...earth: then air: finally fire. See therefore that you do not anticipate. original: "terra: inde aër: Ultimo ignis. Vide ergo ne anticipes."] etc.; it is as if he says: if the power of that wind or mercury In alchemy, Mercury represents the fluid, volatile principle of matter. has attacked the earth and dissolved the body—which is to say, it has turned its strength toward restoring gold and silver—then the earth must be separated from the fire. This means leaving the earth at the bottom, while the fiery parts, which are that elevated blackness, are set apart by the severing of the crow's head The "severing of the crow's head" (decollatio corvi) refers to the end of the nigredo or blackening stage, where the impurities are removed., or the division of the elements. This opinion seems to agree with practice, even more clearly. And then this also appears when he says, its nurse is the earth, meaning that this wind ought to be nourished by the earth, not drawn out from drinks; this is what Thomas Likely referring to Pseudo-Thomas Aquinas, a name attached to several alchemical treatises. asserts, and in the Manual it is called the Ostrich’s stomach A technical term for an alchemical furnace or vessel capable of "digesting" or breaking down metallic substances. growing in the earth. Thus, the subtle is the aerial and fiery part; it is that which remains coagulated at the bottom. And yet it differs from the other not in substance, but in quality. He further adds that this miraculous thing ascended from the earth to heaven, which is nothing other than it being led out of the body and sublimated Sublimation is the process of heating a substance until it turns to vapor and then collects again as a solid; symbolically, it represents spiritualization. through the surface upon which it floats. For to the Philosophers, "Heaven" is the upper concavity of the glass vessel. But it descends again into the earth, which happens in coagulation; where that which previously floated now settles at the bottom; what previously flew is now fixed. And thus it acquires the nature of both volatile and fixed things, which accords with this axiom: that which is above is like that which is below, etc., according to the distinction of act and potentiality. For in this art, one must make the fixed volatile, and from the volatile, in turn, make the fixed, just as practice shows.

Furthermore, you shall establish this: when you consider that in the stone of the first operation, there is not only that "celestial sulfur" present, but also virgin's milk A common alchemical term for a white mercurial solvent or the purified matter at a specific stage.. The former is constant by itself, while the latter is inconstant; yet in union, both natures merge, and finally, fixedness alone dominates in the ultimate perfection. It overcomes every subtle thing with that fortitude—or rather, the strongest stone—and penetrates every solid thing. This should be understood regarding things analogous in nature; that is, any mercury and coagulated metals. For like acts upon like in a determined way.

The world, he says, was created just as he fashions his stone: which he explains regarding the watery and dark face of the world, in which the earth lay hidden before light and separation. And certainly, when the blackness The nigredo stage of decomposition and purification. has arisen, no other face is discerned. The matter indeed moves and fluctuates in the glass; but nothing except black is seen.

Thus it is manifest that the practice shown above agrees with the Hermetic discipline. However, it seems he wishes for Paracelsus's shortcut, as he mentions neither the repetition of the work nor fermentation. Indeed, at the end, he mentions only the operation of the Sun The "Sun" (Sol) is the alchemical symbol for gold or the perfected masculine principle.. Therefore, it can be believed that he fashioned his work solely from the Sun, which is the most powerful operating cause. But these things were also discussed in the declaration of the practice.

THE DOCUMENTS OF THIS ART

ACCORDING TO GEBER.

Here the author attributes to himself the discovery of various medicines, and especially that which is most perfect, which alone can take the place of ten tinctures. We have found one medicine, he says, through long inquiry, the greatest labor, and certain experience, by which the hard becomes soft, the soft is hardened, the fugitive is fixed, and the foul is illuminated with a marvelous splendor. However, how that medicine is to be prepared, he denies having declared in one single place, but has scattered it through various books, one of which explains the other. Nevertheless, he especially commends to us the "Sum of Perfection," although he also proclaims the discovery of truth, which he claims has nothing of the Sophists In alchemy, a "sophist" was a term for a fraud or someone who used deceptive, non-alchemical methods. in it. We shall collect what seems most clear.

He describes seven properties of the universal medicine in the book on the Discovery of Truth or Perfection: which are: 1. Oiliness, which in projection The final stage where the Stone is cast upon base metals to transform them. provides the melting and opening of the matter. 2. Subtlety of the matter, which provides entry, immediately necessary after melting. 3. Affinity, which ought to exist between the elixir itself and the thing to be transmuted, which is necessary for coherence. 4. Radical humidity, which congeals and solidifies the restrained similar parts. 5. Clarity of purity. 6. Fixing earth. 7. Tincture The coloring or transforming power..

You will likewise find these seven properties in the described elixir. And each one also proves that it can be made from no other thing except mercury, coagulated and dissolved. For he wishes it to be entirely mercurial, just as these axioms hold: Mercury coagulated by a medicine which adheres to it most deeply, and is mixed with it through its smallest parts before its flight; which medicine must be of a more liquid melting than the bodies themselves, a most subtle and pure substance, adhering to it by its nature, and likewise very easy to melt. Now, nothing is more familiar to mercury than mercury itself; next gold, and thirdly silver. It follows from this that it must be made from mercury. And so he says: From mercury we can draw out the medicine and perfect it. Likewise: Mercury does not allow itself to be divided into the parts of its composition, but either remains whole or flees whole; and in it is the cause of perfection. In no other thing is this perfection found. For it overcomes fire, and is not overcome by it, but rests in it in a friendly way. If you cannot accept this regarding perfected gold—(distinctly, however, since there is one gold of the art and another of nature, both indeed agreeing, but in their proper place and preparation)—you will find it in no other thing in all of nature. Elsewhere he also adds: Those bodies which contain more mercury are more perfect. In all your compositions, strive so that mercury overcomes. And if you can achieve perfection through mercury alone, you will be a seeker of the most precious perfection. Likewise: The medicine is drawn from those things which are most closely joined to the bodies. But there is no other thing as suitable as mercury. Therefore, this is the true medicine. And: The medicine is taken from mercury while it remains in its nature, but receiving fixation, which is done through sublimation. Furthermore: When quicksilver, prepared into a medicine by our art, is cleansed and reduced into a most pure and shining substance: if it is projected upon imperfect things, it illuminates them and perfects them by its fixation. And it ought to bring five prerogatives especially: namely, purity, color, fusion, permanency, and weight, as he says elsewhere. It is clear from these things that Geber takes his tincture from mercury sublimated by the art, that is, exalted and fixed. Now, however, it cannot be truly and perfectly done except through perfected and fixed bodies. And indeed, he himself confessed that it cannot be fashioned from the bare, fleeting, and crude substance, when he said, it is indeed from mercury, but not perfected, as it is from the bodies.