PREFACE

matter produced by the four properties of the four elements The four classical elements: Earth, Air, Fire, and Water., which generate in their mixture the metallic force, under the influence of their respective planets.

All this is well described by the master of nature ARISTOTLE, in the fourth book of his Meteorology original: "Meteorologicorum." This work by Aristotle was a foundational text for medieval and Renaissance science, explaining how minerals and metals form within the earth., when he says that QUICKSILVER A common historical name for the liquid metal mercury. is a matter common to all metals. But it must be known that first in Nature is the compound matter of the four elements.

In acknowledging this property of Nature, the Philosophers called their Matter MERCURY original: "Mercurius." In alchemy, Mercury is not just the metal, but one of the "Three Primes" representing the spirit and fluidity of matter., or QUICKSILVER.

How this MERCURY takes the perfect form of Gold, silver or other metals through the working of nature need not be mentioned here. The teachers of Nature’s Philosophy describe it sufficiently in their books.

Upon such is based and founded the ART A common shorthand for Alchemy, often called "The Sacred Art" or "The Royal Art." of the Philosopher’s Stone The ultimate goal of alchemy: a substance believed to be capable of transmuting base metals into gold and granting eternal life or spiritual perfection.; for it originates in Nature, thence follows a natural end in a just form, through just and natural means.