the air upon the first water.

And therefore, when you see the bodies dissolved into viscous water, know that they are then converted into vapor, and that you have the souls separated from your dead bodies, and that they are, through sublimation sublimation: the process of refining a substance by heating it into vapor and then condensing it, representing the spiritualization of matter, placed into the order and state of spirits. Thereby both bodies, with a portion of our water, are made flying spirits rising into the air; and the body composed of the male and the female, of the Sun Soleil: Alchemical gold and the Moon Lune: Alchemical silver, and of this most subtle nature, cleansed by sublimation, takes life and is inspired by its humor—that is to say, by its water—just as man is by the air. This is why from now on it multiplies and grows in its kind, like all other things in the world.

And in such an elevation and philosophical sublimation sublimation philoſophique: a process of spiritual purification rather than just physical chemistry, they all join with one another, and the new body, inspired by the air, lives vegetatively, which is miraculous. Therefore, if the bodies are not refined by water and fire to this point—so that they can rise like spirits, and until they are made like water, smoke, or Mercury Mercure: here referring to the philosophical principle of fluidity and transformation—one achieves nothing in the art.

However, as they rise like spirits, they are born in the air and change into air, becoming life with life, so that they can never again be separated, just as water mixed with water. And therefore it is said that the stone pierre: the Philosopher's Stone, the perfected end-product of the Great Work is wisely born in the air, because it is entirely spiritual. For this flying Vulture Vautour volant: an alchemical symbol for the volatile or spiritualized substance that "eats" the fixed body without wings cries out upon the mountain, saying: "I am the white out of the black, and the red out of the white, and the yellow child of the red; I speak the truth, and I lie not."