PREFACE

...and you said to them: "Since the day is drawing to a close—a time I must use to prove my obedience—know, my Sages, that I have set no fixed time for gathering my memories, nor do I need such a thing, as I have no use for it. However, considering that today is the first day of the week, and tomorrow is the Lord's Day—the seventh day, on which He completed all things and rested—it seemed fitting to me to distribute and organize my Knowledge Scientia; here referring to the deep, alchemical understanding of nature's secrets according to the days of the week. I shall begin on the coming Monday—which is the sixth day of the week by mortal custom (for before God all things are eternal and present). Thus for us, as fleeting beings, the first day is considered the last; if I were to count backward starting from Saturday The day of Saturn to complete the whole week, I would need forty-two days, which would surely cause boredom in many because of the great length of time. Therefore, I will instead recount everything briefly.

I, Mercurius, was raised from my earliest years in a secluded Hermetic School A school dedicated to the mystical and alchemical arts of Hermes Trismegistus by my Father. Though I was steeped in those teachings, my restless spirit was not satisfied. I longed to understand the entire Sacred Art, or the Tree of Life, and to experience it fully. I refused to set my hands to the work until I understood it thoroughly, from head to heel original: "à capite ad calcem", a Latin idiom for "completely". Furthermore, I had determined in my mind that through the verification of truth, one could reach the ultimate end without the help of external instruction. I began to categorize all creatures: first the external and corporeal ones, and then the internal, spiritual, and body-forming original: "corporificantes," referring to the vital forces that organize matter into living forms ones. I then brought these parts back together into a single Whole. I found I could not subdivide or truly know the corporeal things without joining them to their spiritual, body-forming counterparts. I looked upon them with a fresh perspective, placing them all in their proper order as I saw fit. In this, I was free from the biased, false, and stubborn opinions of the Heathens, for I never attended the Universities original: "Academias", as is quite evident from my unrefined style. Nevertheless, take careful note: I utter no useless word; every word signifies something and belongs to the whole.

My spirit could find no joy or interest in temporary and fleeting things. I constantly thirsted and gasped for things that are perfect and eternal. From the necessary but momentary created things, I looked up toward myself, and from there toward God, who created Heaven and Earth together—a concept that profane philosophers cannot grasp. Those who desire to reach this state must worship God through firm Faith, with humble Hope, and in true Love. Only then will they attain a perfect knowledge of themselves and of all other creatures—knowledge of them before their beginning, in their Being or essence, and after their Transmutation, which I shall speak of more broadly and clearly.