Alchemy

Heated together in his "Physic" original: Physico. Likely referring to a "natural" vessel or a specific type of alchemical furnace described by Paracelsus..

...at the faint heat of the ashes, and let it putrefy; however, at regular intervals, you must still add nine parts of glutenoriginal: glutine. In alchemy, this refers to a binding "glue" or a sticky, cohesive substance that unites the different parts of the matter., unless perhaps Paracelsus departed from the rule here as well. Because this "gluten" is something astral, he poured it all in at once so that he would not need to open the glass multiple times. When the substances have remained thus coupled in putrefaction for their allotted month—which must necessarily be shorter than the "month" described by the ancients, for astral things act more swiftly—the blackness will appear; or, as he says, it will turn out blacker than a raven with a wonderful appearance of colors.

Gluten consists of white and red things, and it is impossible for the body of Gold to be dissolved otherwise in this art.

Know that in this blackness, whiteness is hidden. Therefore, separate the elements now, and bury the "black earth" in another glass; unless here again he disagrees with the ancients and commits that separation to nature alone without manual operation. He allows them to act upon one another so that dryness now overcomes moisture, and gradually fixesFixation is the process of making a volatile substance stable under heat. something of it. He does this despite the fear of the ancients, who believed that an infant is more likely to be suffocated by too much food than nourished by it; because Paracelsian things are "astral," no such thing can happen to them. Nourish the buried matter gradually, or, if another way pleases you, let the dragon devour its own tailA reference to the Ouroboros, symbolizing the circular process where a substance acts upon itself to achieve purity. and kill itself for a while without increasing the heat, until the moisture is changed into dryness and the blackness into whiteness. This whiteness must be further cherished with a larger fire—namely of the second degree—so that it is gradually fixed and becomes accustomed to the fire. Thus it will turn out silvery and whiter than a swan, but in such a way that meanwhile the "peacock's tail" is also seen, namely an iris with a wonderful variety of colors. If you were to take the matter out now, you would have white roses, or the "stone for the white." After the whiteness, by increasing the fire to the beginning of the third degree, a yellowness will emerge, which will gradually be followed by a redness, ending in a purple of a bright ruby. The fire at the third degree and higher will fully fix this, and through proper circulationRefining a liquid by continuous distillation and condensation in a closed vessel., you will adorn it with the highest transmutatory power.

See that you understand these things.

In the book On Long Life, this practice appears: Reduce the mercury through elevation until it goes into a fixed crystal. Then digest it through resolution and coagulation, and join it with gold so that it becomes its own ferment. Then act according to the prescription of Hermes until the end of the stone. Such is the Paracelsian way.

It should also be known that the ancients, such as Arnold, mentioned the calxThe powdery residue left after a metal is heated or "burned" in air. of bodies, or the tincture, and sometimes did not join both bodies; but they also suggest in their experiments that this path is not sufficiently safe or secure. Among those same authors, you may find that the stone produced after the first operation can perform tincturingThe act of transforming a base metal into gold or silver.; and it is not absurd, if you do not proceed to the second operation, to instead move immediately to the fixation which Paracelsus teaches by a clever management of the fire.

Paracelsus favors a "viler" [shorter] stone than the ancients, based on the evidence of the matter.

But it is to be feared—as the ancients experienced—that at first, it might not only fail to tincture well, but also be impossible to multiply. Furthermore, the solar power may fade away unless a smaller amount of "water" is used. Therefore, fermentationIn alchemy, adding a small amount of gold or silver to "ripen" or "direct" the elixir. was invented later for no other reason than this: because the stone generated at the beginning and increased by the second operation was weakened by an excessive mercury-like quantity. Thus its power was destroyed and could not raise itself up again unless an effective ferment was added once more, like a soul. But Paracelsus, despising the fear of the ancients, takes up that which they had not indeed rejected, but had preferred to spend more time on something certain and more fruitful, rather than consuming even a short time on something uncertain, deceptive, and not so fertile. Certainly, if he had followed the process of the ancients, he would not have died in poverty.

Now, it is read that someone made gold and silver, but he saw little of it, and he saw the end of his stone (if indeed he made it himself and did not receive it from elsewhere, as well as the method of making it)—an end which the ancients keep far away from those who act correctly. It is therefore more advisable for this reason to follow them.

The "Lesser Work" of Thomas.

This also comes to mind: what Thomas Aquinas wrote to Brother Reginald, where he orders him to abstain from the "Greater Work" because of the excessive time and long-term care it requires. But nonetheless, he promises him "mountains of gold" from another work which he prescribes to him. By what other name would you call this except the "Lesser Work"? It seems, therefore, that Paracelsus seized upon this and claimed the invention for himself; it is well known that he suffered from this disease of vanity. Nevertheless, in the discipline of Reginald, there are also three operations, for which Thomas gives the reason: the more the medicine is digestedSubjected to gentle, consistent heat., the more subtle, penetrating, and tincturing it becomes. Unless he described both the greater and lesser works at once, but indicated by word of mouth how one might reach the end—though not so profitably—through a single operation. I suspect this is true, as Philosophers tend to be quite crafty in this business. Above, we reviewed several "lesser works." It is possible that by a similarity of words, something is denoted that can be perfected in a few days. But I will say more about Thomas in the explanatory model. Now I shall return to the subject.

It was said above that the ferment is twofold: gold for the red tincture, and silver for the white. There is disagreement among craftsmen about its quantity as well as its quality, since some take only these bodies in a highly purified state, while others take their essences or tinctures. From this, however, we have sought a reconciliation: namely, that those who prescribe a smaller weight should be understood as referring to extracted essences, and the others to whole purified bodies. Let us practice what is easier: take an equal weight of the purest silver for the part of the Elixir which we wish to turn into the white tincture, and an equal weight of pure gold for the other part of the red tincture. The method of joining them is either to melt and fuse the ferment at the fire and afterward mix in the Elixir, stirring it well with a small rod in the crucible until they are united in every tiny part; and once united, let them be thoroughly roasted. Or, by making a common amalgamA blend of a metal with mercury.—of gold with fire, of silver without fire—and then mixing them exactly. But there is this difference: here the "philosophical water" is added immediately, whereas there it is not; but after the mixing, the amalgam must first be made. In both cases, let there be one part of the fixed and three parts of the non-fixed, so that the sum of the volatile exceeds the sum of the fixed, just as in the preceding operations. For then both this and the rest correspond to the first practice, just as it is written in the Rosary: Cook them together with a very slow fire and coagulate that ferment so that it becomes like an imperfect body, with the opening of the vessel closed: let it be done in all things in the same way and order as was said.

Three things are here: the ferment, the Elixir, and the water which is the medium for joining the tincture.

However, there is a certain "scruple" [doubt] in that book. For it dissolves the ferment not in three parts, but in an equal part of its "mercury water." But this is a certain perversity, introduced by the desire to hide the truth. While he says that it must be done in all things as before, nothing in the practice is to be changed. Therefore, the triple proportion must be retained, otherwise the blackness would not appear, nor would the moisture conquer, since the Elixir is now far stronger than in the previous stages. But when he says: Dissolve the ferment in an equal part of its mercury water, he is designating the quantity of the ferment and the fermented thing. He orders that the elixir—which he calls "its mercury water," that is, the water extracted from the same body from which the ferment is taken, and already coagulated into an elixir—be of equal weight...